William Gear

William Gear (1915-1997) was a painter, born on 2 August 1915 in Methil in the south-east of Fife, Scotland. Born into a mining family, he studied at Edinburgh College of Art before travelling to Paris to study with Fernand Léger.

Following the Second World War he worked with the Allied Control Commission, with responsibility for securing art works. In 1949 he exhibited with the CoBrA art group.

He was curator of the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne from 1958 to 1964, after which he became head of the Faculty of Fine Art at Birmingham College of Art, a post from which he retired in 1975.

He died on 27 February 1997 in Birmingham.

References

[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19970310/ai_n14098509 Obituary] by Tessa Sidey in The Independent

Tate Gallery collection:http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ArtistWorks?cgroupid=999999961&artistid=1146&page=1