Geoffrey Tibble

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Geoffrey Arthur Tibble (1909 – December 15, 1952) was an English artist.

Tibble studied at the Slade School under Henry Tonks where he was a contemporary of William Coldstream. In 1934 he exhibited abstract works at the Objective Abstract Exhibition at the Zwemmer Gallery, London (works described as "vortices in pigment, suggesting rather than representing something in nature")^[1] He destroyed or overpainted most of the works from this abstract period.^[2]

After briefly experimenting with surrealism, by 1937 he had returned to figurative painting, moving toward the Euston Road School of urban realism founded by William Coldstream.^[3]

In 1944 he became a member of the New English Art Club. He also exhibited with the London Group.

After military service in World War II,^[3] Tibble had his first solo exhibition at Tooth's Gallery in 1946, showing 25 paintings, all interiors with figures, a format that became his signature style and developed his wider reputation.^[2] These were critically acclaimed for their "remarkable assurance, certainty of aim and economy of means" and their resemblance to the work of Degas.^[1]

He subsequently exhibited at leading London galleries, including the Leicester Gallery and Lefevre Gallery.

A review of a retrospective exhibition said "His work - dingy but packed with period atmosphere - looks back towards the intimate interiors of Vuillard, and forward to the domestic squalor of the Kitchen Sink School".^[4]

[edit] References

Geoffrey Tibble. Wives & Daughters, Jonathan Clark Fine Art, London (2002)
Retrospective Exhibition Catalogue, City of Manchester Art Gallery, (1958)

^ ^a ^b Obituary, The Times, London, Dec 16, 1952
^ ^a ^b London Group: Works By Young Artists, The Times, London, Nov 03, 1953
^ ^a ^b Look back on anger - Arts, John Russell Taylor, The Times, London, November 27, 2002
^ The Sunday Telegraph (United Kingdom): Art, Martin Gayford, Sunday Telegraph, London, December 1, 2002