Frank Bowling

Frank Bowling, OBE RA is an influential British painter. His paintings are closely associated with Abstract Expressionism.

Bowling was born in British Guiana in 1934 and moved to England in 1953 to complete his education. After serving in the Royal Air Force, he studied at the Chelsea School of Art and then won a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Art in 1959.  

During the 1960s he started working on his acclaimed body of work, The Map Paintings, moving away from socio political concerns. This led him in the 1970s to abstraction.

Bowling became the first black British Royal Academician in 2005, was awarded the OBE for services to Art in 2008, and was knighted for his services to Art in 2020. His work has been exhibited extensively and is represented in more than fifty international museums.