Robyn Denny

Robyn Denny, born in Surrey in 1930, was an abstract painter, printmaker and designer, and one of an internationally acclaimed group of artists who transformed British art in the late 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s. Inspired by the scale and energy of Abstract Expressionism emerging from the US, Denny developed his own unique language of painting and printmaking, which drew from popular culture, urban modernity and American films.

From 1950 - 1954 Denny studied at Central St Martins in London where he met artist Anna Teasdale, to whom he was married until 1975. Denny then studied at the Royal College of Art, graduating in 1957, and was one of the organisers of the now legendary 1960 exhibition ‘Situation’ which marked a dramatic shift, away from the mainstream abstraction of the St Ives School to a new style of painting. In 1966, Denny represented Britain at the Venice Biennale and in 1973 the Tate held a retrospective of his work, the youngest artist at the time to receive this honour.

Robyn Denny’s work can be found in national and international public collections including Tate, London; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Arts Council of England; the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the Art Institute of Chicago; the National Gallery of Australia, Sydney; the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool; the Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven; the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh and the British Council.

The Estate of Robyn Denny is represented by Vardaxoglou Gallery.