Sir Terry Frost RA

Sir Terry Frost RA was one of the forerunners of abstract painting in the UK, and his passionate use of lines and circles in his work has a wide appeal. Terry Frost first began to paint as a prisoner of war. Returning to England, he received an ex-serviceman’s grant and attended Camberwell School of Art, London from 1947 to 1950. He went on to teach at the Bath Academy of Art at Corsham Court from 1952, and was the Gregory Fellow at Leeds University 1954 to 1956, teaching at Leeds School of Art from 1956 to 1957. He was made Artist in Residence at the Fine Art Department of Newcastle University in 1964, became a full time lecturer at the Department of Fine Art, Reading University 1965, and went on to become Professor of Painting at the University of Reading from 1977 to 1981.

Frost’s first one-man show was held at the Leicester Galleries in 1952. He continued to exhibit regularly in London and his first international one-man show was held in 1961 at the Bertha Schaeffer Gallery, New York. Further solo exhibitions include the ICA, London (1971) and the Serpentine Gallery, London (1976) organised by the Arts Council and South West Arts, touring to Newcastle, Bristol, Leeds, Chester, Birmingham and Plymouth. A retrospective exhibition of his work was held at the Mayor Gallery, London in 1990 and in 2000 a major retrospective, ‘Terry Frost: Six Decades’, was held at the Royal Academy of Arts, London. Frost has also participated in many group shows since 1953, and his work is held in many corporate and private collections throughout the world.

Terry Frost was elected Royal Academician 1992 and received a knighthood in 1998. He was also a respected art teacher, working at many schools including Reading University. He died on 1st September 2003 in Cornwall.