Anthony Benjamin

1931–2002

Born in Boarhunt, Hampshire, Anthony Benjamin (1931–2002) was an English painter, sculptor, and printmaker. Noted for his bold use of colour and playful, layered abstraction, Benjamin has worked in various media, including painting, sculpture, drawing, and printmaking.

In 1947, Benjamin studied engineering at Southall Technical College. He transferred to Regent Street Polytechnic, now the University of Westminster, in 1950. While there, Benjamin went to Paris to work with artist Fernand Léger for one year. After his graduation in 1954, he moved to a cottage near St. Ives to develop his realistic paintings into gestural abstraction, influenced by the Cornish landscape. In 1957, Benjamin won a French scholarship for Painting and Printmaking, which enabled him to study with Stanley William Hayter at Atelier 17 in Paris. He held exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London and the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, in 1966.

A period of artistic success led Benjamin to extensive travelling. He exhibited and taught at universities and art schools around the world. In 1967, he came to Canada and the United States as a professor of Art at the University of Calgary, York University in Toronto, Ontario College of Art, and Hayward State College in California. His works have been featured in numerous major institutions internationally, including Tate St. Ives, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the National Museum of Art in Warsaw.