MARK DUNFORD
MARK DUNFORD
Spaces: Paintings and Drawings 5 November - 3 December 2026 Monday – Friday 10.00am -5.30pm
Browse & Darby 34 Bury Street, St James’s - London SW1Y 6AU Tel: 020 7734 7984 Email: art@browseanddarby.co.uk www.browseanddarby.co.uk
MARK DUNFORD 1964 1980-1982 1982-1987 1987 1987 1993 2001 -
Born, Dorset Bournemouth and Poole College of Art Slade School of Fine Art, UCL Awarded the Robert Ross Scholarship, the Slade School of Fine Art Richard Ford Award, the Royal Academy of Arts Young Artists’ Award from the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours. Elected a member of The London Group Work held in private and public collections in the UK, USA, and Europe
Solo Exhibitions 2021 2025 2026
Into the Light’, Tregony Gallery, Cornwall ‘In Situ’, Tregony Contemporary, Cornwall ‘Spaces: Paintings and Drawings’, Browse and Darby, London
Two-person Exhibition 1998
Paintings & Drawings, Sheridan Russell Gallery, London
Selected Group Exhibitions 1990 1991 1991 1993 1996 1999 2003 2005 & 2006 2007 2008 2009 2013 2014 2014 2014 2016 2016 & 2017 2017 2017 2018 2018 2018 & 2019 2019 2020 2020 2020 2020 2021
‘A New Perspective’, Leighton House, London ‘Space and Structure’ Articus Gallery, London ‘A Second Perspective’, Leighton House, London The London Group, Concourse Gallery, Barbican Centre, London Thirteen Contemporary Artists, Dulwich Picture Gallery, London ‘The Importance of Drawing, Royal Museum and Art Gallery, Canterbury The London Group, Anniversary Exhibition, Gallery in Cork Street The London Group, Bankside Gallery, London Artonomy, Truro, Cornwall Art London, Royal Hospital Chelsea, London Drawing: act and artefact, London Group, Morley Gallery, London Draw the Line, Millenium Gallery, St Ives, Cornwall From Bomberg to Rego, the London Group at Southampton, Southampton City Art Gallery The London Art Book Fair, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London Penlee Inspired, The Penlee Art Gallery, Penzance, Cornwall Echoes & Scenes, Summer 2016, Landscopes, Winter 2016, Tregony Gallery, Cornwall Personal Relations; UK The London Group (London) December: The Nederlands: Pulchri Studio (The Hague) March: Italy: This is Not Art (Vicenza) June. Viewpoints, Felix & Spear Gallery, London The London Group Open, Cello Factory, London [Presence] three person London Group show with Daniel Preece and David Wiseman The London Group at St Ives, Penwith Gallery, Cornwall Drawing Distinctions, University of Wisconsin Stout Menomonie, USA and Cello Factory, London Assemble – group show, Tregony Gallery at After Nyne Gallery, Holland Park, London W11 Shine, Tregony Gallery Inner Words, Tregony Gallery Assemble: 20, Tregony Gallery, Shepherds Market, London W1 Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize, Piano Nobile, Kings Place, London Assemble: 21, Tregony Gallery,
2021 2021 2021 21/22 2022 2022 2022 2022 2023 2023 2023 2023 2023 2024 2024 2024 2024 2025 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026
In Plain Sight, The London Group, Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Devon Arcadia, Tregony Gallery Promenade 4, Tregony Gallery Illuminate, Tregony Gallery Assemble: 22, Tregony Gallery, Portobello Road, London W11 Promenade 5, Tregony Gallery Stillness, Winter Show, Tregony Gallery The London Group at Bankside, Bankside Gallery, London, SE1 9JH Assemble: 23, Tregony Gallery, @jm gallery, Portobello Road, London W11 Paradise Found: New Visions of the Blackdown Hills, Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Devon Reassembled: The Spring Edit, Tregony Gallery Radiance, Winter Show, Tregony Gallery Gallery Artists Exhibition, Browse and Darby, London London Art Fair 24, Browse and Darby, London Primary Colours, Inaugural show at Tregony Contemporary Gallery, St Mawes Promenade 7 Tregony Contemporary Gallery Contemporary Gallery Artists Summer Exhibition, Browse and Darby, London Assemble:25, Tregony Contemporary Gallery, Portobello Road, London W11 Winter Exhibition, Browse and Darby, London Assemble:26, Tregony Contemporary Gallery, Portobello Road, London W11 Looking for Appearance, a contemporary painting perspective, Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Devon co curated exhibition by Mark Dunford and Tim Craven Contemporary Gallery Artists Summer Exhibition, Browse and Darby, London Richard Cook & invited artists, Tregony Contemporary Gallery, St Mawes
Selected Bibliography 1996 2003 2006 2014 2021 2025 2026
Sunday Times, 10 November, Thirteen Contemporary Artists, Dulwich Picture Gallery 90th Anniversary Yearbook of the London Group – IBSN 0-9545238-0-6 Artists in Britain since 1945, David Buckman, Art Dictionaries - ISBN 9780953260904 ’50 Mark Dunford’ a self-published book of drawings ‘Mark Dunford - Into the Light’ monograph with essay by Dr. Elisabeth Reissner, Tregony Gallery ‘Mark Dunford - Into the Light’ monograph - revised and expanded edition, Tregony Contemporary ‘Looking for Appearance, a contemporary painting perspective, introduction, exhibition catalogue, Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Devon
Teaching 1988 1988 1988 – 2005 1995 – 2005 2005 – 2017 2017 – 2024 2019 -
Visiting Lecturer, Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design Dulwich College, London James Allen’s Girls’ School, London Head of Art and Design, James Allen’s Girls’ School, London Truro and Penwith College, Cornwall - DTL for Art and Design Truro and Penwith College, Cornwall - Programme Team Leader for Art & Design The Art Digger Lab and the Art Digger Studio, Madrid, Spain Winslow Art Center, USA – European Workshops – Umbria, Italy Townsend Atelier, USA The New Art School, Lewes, UK Newlyn School of Art, Cornwall, UK Tregony Contemporary – In Residence, Caerhays Castle, UK
1. Sophie, oil on linen, 70.2 x 62.5 cm
31. Mushroom, oil on panel, 30.5 x 30.5cm
28. Olive Leaves, oil on panel, 45 x 32 cm.
27. Coppertips, August, oil on linen, 40 x 24 cm.
14. Ploughed Triangle, Spring, oil on panel, 30.3 x 30.3 cm.
25.
Mounts Bay from Newlyn, Summer Evenings, oil on panel, 33 x 50 cm.
17. Three Balancing, oil on linen laid on panel, 21 x 42 cm.
5. Sloe Blossom, oil on panel, 49.1 x 33.6 cm.
6.
Golden Bells Towards the Light, oil on linen, 40.5 x 32.4 cm.
2.
Conservatory Grapes, oil on panel, 20.5 x 41 cm.
21.
San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, Rome, morning light from drawings, oil on linen, 55 x 80 cm.
10.
Cast Forms in Yellow Light, oil on panel, 20 x 25 cm.
15.
Still Life after Cezanne’s Chestnut Trees at Jas de Bouffan, oil on panel, 72.6 x 91.7 cm.
18. Queen Rose, oil on linen, 32.5 x 29.5 cm.
8.
Large Iris under the Skylight, oil on linen, 50.4 x 50.4 cm.
13.
Found Fish, oil on panel, 9.8 x 21.4 cm.
23. Evening from the Castello Loggia, Umbria, oil on panel, 28 x 56 cm.
20. Cornish Creek November Bonfire, oil on linen, 36 x 48 cm.
7. Treasured Iris, oil on panel, 60 x 33.1 cm.
9. Yellow Light Iris, oil on panel, 30.3 x 30.3 cm.
30.
Big Bright Field, oil on panel, 56 x 149 cm
36.
Pears after Chardin pencil on paper 48 x 58 cm
42. Drawing for Cornish Creek November Bonfire pencil on paper, 55.2 x 74.5 cm.
46. After Cézanne’s Chestnut Trees at Jas de Bouffan - large pencil on paper 54 x 58 cm.
35. Plaster Hands – George and Theo pencil on paper 46 x 72 cm.
How the Light Falls Light falls on the surface of things you look up and suddenly you realize there is a customary splendor after all so easily the light falls without drawing attention to itself Mary Angela Douglas, ‘Light Falls on the Surface of Things’
The role of the artist is to ask questions, not answer them. Anton Chekhov, Letters on Art and Artists Mark Dunford’s creative abilities lie in looking and observing as much as colour mixing and the application of paint. Although he is an astute draughtsman, his paintings and drawings are as much about the act of seeing and re-presenting as what is or what may be out there. Each work evidences its considered construction: there are pencil grids and crosses, measured intervals and spaces, layers of colour, simplification, angles and approximations. Dunford is interested in how the light falls on a hill, how the shadows or differences in tone create a line or shimmer in the landscape, how to deal with the perceptual difference between daylight and dusk – not to mention the hours in between, how light illuminates and changes everything. Although rainbows or skyscape, trees or fields, fruit or flowers are the ostensible subjects of his work, Dunford is more interested in how to use a certain colour to catch light and colour even as it evolves minute by minute. Each painting is a composite of several, or indeed many, days painting en plein air (the artist can often be found in his front garden, working behind ramshackle constructions of wire grid and plumb line) or hidden away within his studio at the far end of his back garden. His subjects are configured in a certain way for maximum effect, recognition and engagement; his experience and memories of looking become ours. We are persuaded and encouraged to spend time pondering not only how the painting works but also the essence of what is shown and how it relates to the physical world around us. That is, they are far more than a reproduction or description of what is depicted. Dunford is well aware that his work is made from pigment placed on board or canvas, and that each image is only one personal and tentative interpretation of the world, of what he sees or imagines he sees and what he chooses to focus on, be that the subtle translucent bloom of a bunch of grapes or a fading double rainbow above the village creek. He wishes to show us how colour, line and shape work, how clouds and water move, how we perceive near and far distance, filter and edit what we see, and how this can be transformed into a convincing, persuasive and memorable twodimensional approximation, selection or version. This visual transformation and painterly exploration is, of course, informed by many things. Dunford returns to work by great 20th Century artists such as Cézanne, Matisse and Van Gogh, but also to Renaissance images of Fra Angelico, Duccio and Piero della Francesca. He has a voluminous library which he can refer to but also draws from the art itself, and is constantly open to new ideas, contemporary art and artists, and unexpected viewpoints or momentary vistas. Like all good artists, Dunford is inquisitive and interested in the world around him, wants to understand the form and nature of what he sees, and uses everything he can to make work that evidences his thinking and wonder. This is just as likely to be an intense, punning conversation over a drink with artist friends as a review or newspaper article, not to mention the artfully constructed models he sometimes makes to aid his
exploration and understanding of ideas and space. (See the photo of Dunford’s ‘Set up for “Still Life after Cézanne’s Chestnut Trees at Jas de Boffan”’ elsewhere in this catalogue.)
It would be easy to categorize Dunford as a landscape artist, a still life artist or – to a lesser extent – a portrait artist, but that would be to miss the point. Dunford quite rightly considers that both abstract and so-called realistic painting shares the same language of colour, shape, form, rhythm, tone, dynamic and colour. Any sense of ‘recognition’, empathy for, or engagement with a painting’s subject matter or implied narrative is a bonus, an added extra, is not the main focus of this art. If you cannot see beyond the flower or river or view then you are missing out on ‘the bigger picture’. (Sorry!) These paintings are not realist or evocations or ‘nice pictures’, they are complex, hard fought for skirmishes with the very nature of visual perception and human understanding. If we pay attention they can challenge our assumptions and expectations as well as delight us.
Rupert Loydell Rupert Loydell is a writer, artist and editor. He has many books of poetry in print, is a contributing editor to International Times, and has written about creative writing, collaboration, the films of David Lynch, and the music of Cabaret Voltaire, Nurse with Wound, Andrew Poppy and Brian Eno for academic journals and books.
CATALOGUE 1. Sophie, oil on linen, 27 5/8 x 24 5/8 in. / 70.2 x 62.5 cm. 2. Conservatory Grapes, oil on panel, 16 1/8 x 8 1/8 in. / 20.5 x 41 cm. 3. Pears against the Italian Landscape, oil on panel, 13 1/8 x 13 in. / 33.4 x 33 cm. 4. View from the Tiber, Rome after Degas, oil on panel, 7 x 10 1/4 in. / 17.8 x 26 cm. 5. Sloe Blossom, oil on panel, 19 3/8 x 13 1/4 in. / 49.1 x 33.6 cm. 6. Golden Bells Towards the Light, oil on linen, 16 x 12 3/4 in. / 40.5 x 32.4 cm. 7. Treasured Iris, oil on panel, 23 5/8 x z13 in. / 60 x 33.1 cm. 8. Large Iris under the Skylight, oil on linen, 19 7/8 x 19 7/8 in. / 50.4 x 50.4 cm. 9. Yellow Light Iris, oil on panel, 11 7/8 x 11 7/8 in. / 30.3 x 30.3 cm. 10. Cast Forms in Yellow Light, oil on panel, 7 7/8 x 9 7/8 in. / 20 x 25 cm. 11. St. Peter’s from the Passetto di Borgo, Rome, oil on panel, 14 x 22 1/2 in. / 35.5 x 57 cm. 12. Mornings from the Loggia, Umbria, oil on panel, 9 1/4 x 12 3/4 in. / 23.5 x 32.5 cm. 13. Found Fish, oil on panel, 3 7/8 x 8 3/8 in. / 9.8 x 21.4 cm. 14. Ploughed Triangle, Spring, oil on panel, 11 7/8 x 11 7/8 in. / 30.3 x 30.3 cm. 15. Still Life after Cezanne’s Chestnut Trees at Jas de Bouffan, oil on panel, 28 5/8 x 36 1/8 in. / 72.6 x 91.7 cm. 16. Small after Cézanne’s Chestnut Trees at Jas de Bouffan, oil on panel, 6 3/4 x 8 1/2 in. / 17 x 21.7 cm. 17. Three Balancing, oil on linen laid on panel, 8 1/4 x 16 1/2 in. / 21 x 42 cm. 18. Queen Rose, oil on linen, 12 3/4 x 11 5/8 in. / 32.5 x 29.5 cm 19. Dublin Rose, oil on panel, 11 7/8 x 11 7/8 in. / 30.3 x 30.3 cm. 20. Cornish Creek November Bonfire, oil on linen, 14 1/8 x 18 7/8 in. / 36 x 48 cm. 21. San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, Rome, morning light from drawings, oil on linen, 21 5/8 x 31 1/2 in. / 55 x 80 cm. 22. Painting for San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, Rome, oil and acrylic on panel, 10 3/4 x 15 5/8 in. / 27.4 x 39.6 cm. 23. Evening from the Castello Loggia, Umbria, oil on panel, 11 x 22 in. / 28 x 56 cm. 24. After Cezanne’s Flowers in a Blue Vase, oil on panel, 10 1/8 x 7 5/8 in. / 25.6 x 19.4 cm. 25. Mounts Bay from Newlyn, Summer Evenings, oil on panel, 13 x 19 3/4 in. / 33 x 50 cm. 26. Setting Sun, St Michael’s Mount, oil on panel, 10 1/4 x 10 5/8 in. / 26 x 27 cm.
27. Coppertips, August, oil on linen, 15 3/4 x 9 1/2 in. / 40 x 24 cm. 28. Olive Leaves, oil on panel, 17 3/4 x 12 5/8 in. / 45 x 32 cm. 29. Line of Cornish Apples, oil on panel, 7 7/8 x 19 3/4 in. / 20 x 50 cm. 30. Big Bright Field , oil on panel, 22” x 58.5”, 56 x 149 cm 31. Mushroom, oil on panel, 12 x 12 in. / 30.5 x 30.5 cm. 32. Cormorant Skull, oil on panel, 5 7/8 x 11 3/4 in. / 15 x 30 cm. 33. MDXV After Giovanni Bellini, Girl with Mirror, oil on panel, 13 3/4 x 4 3/4 in. / 35 x 12 cm. 34. Head of Apollo, pencil on paper, 70 x 62 cm 35. Skull, pencil on paper, 54.5 x 66 cm 36. Plaster Hands – George and Theo, pencil on paper, 46 x 72 cm 37. Pears after Chardin, pencil on paper, 48 x 58 cm 38. Red Pelargonium, pencil on paper, 55.5 x 37.5 cm 39. Hydrangeas in the Window, pencil on paper, 38 x 56.5 cm 40. Dog Rose Patterns, pencil on paper, 56.5 x 38.5 cm 41. Italian Pear from the Side, pencil on paper, 60.5 x 42 cm 42. Drawing for Cornish Creek November Bonfire’, pencil on paper, 55.2 x 74.5 cm 43. First Drawing of Sophie, pencil on paper, 81.5 x 60 cm 44. Sophie Wearing her Coat, pencil on paper, 84 x 60.9 cm 45. After Cézanne’s Chestnut Trees at Jas de Bouffan - small, pencil on paper, 22 x 31.8 cm 46. After Cézanne’s Chestnut Trees at Jas de Bouffan - large, pencil on paper, 54 x 58 cm 47. Agios Petros - Greece, pencil on paper, 40.2 x 52.5 cm 48. Madame Ingres after Ingres from a Daguerreotype by Millet, pencil on paper, 33.7 x 42.5 cm 49. Portrait of Archbishop Fernando de Valdés after Velasquez, pencil on paper, 35.5 x 37.5 cm 50. Still Life with Apples and Pears, after Cézanne, pencil on paper, 23.5 x 32 cm 51. Portrait of Elena Carafa after Degas, pencil on paper, 37.2 x 33.7 cm 52. Knees - Diana and Actaeon after Titian, pencil on paper, 34.5 x 48.3 cm 53. Figures from A Bacchanalian Revel before a Term after Poussin, pencil on paper, 32.5 x 49.5 cm
Construction for Still Life after Cezanne’s Chestnut Trees at Jas de Bouffan
Browse & Darby 34 Bury Street, St James’s - London SW1Y 6AU