|
Biography
A Scottish artist who was an abstractionist of major international significance. Gear was born into a mining family in Methil, Fife and went on to study at the Edinburgh College of Art (under Gillies and Maxwell) and the University (1932-37). From Edinburgh he continued his training in Paris at the Academie Colarossi under Fernand Leger. After wartime service in Signals, he worked with the Allied Control Commission safeguarding works of art in war-torn Germany. Between 1946-50, whilst living and working in Paris, he became linked with the CoBrA group, exhibiting under their aegis in Amsterdam and Copenhagen. In 1949, he also exhibited in New York with Jackson Pollock. The 1960's witnessed his appointment as Head of the Faculty of Art in the Birmingham College of Art from which he retired in 1975. Elected RA in 1995, Gear was the subject of several retrospectives within his lifetime. His work is held in numerous public and private collections worldwide. |
