John Hoyland RA

(1934-2011)

John Hoyland was a British abstract painter, widely regarded as one of the leading figures in post-war British abstraction. Educated at Sheffield School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools, he became known for large-scale paintings characterised by bold colour, gestural mark-making, and dynamic spatial relationships. Influenced by American Abstract Expressionism, Hoyland developed a highly expressive visual language centred on colour as both structure and emotion. He won the John Moore's Painting Prize in 1982. Throughout his career, Hoyland worked across painting, drawing, and printmaking, often exploring similar formal concerns through different media. His compositions balance spontaneity with careful control, combining sweeping forms and layered colour to create energetic, immersive surfaces. The Curwen archive holds Hoyland’s Anniversary Print (2008), a lithograph produced to celebrate Curwen’s 50th anniversary.