Records of Aubrey Williams

Correspondence and papers relating to Aubrey Williams' paintings, the University of York and York Art Gallery. Some of the papers have been annotated by Aubrey Williams' wife.
Includes:
Correspondence with City of York Art Gallery (Hans Hess, Curator), Lord james Vice-Chancellor of the University of York, Anthony Rymer and the Friends of the City of York Art Gallery 11 Nov 1960 - 17 Jan 1966 re Williams' commission for York Art Gallery in Nov 1960 (commissioned by Patrick Waddington), the receipt of his painting El Dorado by York Art Galley on loan in June 1961 and a second painting in Nov 1962, the subsequent presentation of the painting El Dorado to the University of York in Oct 1962, his visit to York to talk about his paintings at The Friends of York Art Gallery's Annual General Meeting on 23 Feb 1963, and the presentation of another picture to the University of York in Jan 1966.
Italian diary page for Tues 17 Jan [year not given? ?1962 or ?1966] recording a meeting with Lord James, Vice Chancellor of the University of York
York Four Group Exhibition Programme 10 Jun -3 Jul 1966
The Friends of the York Art Gallery Programmes 1962-1963, 1965-1966, and letter of 8 Nov 1967 announcing Patrick Reyntiens' lecture on 30 Nov 1967
Postcard of York Minster from 'Patrick' [?Waddington], n.d.
Annotated copy of ’Arthur Mee’s York: The Guide to Historic York’, 1960 (annotated by AW)
Letter, Hans Hess to AW, 16/11/1960 re: visit
Letter, Hans Hess to AW, 23/11/1962 re: visit with picture (Heraldry at York)
City of York Art Gallery, Preview No 79, July 1967
Programme for York Mystery Plays, 1966
Paper/speech mentioning Heraldry at York, 1965
Letter, Hans Hess to AW 6/11/1962, news that picture will soon be coming [Heraldry at York]
Letter, Hans Hess to AW, 11/07/1962, re: translations by Hans Hess
Photocopied pages from ‘Preview’ re: Heraldry at York, 1962

Aubrey Williams (8 May 1926 – 17 April 1990) was a Guyanese artist. He was best known for his large, oil-on-canvas paintings, which combine elements of abstract expressionism with forms, images and symbols inspired by the pre-Columbian art of indigenous peoples of the Americas.
Born in Georgetown in British Guiana (now Guyana), Williams began drawing and painting at an early age. He received informal art tutoring from age three and joined the Working People's Art Class at 12. After training to be an agronomist, he worked as an Agricultural Field Officer for eight years, initially on the sugar plantations of the East Coast and later in the northwest region of the country—an area inhabited primarily by the indigenous Warao people. His time among the Warao dramatically impacted his artistic approach and initiated the complex obsession with pre-Columbian arts and cultures that ran throughout his artistic career.
Williams left Guyana at the height of the Independence Movement in 1952 and moved to the United Kingdom. Following his first exhibition in London in 1954, he became an increasingly significant figure in the post-war British avant-garde art scene, particularly through his association with Denis Bowen's New Vision Centre Gallery. In 1966, he joined a group of London-based Caribbean artists and intellectuals to found the Caribbean Artists Movement, which served as a dynamic hub of cultural events and activity until its dissolution in 1972. From 1970 onwards, Williams worked in studios in Jamaica and Florida as well as the UK, and it was during this period that he produced three of his best-known series of paintings: Shostakovich (1969–1981), The Olmec-Maya and Now (1981–1985) and Cosmos (1989). Williams died in London on 17 April 1990, aged 63.

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Aubrey Williams (8 May 1926 – 17 April 1990) was a Guyanese artist. He was best known for his large, oil-on-canvas paintings, which combine elements of abstract expressionism with forms, images and symbols inspired by the pre-Columbian art of indigenous peoples of the Americas.
Born in Georgetown in British Guiana (now Guyana), Williams began drawing and painting at an early age. He received informal art tutoring from age three and joined the Working People's Art Class at 12. After training to be an agronomist, he worked as an Agricultural Field Officer for eight years, initially on the sugar plantations of the East Coast and later in the northwest region of the country—an area inhabited primarily by the indigenous Warao people. His time among the Warao dramatically impacted his artistic approach and initiated the complex obsession with pre-Columbian arts and cultures that ran throughout his artistic career.
Williams left Guyana at the height of the Independence Movement in 1952 and moved to the United Kingdom. Following his first exhibition in London in 1954, he became an increasingly significant figure in the post-war British avant-garde art scene, particularly through his association with Denis Bowen's New Vision Centre Gallery. In 1966, he joined a group of London-based Caribbean artists and intellectuals to found the Caribbean Artists Movement, which served as a dynamic hub of cultural events and activity until its dissolution in 1972. From 1970 onwards, Williams worked in studios in Jamaica and Florida as well as the UK, and it was during this period that he produced three of his best-known series of paintings: Shostakovich (1969–1981), The Olmec-Maya and Now (1981–1985) and Cosmos (1989). Williams died in London on 17 April 1990, aged 63.

Good condition
Paper clips replaced.
Some foxing, minor tears and folds.

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Published

GB 193