£1,000 

David Evans:
4 Young Men, circa 1970
Unmounted (ref: 8202)
Signed

Tags: David Evans watercolour Evans

Provenance: The Artist's Studio

Literature: "David Evans (1929-1988)", edited by Sacha Llewellyn & Paul Liss, published by Liss Llewellyn Fine Art, 2017. ISBN 978-0-9930884-6-9. Cat 16, page 22.

Evans frequently produced studies in a series giving clear instructions (to The Redfern Gallery) to present them as a single group: By the way the one with four heads in should be mounted as one with windows cut in the mount, (we had a similar one at McMurrays and it did look splendid) (Friday, date).  Record sleeves might have provided Evans with some of the inspiration for these.  Music was a lifelong passion for Evans, both classical and pop, which he explored through the record shop he ran in London and attending concerts, especially to see Pete Gage perform. Titles including, Al Ziggy and Trev (1980), Buskers (1979); To the strains of piped Grieg; Choral Symphony (1981-2); Music Underground (1981-2); “Devil’s Trill” Sonata; Grosse Nachtmusik. Evans frequently alluded to the similarities between art and music and each of his works was given an Opus number.

Evans’ strikingly large watercolours (they typically measure over one metre in height or breadth), span two decades, (from the late 1960s to the late 1980s). While powerfully evoking the period charm of the glam-rock era, Evans showed a conscious awareness of the shifting political landscape around him. His compositions are characterised by a kaleidoscopic vision of Thatcher’s Britain: an era of urban redevelopment, the Falklands War, industrial unrest, nuclear power, and the Cold War. Transition is everywhere: new roads carve their way through the countryside; fighter jets cast their shadows across the landscape; the scars left by industrial plants, pylons and landfill permeate throughout.