MORE than 30 vibrant artworks will be on display at a museum from next month.

The Art of Brian Rice: Sixty Years of Painting and Prints is an exhibition which will be held at The Museum of Somerset in Taunton from November 13.

Brian is a painter-printmaker who was born in Somerset, but made an international name for himself in 1960s London.

Somerset County Gazette: ART: Mazefield by Brian Rice

The exhibition will display works from throughout Brian’s career. They range from his early days at Yeovil School of Art and Goldsmiths College, to his time as part of the booming London art scene. Later works reflect his fascination with local archaeology.

The exhibition also explores the artist’s life as a teacher, his passion for cycling and the time he spent as a sheep farmer.

Head of museums for the South West Heritage Trust, Sam Astill, said: “We’re delighted to be exhibiting work by one of Britain’s most distinguished abstract artists.

"The exhibition celebrates sixty years of Brian’s remarkable achievements as an artist.

"It is also a further expression of our ambition to bring great art to Somerset and follows popular exhibitions featuring artists such as Tristram Hiller and Doris Hatt.”

Somerset County Gazette: ART: Blue Black Sunrise by Brian Rice

Brian was involved in the same circles as David Hockney, Jo Tilson and Peter Blake, and worked at the forefront of British Modernism.

Eventually he returned to the West Country, where he bought a farm in Dorset. He immersed himself in sheep farming and restoring an ancient farmhouse.

He returned to painting in the 1980s and ’90s, taking inspiration from the archaeological past and from the hill forts, enclosures and burial mounds in the landscapes around him.

Soon he was renewing his reputation as one of Britain’s most distinguished abstract artists.

He continues to work from his home in Hewood on the borders of Somerset, Devon and Dorset, and in 2020 created ‘Son of Covid’ in response to the global pandemic.

The exhibition has been created in collaboration with the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter.

It will be at the Museum of Somerset from November 13 until February 26.

Gallery tours are available on Friday, November 26, Wednesday, December 15, Saturday, January 22 and Thursday, February 17. Booking is advised.

For more information visit museumofsomerset.org.uk.

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