Derrick Greaves

A major twentieth century British painter and printmaker, Derrick Greaves studied at the Royal College of Art from 1948 to 1952. He was then awarded the Abbey Major Scholarship to complete his education in Italy, 1952 – 1954. During the 1960’s Greaves taught at both the Maidstone College of Art and the Royal Academy Schools. From 1983 to 1991he also served as the Head of Printmaking at the Norwich School of Art.

Derrick Greaves’s first one man exhibition of art took place in 1953 at the Beaux Arts Gallery, London. Since that time his paintings and prints have been the subject of showings at the Institute of Contemporary Art, London, the Galliria La Citta, Verona, Italy, the Arts Council Gallery, Belfast, David Hendrick’s Gallery, Dublin, the Cranfield Institute of Technology and at Gallerie Daniel Wahrenberger, Zurich, Switzerland. In 1980 a major exhibition was held at the Leicester Museum and Art Gallery, entitled, ‘Derrick Greaves: Retrospective Exhibition of Prints, 1969 – 1980’.

Derrick Greaves has also participated in important group exhibitions such as, the Venice Biennale (1956), the Carnegie International Exhibition, Pittsburgh (1964), British Painting, Royal Academy, London (1977, 1989 & 1990), the Royal College of Art and the Tate Gallery (1987). His paintings and original prints are now included in the following public collections; Arts Council of Great Britain, Bank of Ireland, Dublin, the British Museum, the Chantrey Bequest, Johannesburg Public Gallery, South Africa, the New York Public Library, the North Wales Association of Arts, Northwestern University, Chicago, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

As an original printmaker, Derrick Greaves has produced large, individual silkscreens and etchings (such as this example) and original graphic works for fine, illustrated books. In this latter category he has illustrated such books as Also (1972), The Songs of Bilitis (1977), The Sower as Self-Portrait, Homage to Van Gogh (1986) and Sanskrit Love Poems (1987).

Additional Information:
Born: 1927
Birthplace: Sheffield , Engalnd