Signed and dated l.l.: Gay/55

Oil on canvas, 47 by 30.5 cm

Gay studied at Willesden School of Art before having a distinguished career as a painter, teacher and art educator. He was a founder of the Camden Arts Centre and later taught at the Royal College of Art. He exhibited widely, including at the ICA, Wildenstein and Piccadilly Gallery. His strong 1950s landscapes are probably his best works and he was chosen as one of Jack Beddington’s Young Artists of Promise in his 1957 book of the same title. A closely comparable work was reproduced on the cover of The Studio in March 1958 (see below).