PERHAPS one of the most British of British painters, Craigie Aitchison entered the Slade School of Fine Art in the autumn of 1952, accompanied by his beagle named Somerset. Even as a student, Aitchison’s acute sense of observation and distinct palette was recognised by a peer, the artist Michael Andrews, who later introduced Aitchison to Helen Lessore, his gallerist and the founder of Beaux Arts Gallery on Bruton Place in London. It was at Beaux Arts that the careers of Michael Andrews, Frank Auerbach, Leon Kossoff, Euan Uglow and Craigie Aitchison were launched in the 1950s, forming foundations for the next 50 years of Modern British painting.
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November 21, 2019
