West Country Artist, Brian Rice attended the Yeovil School of
Art, and later Goldsmiths College London. Rice found himself at
the very heart of the 1960s London art scene, producing some
of the era’s most groundbreaking paintings and prints.
In the mid-1970s, Rice left London to return to his roots in the
West Country where he purchased a 50-acre sheep farm.
Whilst making alterations to his house and working the land,
Rice discovered Bronze Age archaeological remains and an
18th-century Donyatt pottery dish painted with the face of a
Green Man, a symbol of rebirth. Inspired by these rare finds
Rice embarked a new artistic direction, focusing his art on the
landscape and ancient traces of habitation.
In more recent years Rice has revisited his earlier explorations
with colour and pure abstraction, resulting in works both in print
and paint of great vibrancy.
Rice published his Raisonne of printed works in 2013 spanning
some 60 years of working with this medium 1953-2013, and has
since celebrated his 80th birthday with the publication of the
first complete Catalogue Raisonné of his paintings. ‘Brian Rice:
Paintings 1952-2016’. This major publication covers his work
over the last 64 years, and includes an essay by distinguished
art critic Andrew Lambirth.
