Trevor Bell was born in Leeds in 1930.
He was awarded a scholarship to attend The Leeds College of Art from 1947 to 1952 and, encouraged by Terry Frost, moved to Cornwall in 1955. St Ives was the epicentre for British abstract art being the home to artists such as Patrick Heron, Peter Lanyon, Ben Nicholson, Naum Gabo, Barbara Hepworth and Terry Frost, he made his reputation as a leading member who helped establish British Art on the international stage.
From these artists, especially Nicholson, Bell received advice and support. Nicholson, alongside his then dealer Charles Gimpel, encouraged him to show in London and Waddington Galleries gave Bell his first solo exhibition in 1958. Patrick Heron wrote the introduction to the exhibition catalogue, stating that Bell was ‘the best non-figurative painter under thirty’.
In 1959 Bell was awarded the Paris Biennale International Painting Prize, and an Italian Government Scholarship and the following year was offered the Fellowship in Painting at the University of Leeds so moved back to his hometown, Bell went on to become a Gregory Fellow at Leeds University. It was during this period that Bell developed his shaped canvases, setting his work apart from other artists of his generation.
Throughout the 1960’s Bell showed work in major exhibitions in the UK and USA and during this time his work was first purchased for the Tate collection. In 1973 he presented his new work at the Whitechapel Gallery in London, having just taken part in a major exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington DC. Over the course of the next thirty years Bell combined painting with teaching in various locationseventually moving to Florida State University in 1976 to become the Professor for Master Painting. Here with the provision of a warehouse sized studio and time to really develop his painting he produced the large-scale, intensely coloured works for which he is known, reflecting the influence of the climate and landscape on him and his work. He went on to spend the next 20 years in America. Important exhibitions were held at the Corcoran Gallery and the Academy of Sciences in Washington, the Metropolitan Museum in Miami, The Cummer Gallery and the Museum of Art, Florida.
In 1985 Bell was included in the London Tate Gallery’s St Ives 1939-64 exhibition and in 1993 he was part of the inaugural show of the Tate St Ives, where he was again re-established as part of the St Ives artists movement. He moved back to Cornwall in 1996 which began his long-term relationship with the Millennium. Bell had a major solo exhibition at the Tate St.Ives in 2004 and in 2011 a further 14 works were obtained by the Tate Gallery for their permanent collection.
Bell has had works purchased and commissioned by numerous other international museums and public and private collections including (among others) The Arts Council of England, British Council, British Museum, Boca Raton, Laing Art Gallery, Ljubljana’s U.V.U Keleia Collection and the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Bell is twice a recipient of fellowships from the Fine Arts Council of Florida, an Honorary RWA from the Royal Western England Academy, An Honoury Fellow of University College Falmouth and an Emeritus Professorship by Florida State University.
CV
Born in Leeds 1930, Currently living in Cornwall.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2012
Link, Millennium, St. Ives
2011
80 Years Young, Waterhouse and Dodd, New York
2010
Trevor Bell at Eighty - Earth Air Fire Water Aether
Nothing Extra, Waterhouse and Dodd, London
2009
Haste Slowly, Millennium, St.Ives
Nothing Extra, Leeds University Gallery
Moving Right Along, Waterhouse & Dodd, London
2007
White and Colour, New Millennium Gallery, St Ives
2006
Before Sea, After Earth, Waterhouse & Dodd, London
Large Works, Waterhouse & Dodd, London
Saďd Gallery, Oxford
2005
Still – The New Paintings, Lydon Fine Art, Chicago
Trevor Bell: Heatscape – The Florida Six and Still – The New Paintings,
Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum, Bournemouth
Calm Squares, Allusive Forms, New Millennium Gallery, St Ives
Recent Work, Lydon Fine Art, Chicago
2004/5
Trevor Bell: Beyond Materiality, Tate Gallery, St Ives
2003
New Millennium Gallery, St Ives
Trevor Bell: A British Painter in America, Florida State University
Museum of Fine Arts, Tallahassee, Florida
The Gulf Coast Museum, Largo, Florida
2002
Lydon Fine Art, Chicago
Galerie Pelar Ltd, Greenport, New York
Seven Worchester, Bath
2001
Lydon Fine Art, Chicago
New Millennium Gallery, St Ives
2000
North Light Gallery, Huddersfield
1999
Stephen Lacey Gallery, London
1998
Hodgell Gallery, Sarasota, Florida
Falmouth College of Arts, Falmouth
1996
Illinois Centre, Chicago
1995
Art Collectors Gallery, Coral Gables, Florida
Mercantile Exchange Building, Chicago
Marsha Orr Contemporary Fine Art, Tallahassee, Florida
1994
Lydon Fine Art, Chicago
1993
Division of Cultural Affairs, Tallahassee, Florida
Lydon Fine Art, Chicago Lin & Keng Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
1992
Foster Harmon Gallery, Sarasota, Florida
Lydon Fine Art, Chicago
Jaffe/Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, Florida
1992
621 Gallery, Tallahassee, Florida
1991
Gloria Luria Gallery, Miami
Florida Center for the Arts, Vero Beach, Florida
1990
Foster Harmon Gallery, Florida
Lydon Fine Art, Chicago
Eve Mannes Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
Gillian Jason Gallery, London
1989
New Art Centre, London
Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Gloria Luria Gallery, Bal Harbour, Florida
1988
Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, Florida
Charleston College, South Carolina
1986
Foster Harmon Gallery, Sarasota, Florida
Cummer Museum, Jacksonville, Florida
1985
Metropolitan Museum, Coral Gates, Miami, Florida
Gloria Luria Gallery, Bal Harbour, Florida
1984
Big Magenta installation, Florida State University Center for Professional Development, Tallahassee, Florida
1983
Shaped Work from the 60s, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
1982
National Academy of Science, Washington DC
Artspace, Miami, Florida
1981
Intimate Works on Paper, Virginia Miller Gallery, Coral Gables, Florida
Artspace, Miami, Florida
University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida
1980
Five Bar exhibited, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
Four Arts Center, ICA, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
Major Works. Virginia Miller Gallery, Coral Gables, Miami, Florida
1975
Southern Cross exhibited, Bundestag, Bonn, Germany
1974
Corcoran Gallery, Washington D.C.
1973
Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
1970
Richard Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh
Arts Council of Northern Ireland Gallery, Belfast
Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield
Park Square Gallery, Leeds
1969
Lancaster University Greenwich Gallery, London
1964
Waddington Gallery, London
1962
Waddington Gallery, London
1963
Bear Lane Gallery, Oxford
1960
Waddington Gallery, London
1958
Waddington Gallery, London
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Abbot Hall Gallery, Kendal
Aberdeen Art Gallery
Arts Council of Great Britain
American Express
Astra Zeneca, Boston, Massachussetts
Balliol College, Oxford
Nett Bank, Florida
British Council
British Museum
Broward County Courthouse, Florida
Clearwater Federal, Clearwater, Florida
Coca-Cola World Headquarters, Florida
Contemporary Arts Society
Department of Management Services, Tallahassee, Florida
Department of Transportation, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Deutsche Morgan Grenfell
Education Authority, Hull
Falmouth Art Gallery, Cornwall
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Georgia
Florida House of Representatives, Tallahassee, Florida
Florida Power and Light, Miami, Florida
Florida State University Museum, Florida
Getty Center for the History of Art, Los Angeles, California
IBM Collection, Atlanta, Boca Raton, Florida and New York
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle
Leeds City Museum
Leicester Museum and Art Gallery
Leon County Civic Center, Tallahassee, Florida
McMaster Museum of Art, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Northwest Regional Data Center, State University System, Florida
Orlando Aviation Authority, Florida
Park Bank, Sarasota, Florida
Pegasus Solutions, Dallas Texas
Philips International, Eindhoven, Holland
Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona
Playboy Corporation Collection, Chicago
Polk Museum, Florida
Prudential Insurance Collection
Regency Group Collection
Ringling Art Museum, Sarasota, Florida
Rouse Company Collection
Rugby Library, Gallery & Museum
Shearson Lehman Hutton Collection, New York
Slaughter and May, London
Southern Bell, Jacksonville, Florida
St Anne’s College, Oxford
St Catherine’s College, Oxford
Tate Gallery, London
Trinity College, Oxford
University of Leeds
University of Stirling
University of Sussex, Brighton
UVU Keleia Collection, Ljubljana
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Wakefield City Art Gallery
Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
John Lewis Group
Terence Disdale Design
Numerous private collections in Europe, Canada and the United States
PRIZES AND FELLOWSHIPS
Paris Biennale Major Prize Winner
Gregory Fellow, Leeds University
Italian Government Scholarship
Florida Art Fellowship
Emeritus Professor, Florida State University
Honorary R.W.A
Honorary Fellow, University College Falmouth
FURTHER READING
Trevor Bell by Chris Stephens, published by Sanson & Company, ISBN 978-1-904537-88-5
He was awarded a scholarship to attend The Leeds College of Art from 1947 to 1952 and, encouraged by Terry Frost, moved to Cornwall in 1955. St Ives was the epicentre for British abstract art being the home to artists such as Patrick Heron, Peter Lanyon, Ben Nicholson, Naum Gabo, Barbara Hepworth and Terry Frost, he made his reputation as a leading member who helped establish British Art on the international stage.
From these artists, especially Nicholson, Bell received advice and support. Nicholson, alongside his then dealer Charles Gimpel, encouraged him to show in London and Waddington Galleries gave Bell his first solo exhibition in 1958. Patrick Heron wrote the introduction to the exhibition catalogue, stating that Bell was ‘the best non-figurative painter under thirty’.
In 1959 Bell was awarded the Paris Biennale International Painting Prize, and an Italian Government Scholarship and the following year was offered the Fellowship in Painting at the University of Leeds so moved back to his hometown, Bell went on to become a Gregory Fellow at Leeds University. It was during this period that Bell developed his shaped canvases, setting his work apart from other artists of his generation.
Throughout the 1960’s Bell showed work in major exhibitions in the UK and USA and during this time his work was first purchased for the Tate collection. In 1973 he presented his new work at the Whitechapel Gallery in London, having just taken part in a major exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington DC. Over the course of the next thirty years Bell combined painting with teaching in various locationseventually moving to Florida State University in 1976 to become the Professor for Master Painting. Here with the provision of a warehouse sized studio and time to really develop his painting he produced the large-scale, intensely coloured works for which he is known, reflecting the influence of the climate and landscape on him and his work. He went on to spend the next 20 years in America. Important exhibitions were held at the Corcoran Gallery and the Academy of Sciences in Washington, the Metropolitan Museum in Miami, The Cummer Gallery and the Museum of Art, Florida.
In 1985 Bell was included in the London Tate Gallery’s St Ives 1939-64 exhibition and in 1993 he was part of the inaugural show of the Tate St Ives, where he was again re-established as part of the St Ives artists movement. He moved back to Cornwall in 1996 which began his long-term relationship with the Millennium. Bell had a major solo exhibition at the Tate St.Ives in 2004 and in 2011 a further 14 works were obtained by the Tate Gallery for their permanent collection.
Bell has had works purchased and commissioned by numerous other international museums and public and private collections including (among others) The Arts Council of England, British Council, British Museum, Boca Raton, Laing Art Gallery, Ljubljana’s U.V.U Keleia Collection and the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Bell is twice a recipient of fellowships from the Fine Arts Council of Florida, an Honorary RWA from the Royal Western England Academy, An Honoury Fellow of University College Falmouth and an Emeritus Professorship by Florida State University.
CV
Born in Leeds 1930, Currently living in Cornwall.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2012
Link, Millennium, St. Ives
2011
80 Years Young, Waterhouse and Dodd, New York
2010
Trevor Bell at Eighty - Earth Air Fire Water Aether
Nothing Extra, Waterhouse and Dodd, London
2009
Haste Slowly, Millennium, St.Ives
Nothing Extra, Leeds University Gallery
Moving Right Along, Waterhouse & Dodd, London
2007
White and Colour, New Millennium Gallery, St Ives
2006
Before Sea, After Earth, Waterhouse & Dodd, London
Large Works, Waterhouse & Dodd, London
Saďd Gallery, Oxford
2005
Still – The New Paintings, Lydon Fine Art, Chicago
Trevor Bell: Heatscape – The Florida Six and Still – The New Paintings,
Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum, Bournemouth
Calm Squares, Allusive Forms, New Millennium Gallery, St Ives
Recent Work, Lydon Fine Art, Chicago
2004/5
Trevor Bell: Beyond Materiality, Tate Gallery, St Ives
2003
New Millennium Gallery, St Ives
Trevor Bell: A British Painter in America, Florida State University
Museum of Fine Arts, Tallahassee, Florida
The Gulf Coast Museum, Largo, Florida
2002
Lydon Fine Art, Chicago
Galerie Pelar Ltd, Greenport, New York
Seven Worchester, Bath
2001
Lydon Fine Art, Chicago
New Millennium Gallery, St Ives
2000
North Light Gallery, Huddersfield
1999
Stephen Lacey Gallery, London
1998
Hodgell Gallery, Sarasota, Florida
Falmouth College of Arts, Falmouth
1996
Illinois Centre, Chicago
1995
Art Collectors Gallery, Coral Gables, Florida
Mercantile Exchange Building, Chicago
Marsha Orr Contemporary Fine Art, Tallahassee, Florida
1994
Lydon Fine Art, Chicago
1993
Division of Cultural Affairs, Tallahassee, Florida
Lydon Fine Art, Chicago Lin & Keng Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
1992
Foster Harmon Gallery, Sarasota, Florida
Lydon Fine Art, Chicago
Jaffe/Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, Florida
1992
621 Gallery, Tallahassee, Florida
1991
Gloria Luria Gallery, Miami
Florida Center for the Arts, Vero Beach, Florida
1990
Foster Harmon Gallery, Florida
Lydon Fine Art, Chicago
Eve Mannes Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
Gillian Jason Gallery, London
1989
New Art Centre, London
Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Gloria Luria Gallery, Bal Harbour, Florida
1988
Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, Florida
Charleston College, South Carolina
1986
Foster Harmon Gallery, Sarasota, Florida
Cummer Museum, Jacksonville, Florida
1985
Metropolitan Museum, Coral Gates, Miami, Florida
Gloria Luria Gallery, Bal Harbour, Florida
1984
Big Magenta installation, Florida State University Center for Professional Development, Tallahassee, Florida
1983
Shaped Work from the 60s, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
1982
National Academy of Science, Washington DC
Artspace, Miami, Florida
1981
Intimate Works on Paper, Virginia Miller Gallery, Coral Gables, Florida
Artspace, Miami, Florida
University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida
1980
Five Bar exhibited, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
Four Arts Center, ICA, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
Major Works. Virginia Miller Gallery, Coral Gables, Miami, Florida
1975
Southern Cross exhibited, Bundestag, Bonn, Germany
1974
Corcoran Gallery, Washington D.C.
1973
Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
1970
Richard Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh
Arts Council of Northern Ireland Gallery, Belfast
Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield
Park Square Gallery, Leeds
1969
Lancaster University Greenwich Gallery, London
1964
Waddington Gallery, London
1962
Waddington Gallery, London
1963
Bear Lane Gallery, Oxford
1960
Waddington Gallery, London
1958
Waddington Gallery, London
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Abbot Hall Gallery, Kendal
Aberdeen Art Gallery
Arts Council of Great Britain
American Express
Astra Zeneca, Boston, Massachussetts
Balliol College, Oxford
Nett Bank, Florida
British Council
British Museum
Broward County Courthouse, Florida
Clearwater Federal, Clearwater, Florida
Coca-Cola World Headquarters, Florida
Contemporary Arts Society
Department of Management Services, Tallahassee, Florida
Department of Transportation, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Deutsche Morgan Grenfell
Education Authority, Hull
Falmouth Art Gallery, Cornwall
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Georgia
Florida House of Representatives, Tallahassee, Florida
Florida Power and Light, Miami, Florida
Florida State University Museum, Florida
Getty Center for the History of Art, Los Angeles, California
IBM Collection, Atlanta, Boca Raton, Florida and New York
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle
Leeds City Museum
Leicester Museum and Art Gallery
Leon County Civic Center, Tallahassee, Florida
McMaster Museum of Art, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Northwest Regional Data Center, State University System, Florida
Orlando Aviation Authority, Florida
Park Bank, Sarasota, Florida
Pegasus Solutions, Dallas Texas
Philips International, Eindhoven, Holland
Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona
Playboy Corporation Collection, Chicago
Polk Museum, Florida
Prudential Insurance Collection
Regency Group Collection
Ringling Art Museum, Sarasota, Florida
Rouse Company Collection
Rugby Library, Gallery & Museum
Shearson Lehman Hutton Collection, New York
Slaughter and May, London
Southern Bell, Jacksonville, Florida
St Anne’s College, Oxford
St Catherine’s College, Oxford
Tate Gallery, London
Trinity College, Oxford
University of Leeds
University of Stirling
University of Sussex, Brighton
UVU Keleia Collection, Ljubljana
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Wakefield City Art Gallery
Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
John Lewis Group
Terence Disdale Design
Numerous private collections in Europe, Canada and the United States
PRIZES AND FELLOWSHIPS
Paris Biennale Major Prize Winner
Gregory Fellow, Leeds University
Italian Government Scholarship
Florida Art Fellowship
Emeritus Professor, Florida State University
Honorary R.W.A
Honorary Fellow, University College Falmouth
FURTHER READING
Trevor Bell by Chris Stephens, published by Sanson & Company, ISBN 978-1-904537-88-5
