Treen 5

Robyn Denny taught at Bath Academy of Art from 1959 to 1965. Denny rapidly became an established international figure. In 1973 he was the youngest living British artist to have a retrospective at the Tate Gallery in London. This painting combines abstract expressionist brushwork with the insertion of letter forms and numerals, reflecting the influence of not only new American painting, but also of advertising, the media and other manifestations of a 1950s urban dynamic. The picture represents the artist at a key moment in his career, one that corresponds to his time at Bath. This is the first work by Denny to be acquired by the gallery.