Albert Artwell (1942-2018)

Oil on Board

Signed lower right “Albert Artwell”

Sight Size: 17 x 24 in. (43.18 x 60.96 cm.)

Framed Size: 18.5 x 25.5 in. (47 x 64.77 cm.)

Condition: Good condition.

Albert Artwell (1942-2018) is widely regarded as one of the founders of the Jamaican Intuitive Art Movement. His visionary compositions— in particular religious scenes interwoven with contemporary themes — feature clear and concise imagery imbued with rich coloration, and are considered by many to be a unique modern variant of ancient Egyptian and African art forms.
Born in Catadupa, St. James, and raised by a family of farmers, Artwell was among the core group of largely self-taught Jamaican Intuitive painters whose work was featured in major exhibitions beginning in 1979 at the National Gallery of Jamaica with the presentation of the landmark Intuitive Eye group show. His work was also featured in the critically acclaimed Jamaican Art 1922-82 exhibition that was staged by the Smithsonian Institution’s Traveling Exhibition Service at several international venues between 1983 and 1985. In 1986 Artwell’s work was included in the Commonwealth Institute of London’s exhibitionJamaican Intuitives, the first exhibition in the United Kingdom to feature the efforts of these artists, and in 1987 Artwell was one of the Fifteen Intuitives that comprised a second group exhibition of Intuitive Art at the National Gallery of Jamaica. From 1999-2002 Artwell’s work was displayed in Redemption Songs: The Intuitive Artists of Jamaica , which toured throughout the U.S., and most recently, his paintings were seen in the Jamaica Jamaica! exhibition that premiered in 2017 at the Philharmonie de Paris before moving on to Brazil.

In 2003, Artwell was awarded the Institute of Jamaica’s prestigious Lady Musgrave Medal for Outstanding Merit in the Field of Art. His work is on permanent display at the National Gallery of Jamaica.