PAUL FEILER (BRITISH, 1918-2013)
Italian Square with Statue
signed and titled 'PAUL FEILER/ITALIAN SQUARE WITH/STATUE' (verso)
oil on board
45.7 x 60.9 cm. (18 x 24 in.)
Painted circa 1953

Provenance
With The Redfern Gallery, London, 1 October 1954, where purchased by
Mrs Weston
With The Piccadilly Gallery, London, March 1959, where purchased by
Mrs Jennings, from whom acquired by the present owner

Exhibited
London, The Redfern Gallery, Christopher Wood/Paul Feiler, 3 Sep-2 Oct, 1954, cat.no.5

“Feiler is an artist who lets us really stand in front of a painting and give ourselves over to it and let ourselves concentrate, remind ourselves what it is to think about colour, form and that particular moment, to think about the relationship of painting to our minds and our world” - Tom Marks

Paul Feiler, born in Frankfurt in 1918, moved to England in 1933 and began studying at the Slade School of Fine Art from 1936 to 1939. When World War II broke out, he was interned in Canada but returned to Britain in 1941 to launch his career as an artist. Over the next three decades, Feiler balanced his artistic pursuits with teaching, holding positions at the Combined Colleges of Eastbourne and Radley and later at the West England College of Art.

Feiler’s work consistently explored the architecture of space and the ambiguity of visual perception. In the early 1950s, he became known for gestural abstractions that echoed natural structures, developing paintings that harmonized space, tone, and light, leading to an elegant simplicity. By 1953, Feiler had made Cornwall his permanent home, and the unique quality of Cornish light and landscape profoundly shaped his style. Influenced by Abstract Expressionism during this period, his abstraction continued to draw from the external world, creating environments that invite viewers to experience space through rich, pictorial form.

Feiler’s journey to Italy in the spring of 1953, followed by a return trip in late 1954, became pivotal periods of exploration and artistic evolution. Accompanied by his wife, June, while their three children stayed with family in Bern, the couple travelled through Italy’s enchanting northern lakes and iconic cities like Florence, Siena, and Venice. These were working visits, where Feiler created around ten paintings on each trip, later translating similar Italian compositions upon his return to England.