PAUL FEILER (BRITISH, 1918-2013)
Ambit VI
signed, titled and dated 'PAUL FEILER/AMBIT VI 1970' (verso)
oil on canvas laid on board
21.2 x 21.2 cm. (8 x 8 in.)

Provenance
The Artist, from whom acquired by
Private Collection, U.K.
Their sale; Bonhams, London, 29 June 2011, lot 99, where purchased by the present owner

Exhibited
London, Austin Desmond Fine Art, Paul Feiler, Paintings and Related Works on Paper, Spring 1990, cat.no.52 (col.ill)

Literature
Michael Raeburm, Paul Feiler 1918-2013, Lund Humphries, London 2018, cat.no.123. (col.ill)

Feiler’s artistic vision centred on the concept of “standing vertically and looking horizontally,” a philosophy rooted in Cézanne’s notion that a painting should offer an “abyss in which the eye is lost.”

Transitioning from painterly abstraction, Feiler delved into probing the enigmatic qualities of space using narrow bands of colour, silver, and gold arranged in a pattern of squares and circles. This exploration, subject to variation and development, spanned over four decades.

“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