Richard Allen (1933–1999)

Biography

Richard Allen was a key British artist of the 1960s and '70s, known for his engagement with Op Art, Systems, Geometric Abstraction, and Minimalism. While he primarily used acrylic paints, Allen was also innovative in his use of new media. He experimented with fast acid dyes, charcoal on canvas, and, in the late 1990s, even embraced new digital tools.

Allen began his artistic training informally at the Worcester School of Art before fully enrolling in the Bath Academy of Art in 1957. He thrived under the academy's unconventional teaching approach, which featured visiting lecturers who were key contemporary artists of the time, including Adrian Heath, Howard Hodgkin, Gillian Ayres, William Scott, and Robyn Denny. After completing his degree in art and art teaching, Allen began teaching at Croydon College of Art in 1962, where his colleagues included fellow artists Bridget Riley and John Hoyland.

During the 1960s, Allen started creating his first Optical paintings and exhibited his work alongside prominent artists like Riley, Michael Kidner, Peter Sedgley, and Jeffrey Steele. In 1967, he incorporated moiré interferometry into his process, producing large-scale paintings that used two colours to create stunning interference patterns. These large canvases were featured in the 1970 artist-organised Match Shed exhibition, alongside works by Riley and Sedgley.

Allen's work received significant institutional recognition. In the early 1970s, he was invited to join Matrix, a group of artists that included Kidner, Steele, John Ernest, and Jean Spencer. The group's work was shown in the ‘Matrix Exhibition’ at the Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol in 1971, which subsequently led to the ‘Systems’ exhibition curated by Nicolas Serota at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1972. Allen's paintings were also included in ‘British Painting ’74’ at the Hayward Gallery. In 1975, he held a solo show at the ICA where he showed his new charcoal on canvas works.

In 1977, Allen moved to Jersey in the Channel Islands. He continued to produce his charcoal paintings and exhibited his work in Europe, Japan, and the United States. 

Allen’s work is held in many private and public collections, including the Tate, Museum of Croydon, Jersey Museum and Art Gallery, and Aberystwyth University School of Art Museum and Galleries.

Related artists

Michael Kidner / John Hoyland / Peter Jackson / Adrian Heath

Available works

Please see below the selection of available original artworks by Richard Allen.