RAYMOND MYERSCOUGH - WALKER (1908 - 1984)
Raymond Myerscough-Walker was a British artist, architectural draughtsman and painter whose remarkable career spanned the worlds of architecture, modernism and abstraction. Born in Knaresborough, Yorkshire, in 1908, he studied at Leeds School of Art before winning a scholarship to the Architectural Association in London, where he graduated with an AA Diploma.
A gifted and unconventional student, Myerscough quickly gained recognition for his exceptional perspective drawings and architectural paintings, winning the Tite Prize in 1931 and later the prestigious Prix de Rome, which he famously declined. His reputation established him as one of Britain's leading architectural perspectivists of the twentieth century, alongside figures such as Cyril Farey and William Walcot.
During the 1930s, Myerscough immersed himself in London's bohemian artistic circles, embracing the ideas of European modernists including Alvar Aalto, Berthold Lubetkin, Le Corbusier and the Bauhaus movement. Although architecture remained a lifelong passion, he increasingly identified as an artist and writer, signing his work simply as Myerscough.
After the Second World War, he left London for West Sussex, choosing a deliberately modest and independent life. While continuing to undertake architectural painting commissions, he devoted himself to developing a highly personal body of work that explored colour theory, abstraction and philosophical ideas developed in his unpublished writings, Age IV.
Working from his woodland caravan studio with meticulous care and craftsmanship, Myerscough produced an extensive collection of paintings across a range of styles and media, much of which remained unseen during his lifetime. He died in 1984 while working in his studio.
Today, his work reveals an extraordinary artistic journey - from masterful architectural perspectives to visionary abstract paintings - and is being presented to the public through a growing archive, virtual gallery and dedicated monograph, Cool Paintings for a New Age, written by Gallery Lingard.
RAYMOND MYERSCOUGH - WALKER, VIRTUAL GALLERY
An extensive online display of Myerscough's work can now be seen in a virtual gallery, which takes the visitor from his earlier perspective paintings and drawings right through to his later abstract works.
More information about Mysercough's life and works is available at the Ramyond Myerscough-Walker website.