Ian McKeever, Study for a Painting, 1975 - mixed media on paper, 66x89 cm

Ian McKeever (Withernsea, Yorkshire, 1946) Study for a Painting, 1975 Mixed media (gouache, acrylic, and pencil/charcoal) on paper, 66 x 89 cm. Handwritten inscription in pencil at the bottom: study for painting – ... Ian McKeever. On the reverse, two labels from the Galleria d’Arte del Cavallino, Venice. This drawing belongs to the early phase of McKeever’s artistic exploration, when the landscape was still the direct reference point for his work and when the artist was experimenting with the coexistence of different techniques—collage of painted inserts, freehand drawing, and gouache—on the same sheet of paper. The composition is structured around three main elements: two fragments of wallpaper glued on the left (color reference samples), a large pencil drawing depicting an open landscape, and a rectangle painted green inserted diagonally into the drawing, creating a tension between painterly gesture and graphic line. The provenance is documented: in 1976, McKeever held a solo exhibition at the Galleria del Cavallino (Works 1974–76), one of Venice’s leading galleries for international contemporary art. Elected a member of the Royal Academy in 2003, his works are included in the collections of the Tate, the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and other major international museums. This work is of considerable documentary interest regarding the early period of one of the most important British painters of the second half of the 20th century.