Orange and Black Abstract, 1949

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William Gear was born in Methil, Fife and studied at Edinburgh College of Art from 1932 to 1936, followed by a year at Edinburgh University studying History of Art. He travelled in Europe in 1937, studying with Fernand Léger in Paris for several months. He served in Signals during the war but still found time to paint and exhibit. From 1946-7 he mounted exhibitions for the Allies and in 1948 joined the COBRA group of Northern European artists with a common interest in abstract and folk art. He was a painter of abstract compositions, often dancingly powerful in colour. He lived in Paris between 1947-50 developing a strong abstract style based on a framework of black outlines.