David ASPDEN

One of Australia's celebrated colour field and hard-edge abstract painters, David Aspden is known for merging colour, shape, and representing the movement of light through trees. He was also inspired by jazz and classical music.

Born in Bolton, in the post-industrial north of England, he moved to Australia in 1950 and worked as a signwriter for twelve years before moving to Sydney in the mid-1960s to pursue a career as an artist. He held his first solo exhibition at Watters Gallery in 1965. Two of his works were included in the ground-breaking National Gallery of Victoria exhibition The Field in 1968 that changed the national perspective of art. In 1970, Aspden was described as "Australia's leading colour-painter" and awarded a gold medal at the Sao Paulo Biennale the following year.

He is represented in many Australian metropolitan and regional public collections, including the National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, National Gallery of Victoria, Queensland Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Ballarat, TarraWarra Museum of Art.