Clive McCartney (b.1960)

Clive McCartney was born in 1960 in New Delhi, India, later to live in Bahrain, before his parents returned home to live in England. He entered art studies at the Central School of Art, followed by a degree course at Chelsea School of Art, where he received distinction, studying under Cecil Collins, Patrick Caulfield, Ken Cliff and Anthony Wishaw.

After graduation, he travelled extensively throughout the Far East, Egypt, Turkey and Moorish Spain; countries where a strong belief system is still in operation.

On his return, he taught art at Dulwich College and in 1991 was awarded artist in residence at Sutton Valence School in Kent. These two years afforded him the freedom to fully develop his work.

He is now a full-time painter with influences ranging from Vuillard, Morandi, Sickert and Matisse. He also greatly admires the works of 'outsider' Albert Camus, and the poetry of T.S. Eliot and Frederick Garcia Lorca. His main interest in painting is to reach that point where the picture more or less 'paints itself' and the artist acts as a cypher without imbuing the work with any overt 'personal' message.