Adrian George 1944-2021 , was a fine artist and illustrator who sadly died in his London studio earlier this year. He was essentially a London lad living above is fathers chemist shop in North West London , schooled at the local grammar school and took evening classes at Harrow Art School . As a teenager he hitchhiked across Europe and from that point on he was a wondering soul, travelling and living across the world for most of his life .
His more formal art training began when at 19 he attended the Royal College of art studying illustration, where he took particularly to Peter Blake, then just beginning to make his way as a pioneer of Pop Art. Perhaps his early, hedonistic life in the swinging 60’s and kaleidoscopic 70’s is best left to his own account below.
‘I think it was the artist, Peter Blake, who first introduced me to the enchantments of Notting Hill in the 1960's. He had taught me at Harrow Art School and he used to meet with his friends like Patrick Caulfield and Derek Boshier in a pub on the Portobello Road on Saturdays. When I went to the Royal College of Art in 1964, Notting Hill was an obvious place to live. In those sensual days shades of grey were brightly illuminated by an unusual combination of time and place and people. I seemed to spend my time in Rolls Royces being driven to slum basements. In 1967 I made some drawings in Tangier, which were published in Queen magazine, Kit Lambert, the manager, involved in a 'Who' record sleeve, I worked on a film for 20th Century Fox. There were drawings for magazines like the Sunday Times under Harold Evans and Nova for Molly Parkin and also 'underground' magazines like Oz through Felix Dennis and also radical theatre with Philip Prowse at the Glasgow Citizens. Everything seemed to happen at once. And then there was travel, always when there was enough money; travels in Europe and travels around America.
The 1960's kaleidoscoped into the 1970's my indistinct memories reveal gangsters and fey pop stars, Joe Boyd a record producer of Jimi Hendrix, playing games of poker with people on the run. Fashion designers and boutiques, Zandra Rhodes and her sponsor Vanessa Redgrave, embryonic pop stars like Mark Bolan or Brian Ferry or Nick Drake always seemed to be in the corners of rooms at parties and night clubs. The best night club was Mo McDermotts. It was an entirely amateur affair. Mo was David Hockney's assistant and occupied the basement flat underneath Hockney's studio in Powis Terrace. Through a Baudelairian haze I can see Mo as a master of ceremonies to a nocturnal parade of artists, designers, musicians, models, hustlers, minor aristrocrats and major talents. There people who should have known better and some who had known a lot worse, met and drank and danced the night away. Some I still know, many are dead. Here a Beatle, there a Rolling Stone. The lovely orchidacious Patrick Proctor and amongst the catamites and their masters, pretty girls like sweet Marinka and the charming Celia Birtwell. There was forbidden fruit for every taste and much work to be done.’
George’s illustrations of Hockney (sold at Christies in 2008) and Bowie ( Christies 2018) are amount his best known together with that on Lady Diana. He also produced a number of stamps for the post office and worked extensively for Times and Telegraph newspapers being send round the world to illustrate and write .
He has exhibited extensively around the world and had many solo exhibitions in London, at Francis Kyle Gallery and at Chris Beetles Gallery in 2005. ‘ George’s work is included in important private collections worldwide and is also represented in both the National Portrait Gallery and V& A. We are delighted that we are able to offer 3 large works by Adrian George so do contact us if you are interested in his work and would like more details .