Vincent Bennett, Ale Drinkers, 1970, Oil on Canvas Board

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Vincent Bennett
(1910 – 1993 Plymouth)
“Ale Drinkers”, c.1970
Oil on canvas board
Unsigned; labelled and titled verso
457 × … Read more Vincent Bennett
(1910 – 1993 Plymouth)
“Ale Drinkers”, c.1970
Oil on canvas board
Unsigned; labelled and titled verso
457 × 609 mm | 18 × 24 in
Unframed

A lovely lightly-painted scene, full of humour and wry observation, typical of the humane eye of this great painter who rarely showed his work in his lifetime.
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Vincent Bennett trained at Plymouth School of Art in the 1920s alongside Cecil Collins, and moved to London in 1930 where he worked as a scenery painter, supplementing his income with drawings published in magazines, and occasional boxing matches(!) In 1932 he returned to Plymouth and established himself as a jazz drummer, appearing regularly at local venues with various groups. He also began painting murals around the city. In 1945 he married Mary Hemingway who actively encouraged and facilitated his artistic career.

Their son Jonathan was born in 1950, by which time Bennett had settled to a more conventional career as an art teacher. He maintained he learnt more from the children than they did from him. He retired in 1975, happily devoting himself full time to painting until ill health intervened. A muted palette and naturalistic forms dominate his early easel painting. Later, as the techniques he used as a scenic painter encroached upon the academic concerns of his formal training, his own very distinctive style emerged, often involving a highly textured surface rendered in vivid hues that reflected his eclectic mix of influences, from Byzantine art to silent cinema. Whether he tackled grand narratives or studies of pub locals, his work is always charged with a dry wit.

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