CURRENT OFFERING: WINSTON BRANCH

Release 18/03/2026

Winston Branch is a prominent British Postwar and Contemporary painter. Born in Saint Lucia in 1947, he studied at the Slade School of Fine Art (UCL) under Frank Auerbach, where he crossed paths with emerging talents such as David Hockney, Howard Hodgkin, John Hoyland, and Patrick Procktor. 

Although broader recognition came later in his career, Branch has established himself as one of the most compelling painters of his generation, earning a rightful place among the most accomplished British artists of the past sixty years.

Working primarily in acrylic, he creates richly colored fields of paint that evoke a hazy, atmospheric space. Paint is splattered, flicked, and spread in bursts of electric color or earthy tones. His technique generates a sense of depth and movement, producing abstract landscapes that occasionally verge on the figurative.

At 77, Branch continues to paint daily. His contributions to both art and education have earned him numerous distinctions, including appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2024, the British Prix de Rome in 1971, a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Fellowship to Berlin in 1976, and a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in 1978.

His paintings are held in numerous public and private collections, including Tate Britain, The British Museum, The Brooklyn Museum, The Arts Council England, Rugby Art Gallery and Museum, The Victoria and Albert Museum, The Hamburger Kunsthalle Museum, The St Louis Art Museum, Crocker Art Museum, and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, among others.

Last November, the prestigious Goodman Gallery announced its global representation of Winston Branch, and his work will be presented in a major retrospective at Tate Britain in 2027.

Branch has exhibited his work consistently since the 1960s, He has exhibited paintings, and works on paper in over 25 solo shows, and over 75 groups shows.

Selected Solo Shows:

·   2026 & 2027 (Upcoming)

A major retrospective at Tate Britain in London is scheduled for early 2027

A solo exhibition at Rugby Art Gallery and Museum in London is scheduled for April 2026

·   2025

“Out of the Calabash”, Goodman Gallery, London, UK (November 17-January 17, 2026)

“All Rivers Flow Too, The Sea, You Must Not Look Back”, Galerie Volker Diehl, Berlin, Germany

“Winston Branch: The Luminous Gesture”, Cahiers D’Art Galerie, Paris, France

·   2023

“The Sweet Scent of Magnolia”, The Blender Gallery and Varvara Roza Galleries, London, UK

“Winston Branch: Journey into Light”, Sotheby’s , London, UK

“Fragments of Light”, Cedric Bardawil Gallery and Varvara Roza Galleries, London, UK

·   2022

“Winston Branch: Jasmines Blowing in the Wind”, Simon Lee Gallery and Varvara Roza Galleries, London, UK

Selected Group Shows:

·   2026 (Upcoming)

A show celebrating the 60th anniversary of Goodman Gallery, Paris is scheduled in April

 2025

“Art Basel Miami” – Art Fair, Goodman Gallery, Miami, USA

·   2024

“Keeping Time”, Gallery 1957, Accra, Ghana

“In Praise of Black Errantry” –  60th Venice Biennale, Unit Gallery, Venice, Italy

·   2023

“Summer Exhibition”, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK

“Art Basel 2023”, Simon Lee Gallery, Basel, Switzerland

·   2022

“Sixty Years: The Unfinished Conversation”, Tate Britain, London, UK

“Art Basel Miami 2022”, Simon Lee Gallery, Miami, USA

“Althea McNish: Color is Mine”, Whitworth Gallery, Manchester, UK

·   2018

“London Art Fair”, Art UK Project, London, UK

·   2015

“No Color Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960-1990”, Guildhall Art Gallery, London , UK

Branch's early paintings were figurative, often drawing on subjects from his childhood. He painted landscapes, still lifes, and figurative compositions, but found representational images too limiting,

as viewers tended to impose strong interpretations on his work that diverged from his intentions. By the mid-1970s, Branch transitioned to abstraction. His commitment to abstraction was solidified during his Guggenheim Fellowship in New York in 1978, where he was deeply influenced by the work of Clyfford Still. This pivotal change allowed Branch to explore the emotional and expressive potential of color and form, rather than direct figuration.

Branch's works are primarily in acrylics. He creates richly colored planes of paint that evoke a hazy atmosphere. Paint is splattered, flicked or spread in a frenzy of electric color or earthy tones. It is layered to create depths that are then highlighted in equal measure to form landscapes of paint that extend both across and deep into the canvas. Forms occasionally merge into something figurative.

Art critic Carlos Diaz Sosa describes his paintings as “abstract canvases in cool, cloudy colors that have a quality that allows the viewer to explore the depths of the mind. Branch uses paint like a symbol, a purely aesthetic language, an illustration of spirit.”

Though his recognition has come later in life, Winston Branch stands out as one of the most compelling painters of his generation—rightfully earning a central place among the most accomplished British artists of the past 60 years. His work continues to evolve, surprise, and inspire.