Air

Rees’s humble pencil studies remind us of how vital it is to explore, learn about and come to understand the world in our own way. The artist began this group of studies when he was a young man, aged only 17, who loved to draw and was training his hand and eye. Rees lived to 93 and, as his sight faded, he was forced to abandon the great precision of line he had perfected. His late landscapes, like those of Joseph Mallord William Turner, whom Rees greatly admired, became increasingly abstract and concerned with tracing the effects of light and atmosphere. The sunlit tower 1986 seems to invest a glowing energy in that open space of potential — whether a blank page or freshly prepared canvas — he faced repeatedly throughout his life. GB ‘Rees’s humble pencil studies remind us of how vital it is to explore, learn about and come to understand the world in our own way.’ Lloyd Rees / Bamboos near corner of Park and River Roads; Trees in Milton c.1915–16 121 120 Shared