# Stephen Gilbert

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For other people, see [Stephen Gilbert (disambiguation)](/source/Stephen_Gilbert_(disambiguation)).

**Stephen Gilbert** (15 January 1910 – 12 January 2007) was a British painter, sculptor and architectural designer active in [Paris](/source/Paris).[1][2][3][4] During the [Second World War](/source/World_War_II) Gilbert and his wife lived in [Dublin](/source/Dublin) and were members of [The White Stag Group](/source/The_White_Stag_Group).[3] A representative of the post-war Parisian avant-garde, Gilbert was a member of [COBRA](/source/COBRA_(art_movement)) art movement.[3][4]

## Early years and education

Gilbert was born in the village of [Wormit](/source/Wormit), Fife to English parents Francis Gordon William Gilbert, a [Commander](/source/Commander_(Royal_Navy)) in the [Royal Navy](/source/Royal_Navy), and Cicely Gilbert ().[5][6][7] Gilbert was the paternal grandson of [Sir Alfred Gilbert](/source/Alfred_Gilbert), a [sculptor](/source/Sculptor)[1][5], and was the uncle of [Peter F. C. Gilbert](/source/Peter_F._C._Gilbert), a [neuroscientist](/source/Neuroscientist) and [biophysicist](/source/Biophysics).

He studied architecture at the [Slade School of Art](/source/Slade_School_of_Art) in London from 1929 to 1932,[8] where he befriended fellow student [Roger Hilton](/source/Roger_Hilton). Gilbert won the Slade Scholarship at the end of his first year, and the principal Sir [Henry Tonks](/source/Henry_Tonks) encouraged him to start painting from 1930. He also met sculptor [Jocelyn Chewett](/source/Jocelyn_Chewett) at the Slade.[5]

## Career

He exhibited at the [Royal Academy](/source/Royal_Academy) in 1936, and put on an early solo show in London, at the [Wertheim Gallery](/source/Wertheim_Gallery) in 1938. He moved to [Paris](/source/Paris) in 1937, where his wife studied under [Ossip Zadkine](/source/Ossip_Zadkine), leaving before the [Second World War](/source/World_War_II). He failed a medical for military service, and he spent the war in [Ireland](/source/Ireland) near [Dublin](/source/Dublin) with his wife and son, Humphrey. He joined [The White Stag group](/source/The_White_Stag_group) of refugee artists.[8] His work was inspired by [Masson](/source/Andr%C3%A9_Masson), and by reading [Jung](/source/Jung), [Nietzsche](/source/Nietzsche) and [Jakob Böhme](/source/Jakob_B%C3%B6hme), with fantastic creatures and plants painted in vivid colours.[5]

He returned to Paris in 1946, after the birth of his daughter Frances. He exhibited at the [Salon des Surindépendents](/source/Salon_des_Surind%C3%A9pendents) in Paris in 1948,[8] attracting the attention of Danish artist [Asger Jorn](/source/Asger_Jorn), and leading to his membership of the [CoBrA](/source/COBRA_(avant-garde_movement)) [avant-garde](/source/Avant-garde) art group.[5] He was one of only two British members, the other being [William Gear](/source/William_Gear). He was included in the first issue of the group's journal and participated in both major exhibitions: the [Bregnerød congress](/source/Bregner%C3%B8d_congress) in August 1949, where he worked on the collective mural, and the [Amsterdam](/source/Amsterdam) exhibition at the [Stedelijk Museum](/source/Stedelijk_Museum) in November of that year, where he worked with [Constant Nieuwenhuys](/source/Constant_Nieuwenhuys).[5] A French art critic[who?] described him as "*le plus français des sculpteurs anglais et l'un des plus européens parmi les artistes*" ("the most French of British sculptors and one of the most European of artists").[9]

He also visited [Max Walter Svanberg](/source/Max_Walter_Svanberg) in [Sweden](/source/Sweden). After his contact with CoBrA, his approach to painting became more abstract, but he remained in contact with [Pierre Alechinsky](/source/Pierre_Alechinsky) after CoBrA dissolved. He exhibited several times at the [Salon des Réalités Nouvelles](/source/Salon_des_R%C3%A9alit%C3%A9s_Nouvelles).[8]

During the 1950s, he concentrated on three-dimensional and architectural forms, formed from sheets of [aluminium](/source/Aluminium).[8] He joined [André Bloc](/source/Andr%C3%A9_Bloc)'s [Groupe Espace](/source/Groupe_Espace) in 1954, exhibiting at the [Salon de la Jeune Sculpture](/source/Salon_de_la_Jeune_Sculpture). He was also a founder of the [Néovision](/source/N%C3%A9ovision) group, and worked with experimental architect [Peter Stead](/source/Peter_Stead_(architect)).[5] He moved on to more curvilinear forms, exhibited at the [Drian Galleries](/source/Drian_Galleries) in London in 1961, and completed two public commissions in London. He received a [Gulbenkian award](/source/Calouste_Gulbenkian_Foundation) in 1962, and the sculpture prize at the [Tokyo Biennale](/source/Tokyo_Biennale) in 1965.[5]

Following Jocelyn Chewett's death in 1979, his sculpture moved on from open forms to more enclosed structures. He returned to painting in the 1980s. Examples of his work are held by public collections, including [KUNSTEN Museum of Modern Art Aalborg](/source/KUNSTEN_Museum_of_Modern_Art_Aalborg), [Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam](/source/Stedelijk_Museum_Amsterdam), [Calouste Gulbenkian Museum](/source/Calouste_Gulbenkian_Museum) and [Tate Museum](/source/Tate_Museum).[8]

## Personal life

In 1935, Gilbert married [Jocelyn Chewett](/source/Jocelyn_Chewett) with whom he had two children.[4][5] He died 12 January 2007 in [Somerset](/source/Somerset), aged 96.[4][5][10]

## References

1. Chilvers, Ian & Glaves-Smith, John (2015). ["Gilbert, Stephen (1910–2007) British sculptor and painter"](https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780191792229.001.0001/acref-9780191792229-e-994?rskey=jLePJo&result=2). *A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art$ A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art*. 3 ed. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191792229. Retrieved 1 May 2026.

1. ["Gilbert, Stephen (Scottish painter, sculptor, 1910-2007)"](http://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500011075). *Union of Artist Names Online*. Los Angeles, California: [J. Paul Getty Trust](/source/J._Paul_Getty_Trust). Retrieved 1 May 2026.

1. Kennedy, S.B. (2005). ["Biographical Notes of Principal White Stag Artists and Those Associated With Them"](https://archive.org/details/whitestaggroup0000kenn/page/148/mode/2up). *The White Stag Group*. Dublin: Irish Museum of Modern Art. pp. 149–154. ISBN 1903811503. Retrieved 1 May 2026.

1. ["Obituary: Stephen Gilbert"](https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/stephen-gilbert-fn6qlgnbcc5). *[The Times](/source/The_Times)*. 19 January 2007. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20260501094535/https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/stephen-gilbert-fn6qlgnbcc5) 1 May 2026 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 1 May 2026.

1. Grieve, Alastair (14 February 2007). ["Stephen Gilbert"](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/feb/14/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries). *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*. Retrieved 4 July 2023.

1. "Francis G W Gilbert". *1939 Register; Middlesex; Uxbridge Ud; Bvav*. Kew, Richmond: The National Archives. 1939.

1. "Francis Gordon William Gilbert and Cicely Kellett". *London Church of England Parish Registers; Westminster; St Saviour, Paddington: Warwick Avenue; 1906–1913*. London, UK: The London Archives. 22 April 1909.

1. ["Gilbert, Stephen"](https://doi.org/10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.B00073767). *Benezit Dictionary of Artists*. 31 October 2011. [doi:10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.B00073767](https://doi.org/10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.B00073767). Retrieved 4 July 2023.

1. Westley, Hester (24 January 2007). ["Stephen Gilbert"](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/stephen-gilbert-433409.html). *The Independent*. Retrieved 4 July 2023.

1. "Stephen Gilbert [Death Index]". *England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes*. '***(Q1). London, UK: General Register Office. 2007.***

## External links

- [Works in the Tate Collection](http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ArtistWorks?cgroupid=999999961&artistid=1165&page=1)
- [2006 retrospective at Henry Moore Institute, Leeds](https://web.archive.org/web/20070927014440/http://www.henry-moore-fdn.co.uk/matrix_engine/content.php?page_id=2626&shop=257)

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