Victor Pasmore

Victor Pasmore’s career is a study in transformation: from accomplished figurative painter of the 1930s and 1940s, to the architect of a new British abstraction that redefined shape, space, and colour in the postwar era. Born in 1908, Pasmore trained at the Central School of Arts and Crafts and later taught at the Euston Road School, where he aligned with a generation committed to realism and social engagement. 

However, by the late 1940s he turned decisively toward abstraction, influenced by the writings and work of Piet Mondrian and Paul Klee, as well as by his contemporaries such as Ben Nicholson. This shift was more than formal: it reflected a conviction that abstraction — rhythm, geometry, structure — could express a fundamental harmony, and perhaps contribute to a more ordered, harmonious society after the chaos of war. 

Pasmore’s early abstract paintings and collages from 1948–54 are characterised by lean, geometric abstraction, constructed reliefs, and a pared-down material vocabulary. Critics at the time recognized this as revolutionary: one hailed Pasmore’s new style as “the most revolutionary event in post-war British art.” 

In his reliefs and constructed panels, Pasmore explored spatial relationships — planes, voids, light, and shadow — rather than pictorial illusion. His works often used non-traditional materials and embraced architectural scale, anticipating later developments in installation and environmental art. This integration of abstraction and built form marked him as a pioneering figure in integrating art and architecture in Britain. 

Later in his career, Pasmore’s abstractions increasingly embraced colour, rhythmic interplay and a softness that contrasted with the sharper earlier constructions; yet the underlying structure remained evident: order tempered with lyricism. As such, his progression mirrors the tensions and transformations of mid-20th-century art, between structure and emotion, control and spontaneity.

Pasmore also played a significant role as teacher and mentor. His theoretical writings and pedagogical work helped disseminate constructivist ideas and abstraction to younger generations of British artists. His belief in abstraction as a universal, social language — capable of transcending personal narrative or national identity — has had lasting influence. 

Today, Pasmore’s works are held in major public collections in the UK and internationally. His legacy lies not only in his own paintings and reliefs but in the structural and conceptual frameworks he provided for generations of abstract practitioners. Through his synthesis of European modernist influences and a distinctly British sensibility, Victor Pasmore remains a cornerstone of postwar art in Britain.