David Saunders (artist)

David Saunders (born 1936) is an English artist, teacher, and musician. His work is systematic and constructivist. It is mainly exhibited and appreciated in Europe, where it is held in many national collections.

Early life and education
Saunders was born in 1936 in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. After leaving school, he worked briefly in the advertising industry while taking evening classes held by Vivian Pitchforth at St Martin's School of Art.

Saunders was conscripted into the army and stationed on Salisbury plain, where he enjoyed painting while not on active service. After being discharged, he studied at the Royal Academy Schools under Frederick Gore from 1959 to 1962, where he gained a master's degree.

Career
After completing his studies, Saunders was appointed to a teaching post at Newport College of Art in 1965, where he first met the painter Jeffrey Steele. In 1967 Saunders started producing "Systematic-Constructive" work.

In 1968, at the Arts Council of Great Britain Thirtienth Open Exhibition for Painting and Sculpture in Cardiff, Saunders and Steele won the Purchase Prize. This event began a long collaboration between both artists and, one year later, Saunders was one of the founding members of the Systems Group, following a 1969 exhibition in Helsinki.

In 1970, Saunders became artist-in-residence at Sussex University and in 1972 at Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, where he studied the works of Piet Mondrian. Between 1970 and 1980 Saunders was a visiting lecturer at the Slade School of Fine Art, London University, which he combined with teaching painting and photography at Liverpool Polytechnic Art School

In the late 1970s, he started looking into colour functions, and in 1985, while living in Clwyd, Wales, he organised a touring exhibition called Colour Presentations. He was a member of the 56 Group in Wales.

In 1988, aged 52, Saunders stepped away from formal teaching.

Art historian Alan Fowler discusses Saunders' work in his 2006 PhD thesis "Constructive Art in Britain 1913 - 2005". Saunders is also mentioned in Alastair Grieve's 2005 book "Constructed Abstract Art in England After the Second World War: A Neglected Avant-Garde".

Music
Saunders was one of the very few visual artists interested in experimental music. He played the trombone and tenor horn for the Liverpool "grouplet" of the Portsmouth Sinfonia. In 1973, Saunders was invited by Clive Langer - of Deaf School fame - to play tenor horn in his band. Saunders has also been associated with the Ross and Cromarty Orchestra.

Personal life
In 1985, Saunders lived in Clwyd, North Wales, returning to London in 1994. In 2006, Saunders moved to Tarascon-sur-Ariège, France, where he is currently resident.

Solo

 * 1965: First solo exhibition at the Artists' International Association gallery, London
 * 1970: Gardner Centre Gallery, University of Sussex, Brighton
 * 1995: Janus Avivson Gallery, London
 * 2002: SEVEN SEVEN gallery, London
 * 2002: Dean Clough Gallery, Halifax,
 * 2016: La Galerie, Lycée Gabriel Fauré, Foix
 * 2018: Transforming Surfaces, Arthouse1 Gallery, London

Group

 * 1967: Survey 67, Camden Arts Centre, London
 * 1968: Wales Now, Welsh Arts Council,
 * 1969: Systeemi•System, Amos Anderson Museum, Helsinki
 * 1971: Matrix, Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol
 * 1972: Systems, a touring exhibition organised by the Arts Council and Whitechapel Art Gallery
 * 1983: Four British Constructivists, Engstrom Gallery, Stockholm
 * 1986: Colour Presentations, Gardner Centre Gallery, University of Sussex/Stoke-on-Trent City Museum/Spacex Gallery, Exeter
 * 1986: Colour Constructions, Exhibiting Space, London
 * 1986: Systematic and Constructivist Drawings, Wentworth Gallery, University of York
 * 1994: Mostyn Open Exhibition 5, Oriel Mostyn, Mostyn, Wales
 * 2008: A Rational Aesthetic Southampton City Art Gallery, UK,
 * 2017: Systems 1972, Tate Britain

Works in public collections

 * Tate Gallery, London
 * Southampton City Art Gallery
 * The South Bank Collection, London
 * Arts Council of Wales
 * National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
 * National Library of Wales
 * Conoco-Philips Collection, Warwick
 * Dean Clough Collection, Halifax
 * Sammlung Konkrete Kunst, Jena
 * Gemeente Museum, The Hague
 * Rijksmuseum Meermano, The Hague
 * Stanford University, USA
 * University of Sussex
 * Victoria and Albert Museum, London
 * Arts Council of England