Very Large Oil On Canvas By Albert Louden (B.1943); Untitled; 2004

The very large oil on canvas, stretching at six feet high, showing a surrealist frolicking couple amongst rolling hills and blue sky, painted in impasto bright colours, the whole presented in a box black painted frame and signed and dated 'A Loudon 2004'.

In very good overall order, there are only some light scuffs to the original frame with the whole remaining vivid.

Albert Louden was born in 1943 and is the Britain's best living Outsider (Art Brut) artist. Born in Blackpool, England he then grew up in the East End of London. When he was fifteen years old, he left school to work, first helping a furrier and later driving a van. He started drawing and painting in watercolour at age nineteen and went on to create works with pastel and oil paint. Louden creates surreal hybrid figures with facial features that may double as another figure or an animal. Known for its brightly coloured, outlined figures and pared-down landscapes, his work has become increasingly abstract. He never titles his works.

Ignoring the expectations of “outsider” artists, Louden enjoys his success, frequenting museums and galleries and looking at catalogues. He especially appreciates works by Scottie Wilson, Francis Bacon, and L. S. Lowry and has a collection of books on nineteenth- and twentieth-century art. Louden’s work has been featured in seminal group exhibitions, including Outsiders at the Hayward Gallery in 1979 and Artists Make Faces, a show featuring trained and self-taught artists organized by Victor Musgrave and Monika Kinley in 1983. The Serpentine Gallery in London sold all his works featured in a solo exhibition in 1985. Louden lives and works in London.

Thoughout his career, Louden's work has been represented in many museums worldwide including: The Victoria and Albert Museum; Tate Britain and The British Arts Council. Louden has exhibited internationally, and his works are held in many public and private collections in Britain and around the world, including the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, the Museum of American Folk Art in New York, and the Collection l’Art Brut in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Capable of instantly filling a huge wall space with an abundance of colour and vitality, and a wise investment opportunity.