Mason, Raymond

Artist: Raymond Mason Title: Marlborough London / New York Poster Format: 30 x 20 inches Born in Birmingham in 1922. Studied painting at Birmingham College of Arts and Crafts (1937-39) and, after shortened war service, at the Slade School of Art (1943-46). In 1946 he moved to Paris where, although already a gifted draughtsman, meeting and befriending Giacometti persuaded him to turn to sculpture. Over a lifetime in Paris he would get to know several of the most interesting artists, such as Brancusi, Picasso, Cocteau, Cartier-Bresson, Malraux – many memorialised in his light-hearted memoir ‘At Work in Paris’ (Thames & Hudson, 2003). Mason died in 2010. His lifelong subject would be life in the street, portrayed with directness, humour and a particular gift for characterisation. His originality lay in the creation of deep-relief tableaux in an up-to-date translation of the spirit of William Hogarth and Stanley Spenser. His medium was plaster, polychromed, later occasionally resin, as