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Paul Feiler
(1918 — 2013)

Feiler started painting in the early 1950s in Cornwall, strongly associated with the post-war modernists in St Ives. Although his work was not like the other St Ives artists, Feiler had a unique muscular quality. In 1958 Feiler was visited by Mark Rothko. This visit was made famous by the series of photographs taken by Feiler documenting Rothko’s visit to the Cornish soil. Born in Frankfurt in 1918, Feiler’s artistic interests were encouraged at an early age. As the Nazis came to power Feiler and his family gradually distanced themselves from Germany and his parents joined him in London in 1936. His artistic training began at the Slade where he was surrounded by fellow artists such as; Bryan Wynter and Kenneth Armitage. By 1941, Feiler was devoting his time to teaching and worked at Eastbourne College and later joined the staff of the West of England College of Art in Bristol were he became head of painting. In 1949, Feiler gained notice in his exhibitions with the Arts Council “Young Contemporaries” exhibition in Bristol and the following year at the “Slade Contemporaries” alongside his old class mates. Feiler then moved to Cornwall and converted an old chapel into his home in 1953. In 1975 he took over Bryan Wynter’s studio in Cornwall. He held his first solo show at the Redfern in 1953, selling every piece. This ‘kick-started’ his career and he went onto exhibit several more time at the Redfern before taking his work overseas to the Obelisk Gallery in Washington DC. Sadly Feiler’s technique and style was ahead of the trend and his show in 1959 failed to sell any pieces. After severing his ties with the Redfern gallery, Feiler continued to produce and show his work. He is remembered in the collections of the Tate, the Victoria & Albert Museum and numerous International collections such as the Gallery of Modern Art in Washington, DC.