John Melville

John William Melville (25 August 1902 – 8 December 1986) was a self-taught British Surrealist painter.

[3] He was, along with his art critic brother Robert Melville and the artist Conroy Maddox, a key member of the Birmingham Surrealists from the 1930s to the 1950s.

His choice of subjects as a painter was wide; he painted figures, portraits, still-life and landscapes.

[citation needed] His paintings often showed transformed figures and a dream-like, unexpected conjunction of images.

However, in recent years his reputation has grown[citation needed] and his singular style has led to his inclusion in a number of public exhibitions – notably "Surrealism: Two Private Eyes" at the Guggenheim, New York in 1999 and "Surrealism in Birmingham" in 2001.