Paule Vézelay

[7] Vezelay became well respected in modernist Parisian art circles and was elected in the 1930s to membership of the French abstract movement, Abstraction-Création, which was largely established as a reaction to surrealism.

[6] On the outbreak of the Second World War Vézelay moved back to Bristol, but had difficulty in gaining recognition from the British art establishment.

In the 1950s she began to work in textile design for Metz & Co of Amsterdam and Heal's of London[8] as a source of income but continued to produce abstract paintings.

After many difficulties and the refusal of some leading British abstract artists to join (including Victor Pasmore), she was successful in forming a small group of painters, sculptors and architects.

The Tate gave Vézelay a retrospective exhibition in 1983—a late recognition of the quality of her work and her significant place in art history as one of the first British artists to embark on a lifetime exploration and development of abstraction.