Stephen Gilbert

[2] He studied architecture at the Slade School of Art in London from 1929 to 1932,[3] where he befriended fellow student Roger Hilton.

Gilbert won the Slade Scholarship at the end of his first year, and the principal Sir Henry Tonks encouraged him to start painting from 1930.

He failed a medical for military service, and he spent the war in Ireland near Dublin with his wife and son, Humphrey.

[3] His work was inspired by Masson, and by reading Jung, Nietzsche and Jakob Böhme, with fantastic creatures and plants painted in vivid colours.

He exhibited at the Salon des Surindépendents in Paris in 1948,[3] attracting the attention of Danish artist Asger Jorn, and leading to his membership of the CoBrA avant-garde art group.

[3] He joined André Bloc's Groupe Espace in 1954, exhibiting at the Salon de la Jeune Sculpture.