Grosvenor Gallery

Grosvenor Gallery Gallery based in London dealing with South Asian Modern & Contemporary Art.

Grosvenor Gallery is based in London and specializes primarily in South Asian Modern & Contemporary Art.

29/05/2026

Fragments of wind, water, leaves, shadow, and light mirror the movement inside George Claessen’s canvases.

George Claessen: Works from the Estate of the Artist
On view till 7 June 2026

Images:
1) Ad Infinitum, 1987
2)Consort of the Primaries, 1969
3) Yellow, Red & Blue in Unity, 1996
4)Formation, 1972
5)Abstract (Blue), 1997

“I have picked up the imagery that surrounds me, the one I am born into, and it comes naturally.”- Badri NarayanThis wee...
29/05/2026

“I have picked up the imagery that surrounds me, the one I am born into, and it comes naturally.”
- Badri Narayan

This week we have a little jewel, a unique, hand-painted ceramic tile by Indian artist Badri Narayan, produced at the Vitrum Studio in Mumbai. The information on the studio comes mainly from a fantastic exhibition held last year at JNAF in Mumbai - A Glazed History: Badri Narayan and the Vitrum Studio, curated by Puja Vaish. When the research available is this good, there’s not much more we can add…

Fact Sheet:
Badri Narayan
Portrait of a Girl, Circa 1960s
Signed ‘Badri Narayan’ in the glaze
Glazed ceramic tile
15 x 15 cm
5 7/8 x 5 7/8 in

Provenance
Private Scandinavian Collection

Photos courtesy JNAF, Mumbai

‘...the outcome of an urge for expression in another form - a phenomenon not uncommon in painters, just as the same woul...
28/05/2026

‘...the outcome of an urge for expression in another form - a phenomenon not uncommon in painters, just as the same would and does apply in reverse to essential poets’.

-George Claessen on his desire to use poetry as a creative alternative to his visual artistic work.

Alongside his painting, Claessen wrote his own poetry, often interrogating the same existential and metaphysical themes he explored in his abstracts. The fruits of these expressions resulted in several volumes, including Poems of a Painter (1967), Poems about Nothing (1981), Collected Poems (1995), and subsequent inclusion in various poetry anthologies.

Join us on the 5th of June, from 6-8 pm, for ‘Poems About Nothing’ an evening of poetry at Grosvenor Gallery to celebrate the work of artist and poet George Claessen. With readings by selected poets and a special reading of Claessen’s original poetry by his daughter, Esmeralda Claessen.

Artwork Image:
George Claessen,
Formation, 1972.

Artists, friends and other members of the community came together to celebrate the opening of ‘George Claessen, Works fr...
15/05/2026

Artists, friends and other members of the community came together to celebrate the opening of ‘George Claessen, Works from the Estate of the Artist’ at Grosvenor Gallery last night.

The exhibition continues till the 7th of June
Open for visitors from 10am-5pm, Monday to Friday. The gallery will also be open during London Gallery Weekend.

Friday 5th June: 11am-6pm
Saturday 6th June: 11am-6pm
Sunday 7th June: 12-5pm

…he is a universal artist, a man of vision, of musical harmonies of temperament so rare and tender…full of hope…he is ou...
15/05/2026

…he is a universal artist, a man of vision, of musical harmonies of temperament so rare and tender…full of hope…he is our fool who, in persisting in his folly, has become a wise man.”

— Ivan Peries on George Claessen

Grosvenor Gallery is pleased to present Works from the Estate of George Claessen, an exhibition dedicated to one of the most significant Sri Lankan painters of the 20th century and a pioneering figure in the development of abstraction in South Asia. The exhibition brings together a selection of works that highlight Claessen’s distinctive visual language and his lifelong engagement with both abstraction and figuration.

Claessen was a key member of the influential ‘43 Group, formed in Colombo in 1943 under the patronage of Lionel Wendt. He exhibited regularly with the group before relocating first to Australia and subsequently to the United Kingdom in 1949, where he would remain for the rest of his life.

Opening dates: 15th May - 7th June
10am-5pm, Monday to Friday.

London Gallery Weekend Timings:
Friday 5th June: 11am-6pm
Saturday 6th June: 11am-6pm
Sunday 7th June: 12-5pm

11/05/2026

“Punj•AB – A Sublime Terrain”
Presented at the Pakistan Pavilion, Faiza Butt’s project, curated by Beatriz Cifuentes Feliciano, considers Punjab as a space shaped by memory and passage, where histories of division continue to inform cultural narratives.

Through painting and textile, the work brings together visual fragments that move between continuity and rupture, tracing a dialogue between traditional forms and contemporary expression.
9 May – 22 November 2026

“…he is a universal artist, a man of vision, of musical harmonies of temperament so rare and tender…full of hope…he is o...
06/05/2026

“…he is a universal artist, a man of vision, of musical harmonies of temperament so rare and tender…full of hope…he is our fool who, in persisting in his folly, has become a wise man.”

— Ivan Peries on George Claessen

Grosvenor Gallery is pleased to present Works from the Estate of George Claessen, an exhibition dedicated to one of the most significant Sri Lankan painters of the 20th century and a pioneering figure in the development of abstraction in South Asia. The exhibition brings together a selection of works that highlight Claessen’s distinctive visual language and his lifelong engagement with both abstraction and figuration.

The exhibition will run at the gallery in London from 14 May to 7 June 2026.

Opening reception- 14th May, 6-8pm

“Many times, people walk by a piece of art and don’t respond… I want my paintings to talk. Everyone from a street sweepe...
01/05/2026

“Many times, people walk by a piece of art and don’t respond… I want my paintings to talk. Everyone from a street sweeper to a university professor should be able to relate to my art.”

This week, we have a 1990s canvas by Senaka Senanayake. By the ‘90s, Senaka had developed his mature style, characterised by the use of bold, vivid colours and subjects including animals, flora and fauna.

This painting was bought by a French collector from an exhibition of his work at The Oriental Hotel in Singapore in 1993.

Please contact the gallery directly to discuss recent work by the artist.

Fact Sheet:
Senaka Senanayake
Blue Horses, 1993
Signed and dated lower left
Oil on canvas
47 x 54 cm (18 1/2 x 21 1/4 in)

Provenance
The Artist;
Private French Collection, acquired in Singapore circa 1993

Exhibitions
Singapore, The Oriental, 1993

“Oomersi Mawji and his sons raised the quality of decoration on Cutch silver to an art form…”- Wynyard Wilkinson, Indian...
24/04/2026

“Oomersi Mawji and his sons raised the quality of decoration on Cutch silver to an art form…”
- Wynyard Wilkinson, Indian Silver 1858-1947

This week, we have something slightly different. A silver punch bowl from the workshop of arguably India’s greatest 19th-century silversmith, Oomseri Mawji.

His work, and that of other Cutch silversmiths, was championed by the Raōs of Cutch and displayed at international exhibitions in London and Paris from the 1850s onwards. So successful were his creations that they were stocked in the London store of Liberty and Co. and heavily influenced the development of Western design in the late 19th century.

Grosvenor Gallery is pleased to announce representation of the Estate of the Sri Lankan artist and poet George Claessen ...
21/04/2026

Grosvenor Gallery is pleased to announce representation of the Estate of the Sri Lankan artist and poet George Claessen (1909, Colombo – 1999, London).

Claessen is an important abstract painter and was one of the nine artists who formed the highly influential ‘43 Group, which came together in Colombo in 1943 under the patronage of Lionel Wendt. Claessen exhibited several times with the group before moving to Australia. He would settle in the UK in 1949.

He began experimenting with abstraction as early as 1948, which he would later develop alongside his figurative work. From the 1960s onwards, abstraction became his primary artistic objective.

He participated in the 1956 Venice Biennale and the 1959 São Paolo Biennale, where he won an award. He exhibited extensively in the UK from the 1950s onwards, with shows at New Vision Centre, Bear Lane Gallery and Commonwealth Institute, as well as with the Hampstead Artists’ Council and the Islington Art Circle.

As a writer, he published ‘Poems of a Painter’ in 1967, ‘Poems about Nothing’ in 1981 and his ‘Collected Poems’ in 1995.

We will open an exhibition of his work at the gallery in May 2026.

Address

35 Bury Street
London
SW1Y6AY

Opening Hours

Monday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Thursday 9:30am - 6pm
Friday 9:30am - 5:30pm

Telephone

+442074847979

Website

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