Adrian Heath (1920–1992) was a 20th-century British painter. He was born in Burma and attended Bryanston School in Dorset, southern England. In 1938, he studied art under Stanhope Forbes at Newlyn. In 1939 and 1945–47, he attended the Slade School of Art*. He served in the Royal Air Force as a tail gunner in Lancaster bombers in World War II, but spent almost the entire war as a prisoner of war, during which period he became friends with and taught fellow POW Terry Frost to paint.

In 1949 and 1951, he visited St Ives, Cornwall, where he met Ben Nicholson. In the early 1950s, he was also associated with Victor Pasmore and Anthony Hill. As such he became the main link between the emerging St Ives School and British Constructivism*. He was also influenced by D'Arcy Thompson. In 1953 Heath published Abstract Painting: its Origins and Meaning, a slim but perceptive volume appraising the development of abstraction by the early moderns.

He exhibited at the Musée Carcassone in 1948, and at the Redfern Gallery, London, from 1953, together with other galleries in London. His work is in the collections of the Tate Gallery and the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington DC.

Heath taught at Bath Academy of Art (1955–76) and the University of Reading (1980–85). He was artist in residence at the University of Sussex in 1969, and a senior fellow at the Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education, Wales (1977–80).

Heath was a member of 56 Group Wales from 1978 to 1982.

Adrian Heath painted abstract and semi-abstract pictures in oils and acrylic paints. He was also a collagist and constructivist.

Adrian and his wife Corinne were also campaigners to preserve the character and heritage of Fitzrovia, where they lived for many years. Adrian and Corinne were founder members of the campaign group The Charlotte Street Association who fight to increase social housing and preserve the character the area around Charlotte Street and in Fitzrovia.

Source:
"Adrian Heath," Wikipedia, Jun. 2017

* For more in-depth information about these terms and others, see AskART.com. Glossary http://www.askart.com/AskART/lists/Art_Definition.aspx

Adrian Heath was born in Burma in 1920 and spent his formative years studying in the U.K. He studied under prominent British artists, including Stanhope Forbes and attended Slade Art School. During World War II, he was captured as a Prisoner of War in a German camp where he met fellow artist Terry Frost. Heath nurtured relationships with artists who later became known as the St Ives School. His artistic style fused Constructivist and abstract tendencies, using bold colors and geometric shapes. He contributed to British Abstraction through informal exhibitions in his Fitzrovia studio and the publication of 'Abstract Painting: Its Origin and Meaning' in 1953.

Adrian Heath was a prominent abstract artist from Britain who flourished in the twentieth century. He studied art under Stanhope Forbes at Newlyn and later attended the Slade School of Art. During WWII, he was a prisoner of war and befriended Terry Frost, whom he taught to paint. Heath was a key figure connecting the St Ives School with British Constructivism, associating with artists like Anthony Hill and Victor Pasmore. His work has been featured in exhibitions by institutions such as the Royal Academy, the British Council, and the Tate St Ives. Collections holding his work include Newnham College, Cambridge, and the Arts Council Collection.