Lot 13: Roy Johnston , b.1936 Permutations of four hues and a neutral oil on canvas

signed twice, titled and dated 75 on the stretcher oil on canvas

122 by 122cm.; 48 by 48in.

Dublin, David Hendriks Gallery, Roy Johnston - Permutations, 1975, no.13.

Stemming from an ongoing interest in systems of organisation, the present work is a wholly systematic work in which four colours (red, yellow, blue and green), the primaries in Oswald's colour theory, and a neutral (brown) have been distributed within a grid on the basis of a rationally determined system. The array is organized into columns, each one of which begins with a permutation of the basic elements. Various systems were subsequently applied to the ordering of the vertical sequence within each column.

Born in Pomeroy, Co.Tyrone, Johnston studied at Stranmillis College, Belfast then the Belfast College of Art. He has had numerous solo exhibitions including a retrospective of his work from 1965-1985 held at the Arts Council Gallery, Belfast in 1985 which toured to The Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane. His work was recently included in the Irish Art of the Seventies exhibition at the Irish Museum of Modern Art and is held in all major Irish public collections such as The Ulster Museum, Belfast; Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane; The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin and the Collections of the British, Irish and Northern Irish Arts Councils.