Derek Balmer PPRWA
Derek Balmer’s bold and wonderfully exuberant compositions portray landscapes, cities and ancient architecture in a celebration of history and personal experience. Balmer’s vibrant colour palette exudes the warmth, light and energy of the Mediterranean, focusing largely on bright yellows, oranges and reds, and punctuates with a strong use of blue, green, brown and white.
Where one might expect a landscape to fade out into the horizon, Balmer instead flattens our perspective and draws everything into the foreground; his images seem to have been constructed from the ground upwards in a particularly organic and intuitive manner. In works such as Hill Town, Aegean and Casablanca clusters of houses are stacked like children’s building blocks. Meadows and fields in Highland Harvest and Harvest Festival are layered with brush stroke upon brush stroke in patchworks of colour. In Flying Over – Tuscany we are presented with an aerial view of the Italian countryside in a patterned blanket of rich earthy colours.
Balmer paints largely from memory, allowing the recollection of a particular location to guide his imagination. Continuously reworking shape, line, form and colour his paintings transform and evolve until something independently announces itself. Balmer embraces chance encounters and accidental mark making, this lack of control leading him towards unexpected places and reflecting the nature of travel and the wonder of discovery. The thing that makes Balmer’s intuitive process particularly interesting is his ability to identify and adapt these ‘accidents’ into seemingly naïve, yet highly sophisticated compositions constructed through his astute eye for structure and placement.
Balmer was part of the vibrant Bristol art scene of the Sixties. Besides a successful practice in Fine Art he also developed a career as an art critic and photographer. In 2001 Balmer became the RWA’s eighteenth president, and remained so until 2010. He exhibits extensively across the UK and is currently based in Bristol.
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Birchwood Spring
oil on canvas
76 x 61cm (92 x 78cm with frame)
£5,950
Shipping rates for
Birchwood SpringCollection FREE UK £ 82 EU £ 140 Rest of Europe £ 159 North America £ 220 South America Contact us China £ 260 Asia £ 255 Far East £ 249 Africa Contact us -
Road to Cordoba
oil on canvas
112 x 142 cm (116 x 147 x 5 cm with frame)
£14,500
Shipping rates for
Road to CordobaCollection Only FREE Please Contact us after purchase to arrange collection from the Gallery -
Ancona
oil on canvas
112 x 142 cm (115 x 146 cm with frame)
£14,500
Shipping rates for
AnconaCollection Only FREE Please Contact us after purchase to arrange collection from the Gallery -
Headland, Aegean
oil on canvas
46 x 61 cm (63 x 78 x 5 cm with frame)
£4,850
Shipping rates for
Headland, AegeanCollection FREE UK £ 59 EU £ 101 Rest of Europe £ 128 North America £ 167 South America Contact us China £ 201 Asia £ 185 Far East £ 185 Africa Contact us -
Old Tangier
oil on canvas
71 x 92 cm (112 x 121 cm with frame)
£8,500
Shipping rates for
Old TangierCollection FREE UK £ 98 EU £ 160 Rest of Europe £ 187 North America £ 261 South America Contact us China £ 312 Asia £ 296 Far East £ 297 Africa Contact us -
Derelict House, Aegean
oil on canvas
31 x 41 cm (48 x 58 cm with frame)
£2,950
Shipping rates for
Derelict House, AegeanCollection FREE UK £ 57 EU £ 89 Rest of Europe £ 114 North America £ 137 South America Contact us China £ 170 Asia £ 157 Far East £ 157 Africa Contact us -
Snow Mountain
oil on canvas
61 x 76 cm (78 x 92 cm with frame)
£5,950
Shipping rates for
Snow MountainCollection FREE UK £ 82 EU £ 140 Rest of Europe £ 159 North America £ 220 South America Contact us China £ 260 Asia £ 255 Far East £ 249 Africa Contact us -
Excavation, Tarquinia
oil on canvas
45 x 75 cm (63 x 94 cm with frame)
£5,650
Shipping rates for
Excavation, TarquiniaCollection FREE UK £ 84 EU £ 135 Rest of Europe £ 152 North America £ 209 South America Contact us China £ 245 Asia £ 236 Far East £ 238 Africa Contact us -
Beach and Cliffs
oil on canvas
51 x 61 cm (68 x 77 cm with frame)
£4,950
Shipping rates for
Beach and CliffsCollection FREE UK £ 59 EU £ 101 Rest of Europe £ 128 North America £ 167 South America Contact us China £ 201 Asia £ 185 Far East £ 185 Africa Contact us -
Desert Harvest II
oil on canvas
49 x 59 cm (68 x 78 cm with frame)
£4,950
Shipping rates for
Desert Harvest IICollection FREE UK £ 59 EU £ 101 Rest of Europe £ 128 North America £ 167 South America Contact us China £ 201 Asia £ 185 Far East £ 185 Africa Contact us -
Courtyard, Merida
oil on canvas
59 x 49 cm (77 x 67 cm with frame)
£4,950
Shipping rates for
Courtyard, MeridaCollection FREE UK £ 84 EU £ 135 Rest of Europe £ 152 North America £ 209 South America Contact us China £ 245 Asia £ 236 Far East £ 238 Africa Contact us -
Desert Harvest
oil on canvas
48 x 58 cm (69 x 77 cm with frame)
£4,950
Shipping rates for
Desert HarvestCollection FREE UK £ 84 EU £ 135 Rest of Europe £ 152 North America £ 209 South America Contact us China £ 245 Asia £ 236 Far East £ 238 Africa Contact us -
Golden Valley, Umbria
oil on canvas
51 x 61 cm
Sold