Peter Joseph, British abstract painter known for two-colour works, dies at 91

Peter Joseph, a British abstract painter born in 1929, has died in 2020. His career began after brain tumour surgery led him to abandon advertising in his twenties. In 1967, he debuted at the Lisson gallery alongside Derek Jarman, Raymon Ginghofer, and Keith Milow, with founder Nicholas Logsdail mounting a solo exhibition the next year. Joseph developed signature 'two-colour paintings' featuring overlapping blocks of colour, alongside the Border series of monochromes framed by dark rectangles, inspired by a 1971 BFI film screening where a projector breakdown left him staring at a blank screen. His work drew comparisons to Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman but was less bombastic, with colour influences from Claude, Cézanne, and Pissarro. Logsdail noted Joseph focused on colour tones and light interaction, comparing his paintings to music and citing composers like Johann Sebastian Bach for their emphasis on sentiment over narrative. Joseph exhibited at venues including Camden Arts Centre, Kenwood House, the Royal Academy in London, the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, and MCA Chicago.