Joseph Duncan

Joseph Duncan (b. 1920, London) was a British-born abstract artist whose career spanned across post-war Europe, leaving a vibrant mark on mid-20th-century art. He studied at the Slade School of Fine Art between 1944 and 1949, a period that shaped his foundational approach to form and experimentation.

In 1951, Duncan relocated to France, where his artistic journey truly flourished. He was commissioned to create work for major international venues, including Air France, the French Pavilion at the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair, and later, the Canadian Expo in Montreal. His distinctive abstract language—defined by bold colour fields and a dynamic interplay of shape and texture—earned him widespread recognition.

Duncan’s paintings explored surface and gesture, often incorporating techniques like paint impressing and dripping, which brought a tactile, near-sculptural quality to his canvases. This textural experimentation placed his work within the realm of gestural abstraction and allied it with broader movements in post-war European art.

Throughout his career, he showcased his work in many of Europe’s leading cultural hubs—Amsterdam, Milan, Venice, Florence, Brussels, Paris, London, and Cologne—earning critical acclaim for his emotive use of colour and form.

Duncan’s practice reflected a restless creativity and a commitment to pushing the language of abstraction. His works remain vivid reflections of a period when artists sought to redefine the very nature of painting.