Frank Beanland (1936-) was born in Bridlington, Yorkshire. A bold, colourful abstract artist, he attended Hull College of Art 1952-57, then Slade School of Fine Art 1959-61. A Boise travelling scholarship took him to Stockholm 1961-2.

Beanland began showing in 1960 at Young Contemporaries then in mixed shows at Drian Galleries, London Group and Gimpel Fils. He settled for a while in the 1960s in Cornwall where he produced much of his best work.

Solo exhibitions include Smiths Galleries One in 1960 and Belgrave Galleries 1999. His work is held by a number of public collections including Leverhulme Trust and Slade School and the Lodz Museum in Poland.

Bob Bird (1921-2016) initially trained as a graphic designer at Birmingham School of Art until the war intervened. After active duty which had included the liberation of Belsen concentration camp, on his return he switched to Fine Art where he studied under Bernard Fleetwood-Walker.

Bird initially worked on landscapes and floral studies but moved towards abstraction. He lectured in fine art at Newcastle College of Art & Design in the 1960s, rising to become Head of Fine Art there, before taking up a similar position at Stoke-on-Trent Art College. He was also an adviser for the Arts Council of Great Britain.

He painted throughout this period and had some prestigious exhibitions including at the Oxford Gallery and the Mayor Gallery in London.  Bird also had work shown at the Royal Academy and in mixed exhibitions abroad. In the later 1970s and 1980s he worked on abstract constructions. Laing Gallery in Newcastle holds his work.

Denis Bowen (1921-2006) was born in Kimberly, South Africa of Welsh parentage but left for England as a child. He studied at the Royal College of Art from 1946-50, where teachers included Rodrigo Moynihan, John Minton and Carel Weight.

Bowen soon made his name as a leading experimental artist; in 1952 with other members of the ICA he founded the Free Painters’ Group and from 1956-66 he directed the New Vision Centre, initially with Frank Avray Wilson and Halima Nalecz. This became the focal point in London for work of advanced artists from Europe and elsewhere.

From 1969-1972 he taught at Victoria University, British Colombia and in later life he was a leading light in Celtic Vision which he co-founded in 1982.

Bowen showed widely, at the Redfern Gallery and elsewhere, and major late career retrospectives included Belgrave Gallery, London in 2001, Blyth Gallery, Imperial College in 2002 and Rome Museum of Modern Art in 2006.

His work is held by the Tate Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, British Museum and many regional collections in the UK. It is also in public collections in Australia, USA, Canada, Italy, Poland, Macedonia, Israel and elsewhere.

Terence Donovan (1936-1996) was born in the East End of London and studied photography at the London College of Art and Photography. He sprang to fame in the late 1950s with portraits of film stars and through the 1960s was one of a handful of photographers who captured London during “the swinging ‘60s”.

He continued to take photographs throughout his life, including of Princess Diana and other society figures, but in his later years developed a love of painting. He exhibited vast abstracts to great acclaim at Albemarle Gallery in Mayfair in 1990.