Rachel Howard, 
British b.1969 - 

Dead Spit (Diptych), 2011; 

acrylic, oil and household paint on canvas laid down on board, diptych, 38.2 x 38.2 cm and 25.5 x 25.8 cm (unframed) (2) (ARR) 

Provenance: 
with Blain|Southern Gallery, London, 36909 (according to the label attached to the reverse); 
The Collection of Ralph I. Goldenberg 

Note:
Howard is considered to be one of the most influential British Contemporary artists of the 21st Century, producing emotionally charged abstract compositions. 

In this exemplary mature work, Howard uses household gloss paint, often mixed with acrylic, to speak about the fragility and tragedy of the human condition. The pigment and clear varnish are applied to the edges of the canvas which then, through gravity, spreads downwards to create strong vertical lines. The large scale envelops the viewer in washes and veils of colour, in the tradition of Rothko and the Abstract Expressionists and have been described as 'a psychological and physical battle' by Sue Hubbard. 

Graduating from Goldsmiths College, London in 1991, Howard would go on to receive The Princes Trust Award in 1992, shortlisted in 2004 for the Jerwood Drawing Prize, and eventually gaining a British Council Award in 2008. During her studies at Goldsmiths, Howard became friends with fellow student Damien Hirst who employed her as his assistant to execute his Spot paintings.

Howard was recently the subject of a solo exhibition at  MASS MoCA, Massachusetts, US, and her works are in the collections of the Arts Council Collection, UK, Imperial War Museum, London and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Her work was recently part of the exhibition ‘BIG WOMEN’ at FirstSite, Colchester, curated by fellow Goldsmiths alumni Sarah Lucas, alongside Gillian Wearing and Polly Morgan.