David Leverett was a British painter, printmaker and art teacher. Born in Nottingham in 1938, he studied at the College of Art in his hometown before training at the Royal Academy Schools in the early 1960s, a period when British painting was alive with experiments in abstraction and new approaches to landscape. From the outset, Leverett’s work revealed a dialogue between the natural world and abstract form.
In the 1960s and 70s he exhibited widely, showing in the Young Contemporaries, at the John Moores Liverpool Exhibition, and at the 1968 Whitechapel Gallery’s Britain Painting and Sculpture exhibition. His practice was ambitious in scale and conception, ranging from canvases inspired by environmental concerns to works such as his 1990 series named the ‘Sacred Gardens’ exhibited at the Redfern Gallery. Leverett’s practice, across both painting and print, demonstrates a sustained negotiation between abstraction and the evocation of landscape, light, and atmosphere, producing images that were at once expressive and contemplative.
Alongside his studio practice, Leverett taught at leading art schools including the Slade and Reading University, sharing his insights with a generation of younger artists. His interest in environmental themes reflected not only in his paintings but also in the way he approached teaching and discussion, encouraging students to consider art’s relationship with the wider world.
His works are now part of many important museum collections including the Tate, Victoria and Albert Museum, Arts Council Collection, British Council, and numerous regional galleries.
