Tess Jaray 1937-2026
For more than 60 years, Jaray developed a singular practice which explored pictorial and architectural space through abstract painting. Jaray described her practice as “a process of continuous development; the unravelling of an invisible structure, with each painting holding implicitly in it the history of all the previous ones”.
Born in Vienna in 1937, Jaray came to the United Kingdom in 1938 as part of the flight of Jewish refugees from the Nazis. She studied at Saint Martin’s School of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art in the 1950’s. She was invited to return to the Slade in 1968 as the school’s first female lecturer, where she then taught for over thirty years. Her bold, illusory paintings combine a highly distinctive palette with floating, hard-edged motifs which are inspired by her encounters with Italian Renaissance and Middle Eastern architecture. Her compositions hint at the built environment through the isolation and repetition of details and motifs. While her practice touches upon certain aspects of Op Art, Minimalism and Colour Field painting, it resists formal categorisation.
Offer Waterman and Ben Hunter have jointly represented Tess Jaray since 2024.
Tess Jaray is represented in Austria by Exile Gallery, Vienna.
Follow Tess Jaray Studio on Instagram
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Thirty One Steps , 1985-86Acrylic on canvas70 7/8 x 66 7/8 x 2 inches
180 x 169.9 x 5.1 cmVIEW MORE DETAILS -
Window, Dark, 2008painted laser cut on paper laid on board27 1/2 x 27 1/2 in
70 x 70 cmVIEW MORE DETAILS -
After Malevich 19, 2012acrylic and paper on board11 5/8 x 11 5/8 in. | 29.5 x 29.5 cmVIEW MORE DETAILS
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After Malevich 1, 2012acrylic and paper on board11 5/8 x 11 5/8 in. | 29.5 x 29.5 cmVIEW MORE DETAILS
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Borromini's Balustrade Red & Green, 2014acrylic on metal panel10 1/4 x 17 3/8 in. | 26 x 44 cmVIEW MORE DETAILS
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In the Beginning – Purple and White, 2023acrylic on panel7 7/8 x 7 7/8 in. | 20 x 20 cmVIEW MORE DETAILS
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In the Beginning – Pale Green and Pink, 2023acrylic on panel5 7/8 x 5 7/8 in. | 15 x 15 cmVIEW MORE DETAILS
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Tess Jaray: Small Paintings from the Studio
Presented in Collaboration with Ben Hunter and Tess Jaray Studio 15 Oct - 31 Dec 2025Read more -
Frieze Masters: Tess Jaray
Offer Waterman | Ben Hunter (C03) 9 - 13 Oct 2024Offer Waterman and Ben Hunter are delighted to present a solo both of works by Tess Jaray, comprising paintings from the period 1975-1988, alongside related drawings and gouaches. These works...Read more -
Return to Vienna: The Paintings of Tess Jaray at Secession, Vienna
19 Feb - 18 Apr 2021 -
Tess Jaray at S|2, London
24 Nov 2017 - 26 Jan 2018
Selected solo exhibitions: Sheffield Museum, UK (2024); Exile Gallery, Vienna (2023 & 2018); Vienna Secession, Vienna, Austria (2021); New Art Centre, Salisbury, UK (2021); Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham, UK (2019); Sotheby’s S|2, London, UK (2017); Serpentine Gallery, London, UK (1988); Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK (1984); Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester (1984); Adelaide Festival Centre, Australia (1980); Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (1973); City Art Gallery, Bristol (1972).
Jaray's work has been included in over 90 group exhibitions including: Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (2021); Barbican Art Gallery, London, UK (1993/1988); Camden Arts Centre, London, UK (1981); Hayward Gallery, London, UK (1978/selector and artist 1974); Kunsthalle, Bern, Germany (1973); Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden (1965).
Her work is held in public collections in the UK, Europe, USA and Australia, including: Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; Tate, London, UK; Belvedere Museum, Vienna, Austria; Mumok, Vienna, Austria; British Museum, London, UK; Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, MA, USA; Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK; Western Australia Art Gallery, Perth, Australia; Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, UK.
Since the mid-1980s Jaray has completed a succession of major art commissions in public places, including: Aleppo for the Tapestry Building at King’s Cross, London, UK (2017); Centenary Square, Birmingham, UK (1988–92); a terrazzo floor in the forecourt of Victoria Station, London, UK (1986); and a mural for the British Pavilion at Expo 67, Montreal, Canada (1967). In 1995 she was made Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in recognition of these important public commissions.
Jaray was elected a Royal Academician in 2010 and was made a Senior RA in 2013. In 2023, a group of her paintings from the 1980’s were shown in the Gwangju Biennale in South Korea. A new retrospective of her work opened at the Millenium Gallery, Sheffield Museum on 20 July 2024 and in 2025 she received an honorary doctorate from the University of the Arts, London (UAL).
Jaray died at the age of eighty eight on Sunday 24 May 2026.
Press articles here: GUARDIAN TELEGRAPH ART FORUM ART REVIEW
Further Reading:
Tess Jaray, Thinking on Paper: Drawings on paper from 1960-2000, Secession, Vienna, 2021
Vivien Lovell, Charles Darwent, Doro Globus, Desire Lines: The Public Art of Tess Jaray, Ridinghouse, London, 2016
Richard Davey, John Stezaker, Alison Wilding and Alister Warman, The Art of Tess Jaray, Ridinghouse in association with the Djanogly Art Gallery, London, 2014
Tess Jaray, The Blue Cupboard: Inspiration and Recollections, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2014
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Tess Jaray 1937-2026
May 26, 2026Joint Statement from Ben Hunter and Offer WatermanRead more -
VIDEO: Seeing From All Sides, The Early Work of Tess Jaray
A talk by Natalie Rudd at The Millenium Gallery, Sheffield October 15, 2024In this illuminating talk, curator and writer Natalie Rudd traces Tess Jaray's emergence as an artist. Highlighting formative ideas and influences, this talk explores the...Read more -
Tess Jaray: Paintings and Drawings Across 60 Years opens at the Millenium Gallery, Sheffield
July 23, 2024A survey exhibition of works by Tess Jaray opens tomorrow at the Millenium Gallery in Sheffield. The exhibition presents paintings and drawings from all periods...Read more -
Offer Waterman and Ben Hunter Announce Co-Representaton of Tess Jaray
June 18, 2024Ben Hunter and Offer Waterman are delighted to announce co-representation of Tess Jaray (b. 1937). The galleries will present a solo booth of work by...Read more -
Podcast: Tess Jaray on 'A Brush With...'
Interview with Ben Luke for the Art Newspaper February 1, 2023Tess Jaray talks to Ben Luke about her influences - including those from the worlds of literature, music and of course art - and the...Read more -
Video: Tess Jaray on State of the Arts
Interview with Wells Fray-Smith for The Institutum December 10, 2021Tess Jaray is interviewed by the London-based curator Wells Fray-Smith for The Asian Art Institutum. Published December 2021. Duration 30 minutes. WATCH HERERead more -
Book Review: Tess Jaray in Studio International
Reviewed by Janet McKenzie August 25, 2021Janet McKenzie writes about the book Thinking On Paper , written by Tess Jaray and designed by her daughter Georgia Vaux. This book was published...Read more -
Article: Tess Jaray in The Art Newspaper
Interview with Ben Luke April 5, 2021'I wanted to make space, to make something that you could disappear into. That wouldn’t have happened without Italy.' As shows of her paintings open...Read more
