Creed Gallery in Ascot, Berkshire, offers original paintings by Mary-Jane Alexander, the Zimbabwe-born, Surrey-based painter known for rich, confident impasto and vivid, dramatic colour. Our five originals, from £1,650 to £3,650, include sunflowers in Italian heat haze, a sleeping cat and a mosaic-tablecloth still life. Our team can advise on size, framing and provenance for collectors across Berkshire, Surrey and London.
About Mary-Jane Alexander: From Zimbabwe to Surrey and Italy
Mary-Jane Alexander was born in Zimbabwe and studied fine art at the University of Cape Town, where she was taught by Maurice Van Esche, a pupil of Matisse. She lectured in anatomy and life drawing at Bulawayo Art College before moving to the UK in 1977. From 1979 her work became closely tied to the theatre, with commissions involving dance companies including English National Ballet and a series of paintings based on Fosse for the Prince of Wales Theatre in the West End. She has been Artist in Residence at the Theatre Royal and Saltram House in Plymouth, and at Bedales Junior School, and her work has appeared in the Sunday Times, House & Garden and National Trust Magazine. She now paints in Surrey and in a studio in Campania, in the south of Italy.
Impasto, Colour and Working from Life
Her years painting dancers gave her a fast method: she works quickly to catch movement before it's gone. That immediacy carries into her landscapes, which she paints in the open air, and into her still lifes and figure work. The paint goes on thick and confident, the colour is vivid, and she describes her work as marked by a "joy of the dramatic". More recently she has been drawn to the rhythms of land and sky.
Collecting Mary-Jane Alexander at Creed Gallery
Our five originals are all one of a kind. Still Life: Not So Still Cat, a sleeping cat in warm oranges and creams, is an oil on canvas measuring 80 × 80 cm (93 × 93 cm framed) and priced at £3,650. Others include The Mosaic Tablecloth (£3,650), two sunflower paintings, Sunflowers Heat Haze Italy and Sunflowers and Lemons (£2,650 each), and 3 Brothers (£1,650). Our team will talk you through provenance, framing and condition on any work, and you're welcome to visit the gallery in Ascot.
Why Collect Mary-Jane Alexander
Her paintings are warm, physical and immediately readable, and they connect a long career in theatre and portraiture with a love of light and landscape. As with any artist, individual pieces vary in demand and value, so our team is happy to talk you through the specifics of any work you're considering.
