David Remfry was born 1942 in Worthing, England and is currently living and working in New York City. Mr Remfry graduated from Hull College of Art in 1964, and almost 10 years later, in 1973, he held his first solo show in London. Since then, he has had over 50 solo exhibitions across Europe and America.
Through his career Mr Remfry has gained a highly regarded reputation as a draftsman and watercolourist. Best known for his practically life-size paintings, and his urban subjects. In 1987 Mr Remfry was elected a member of the Royal Watercolour Society. The honours did not stop there, in 2001 he was awarded the M.B.E. for services to British Art, and in 2006 he was elected a Member of the Royal Academy of Arts.
Though David Remfry is distinctly a fine artist, having never worked in a commercial capacity, in 2002 Stella McCartney approached him to produce a series of drawings for her exclusive collection of women’s clothing for ABSOLUT vodka. A rather rare move as her contemporaries were exclusively using photography of glamour models. Yet, here was Stella McCartney using Mr Remfry’s drawings for billboard advertising. Mr Remfry embarked on the project not as a fashion illustrator, but as an artist. In doing so the focus was not solely on the garments, but on the person wearing them. His drawings had more expression and incorporated a more human element that can sometimes be missed in both fashion illustration and photography. The response was decidedly positive. So much so that in 2003 the Victoria and Albert Museum exhibited the work in a show titled, David Remfry Drawings for Stella McCartney.
Sadly I haven’t found a single website that has a large body of David Remfry’s work. But you can find his pieces on places like Pinterest. You can also check out his book, David Remfry: Dancers, it has over 80 paintings and drawings spanning over 30 years of his artistic career.
