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Mainly abstract painter and draughtsman, born in Bradford, Yorkshire, who attended evening classes with Henry Butler at the local School of Art while working in woolstapling. From 1929 he rebelled against this and began painting in earnest under considerable difficulty, but encouraged by collectors such as Sir Michael Sadler. Butterfield became a member of the Seven and Five Society and had solo shows with Zwemmer Gallery in 1934 and Leicester Galleries in 1937. He settled in London about 1937, spending some time in a studio on the Left Bank in Paris, then his career faded, and he was latterly art editor and wrote for a glossy magazine. Having suffered from heart trouble and cancer he died in Greenwich Hospital. Some of Butterfield’s work had landscape allusions; sometimes he painted in hot glue, sprinkling this with sand or brickdust; cement and a flashlamp were also used.

Text source: 'Artists in Britain Since 1945' by David Buckman (Art Dictionaries Ltd, part of Sansom & Company)


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