Station Facade

This bird's-eye view of Farringdon Station, taken from the artist's studio at 62 Cowcross Street, was painted after Oliver Bevan returned to London from Canada, where he spent two years. In 1979, upon his return, he wrote:

"I used a camera to record weird window displays, front gardens, holes in the road ... before eventually taking a lease on a studio high above Farringdon Station. It felt like the centre of the universe, so dense was the activity down below. Within months the first of my city paintings emerged, an awkward stew of features derived from views from the studio windows, assembled like a collage because I was trying to hang on to my first love - abstraction."

In 'Station Facade' the artist achieved a sense of clarity and realism, which became features of his later paintings. The yellow brick building is the station's main entrance and the train tracks can be seen behind and below it. At the back is the wall of a railway derelict building, its dark tones contrasting with the vibrant yellow of the active station building.