Norman Stevens Prints poster

Growing up on Thryberg Street, Bradford, Norman Stevens was part of an outstanding group of students including John Loker, David Oxtoby, Michael Vaughan and David Hockney, all of whom attended Bradford Regional College of Art in the early 1950s.

Finding inspiration in the clapboard houses of California, Stonehenge and English formal gardens, Stevens imbued each seemingly disparate subject with a unique sense of mood and mystery. He was a "master of the craft" (John McEwen) in possession of “marvellous etching prowess" (William Fever). In 1983, Stevens was elected to the Royal Academy, as a printmaker. The R.A staged a retrospective of his prints in 2014. 

Stevens travelled the world, but from the mid 70s his inspiration was close to home: the charm and mystery of the English countryside, from formal gardens to ancient menhirs. The topiary gardens he visited during the late 70s and early 80s served him well; as with shadow, topiary exudes an enigmatic, ironic aura: simultaneously a natural, living thing as well as an artificial, manmade product.

Work by Norman Stevens is held in over 50 important collections worldwide including The Tate, The Royal Academy, The British Museum, The National Trust, The V&A Museum, The National Gallery of Australia, Sydney, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Bradford Museums & Galleries, and Leeds Museums & Galleries.