Ben Uri Research Unit

Born: 1929 London, England

Died: 2009 London, England

Biography

Artist and teacher David Troostwyk was born on 5 August 1929 in London, England, to a Dutch father and Canadian mother. His early years in a working-class neighborhood shaped his artistic vision, with formative experiences during the London Blitz leaving an indelible mark on his work. Troostwyk studied at St Albans School of Art and then the Royal College of Art, London from 1953–56, where he connected with contemporaries such as Dick Smith and Robyn Denny, immersing himself in mid-century British abstract and conceptual art. Although Troostwyk began as a painter, by the 1960s, his focus shifted to conceptualism, a form that emphasised ideas over traditional aesthetics. His early professional experience in advertising from 1944 to 1947, prior to his art school training, influenced his pared-back approach and appreciation for the interplay between language and image. Troostwyk described advertising as ‘propagating lies which are not meant to be wholly believed’ and saw art as presenting ‘shades of truth’, grounding his work in a philosophical inquiry into the nature of art, and informing his use of text, monochrome palettes, and industrial materials.

Troostwyk frequently used simple materials and techniques, producing works ranging from sparse drawings to austere paintings. His hallmark ‘black and white’ paintings, which defined much of his later career, featured ghostly white shapes on dark backgrounds — not objects themselves, but the voids left behind. Titles of these works, such as Letters from the First World War Trenches and Stones from Historic Battlefields, convey themes of loss, memory, and absence. Although visually minimal, they, nevertheless, evoke historical and emotional responses, reflecting both Troostwyk’s inner life and his engagement with the 20th-century’s turbulence. Wood X Square (1974, Tate collection) exemplifies Troostwyk’s interest in time and memory. Using five photographs of a square-cut piece of wood, the work captures the wood’s natural grain as a record of growth over time, transforming this slice of organic material into a symbol of lapsed time. Troostwyk regarded the square as an ‘absolute’ form that, rather than being recreated, would simply ‘re-appear’ (Tate website). This piece reflects his exploration of image transfer, as the smoothness of the photographic paper contrasts with the roughness of the original wood, emphasising the distance between object and representation.

Troostwyk’s works often integrated text in simple phrases, such as Not You, or Not Them, pasted on walls or presented as installations, inviting viewers to reflect on identity, authorship, and selfhood. His 1981 work, Not Me (Arts Council Collection), juxtaposed four statements on canvas to explore shifting relationships between artist, audience, and object, suggesting that these identities were as fluid and layered as the art itself. His installation, Supreme Object, which included a gleaming fibreglass washing machine as a commentary on consumerism and desire, was shown during Matt’s Gallery’s inaugural exhibition in 1979 (Troostwyk retained a longstanding link with the gallery), confronting the fetishism of everyday objects, and challenging traditional definitions of art.

From 1983, Troostwyk also worked under the name ‘David Koos’, dealing in fine photographs and historic letters. This additional practice informed his series Letters from a British Soldier, a collection that features ghostly, white-on-black images of First World War correspondence, reflecting his interest in absence and memory. His background in advertising continued to resonate in works such as Logo/Mark and Territory and Possession, which critiqued the language of advertising and its implications for identity and belonging. Although Troostwyk was influential in British conceptual art, he also remained on the fringes of the commercial art world. He kept his work intellectually rigorous and explored themes of language, subjectivity, and absence rather than aiming for flashy visuals or popular appeal. His commitment to discipline and integrity brought him exhibitions in notable galleries, including solo shows at the University of Southampton in 1966 and Matt’s Gallery in London in 1979 (he maintained a lengthy relationship with the gallery). His work also achieved international exposure, with group exhibitions at Galerie 20 in Amsterdam and the Sydney Biennale.

In addition to his work as an artist, Troostwyk was a dedicated educator, holding influential positions that shaped a generation of students. He served as head of painting at Winchester School of Art from 1964–67 and later as head of sculpture at Sydney College of the Arts from 1977–79. As a visiting lecturer, he shared his expertise at the Slade School of Fine Art; Chelsea School of Art; and especially Camberwell College of Arts, where he taught from 1965–89. Known for his intellectual rigour, Troostwyk encouraged students to challenge conventional boundaries, fostering curiosity about form, process, and thematic depth. David Troostwyk died in London, England on 29 September 2009. In the UK public domain, his work is represented in the Arts Council Collection, Southampton City Art Gallery, Royal College of Art, and Tate Gallery. In 2019, An Exhibition of Paintings and Other Works by David Troostwyk at Camberwell Space presented a retrospective of Troostwyk's conceptual works, curated by British painter and academic, Professor Daniel Sturgis.

Related books

Daniel Sturgis, An Exhibition of Paintings and Other Works by David Troostwyk (London: Camberwell College of Arts, 2019)
Clive Phillpot, Live in Your Head: Concept and Experiment in Britain 1965-75 (London: Whitechapel Art Gallery, 2000)
David Troostwyk and Stephen Bury, Private Act, exhibition catalogue (London: Matt's Gallery, 1999)
David Troostwyk: Realizations, exhibition catalogue (London: Matt's Gallery, 1985)
Robin Klassnik, David Troostwyk: Supreme Object (London: Matt’s Gallery, 1979)
Robin Coombes, 'The Drawn Mark + The Physical Rectangle The Wall: Recent Work by David Troostwyk', Studio International, Vol. 187, June 1974, pp. 296-297
British Sculptors: Attitudes to Drawing, exhibition catalogue (Sunderland: Sunderland Arts Centre, 1974)

Public collections

Tate Collection

Related organisations

Camberwell College of Art (teacher)
Royal College of Art (student)
St Albans School of Art (student)
Winchester Art School (student)

Selected exhibitions

An Exhibition of Paintings and Other Works by David Troostwyk, Camberwell Space, University of the Arts, London (2019)
Fully Awake, Blip Blip Blip Gallery, group exhibition, East Street Arts, Leeds, Yorkshire (2017)
Private Act - Paintings, Robert Sandelson, London (1999)
Mirror and Fur, BACKSPACE, Matt’s Gallery, London (1999)
New Figurative Works, Matt’s Gallery, London (1994)
Realizations, Matt’s Gallery, London (1985)
The Southbank Show, group show, London (1982)
National Day (and Other Works), Matt’s Gallery, London (1981)
Supreme Object, Matt’s Gallery, London (1979)
Imitation, Felicity Samuel Gallery, London (1977)
Audio Arts at the Whitechapel Gallery, group exhibition, Whitechapel Gallery, London (1977)
Two Incomplete Works, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (1974)
Pieces, Kasmin Limited, London (1971)
Exhibition of Works by David Troostwyk & Alan Davis, Angela Flowers Gallery (1970)
Paintings, Drawings and Lithographs, University Gallery, Southampton (1966)
Group Exhibition, O’Hana Gallery, London (1958)

Ben Uri archive

Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [David Troostwyk]

Ben Uri Research Unit

for the study and digital recording of the Jewish, Refugee and wide Immigrant contribution to British visual culture since 1900.

David Troostwyk artist