Lot 135: John Allin Signed oil/canvas Market 1978 Primitive Naive

John Allin (British, 1934 -1991) Farmer's Market, oil on canvas. 23 1/2" x 20". Signed Allin/Road and dated, 1978, lower left. John Allin was born in London, he became famous for his simple and direct pictures of East End Streets. Allin was a fine natural draughtsman who joined prison art classes while serving a sentence for theft, and continued to work in the evenings later when employed as a Lorry driver. In the late 1960s he began showing at the Portal Gallery and in the 1970s won fame on the continent, in 1979 gaining the Prix Suisse Peinture Naïve award. In 1974 he published his book; "Say Goodbye".