Philip Maltman is a Scottish-born contemporary painter based in London whose expressive, intellectually layered works combine abstraction, text, drawing, literature, and music. Born on the west coast of Scotland, Maltman was profoundly influenced by his early art teacher Bill Lockhart at Carrick Academy in Maybole, where modernism, jazz, and experimental thinking shaped his understanding of art from an early age.
In 1966, Maltman moved to London and later studied at Hornsey College of Art during its famously radical period before completing his studies at Ravensbourne. Rejecting artistic convention from the outset, he staged an anti-establishment degree show that challenged the traditional art world — a spirit of independence that continues to define his practice today.
For more than four decades, Philip Maltman has developed a deeply personal painting practice rooted in direct engagement with materials and process. Working intuitively with paint, he constructs richly layered surfaces that balance spontaneity with careful revision. Accidents and chance gestures are embraced but always interrogated, creating paintings that feel both immediate and considered.
Maltman’s contemporary paintings frequently incorporate drawing, handwritten text, and references to literature and music, giving the works a poetic and autobiographical quality. Since his school years, he has drawn lasting inspiration from James Joyce, while relationships and exchanges with artists including Alan Davie, Bert Irvin, Don Van Vliet, and Robert Motherwell have further informed his thinking and approach.
His work moves fluidly between abstraction and representation, often combining references to nature, memory, literature, and sound within a single composition. Maltman describes his paintings as dealing with “nature in an atomic sense,” where all things remain interconnected and visual languages coexist freely.
Painting, for Maltman, is an ongoing struggle with the self — one that resists easy resolution. This emotional honesty gives his work its distinctive intensity and depth. His prolific studio practice continues to evolve daily, driven by curiosity, experimentation, and a desire to discover something new through paint.
Collectors are drawn to Philip Maltman’s work for its raw energy, intellectual richness, and expressive fusion of abstraction, language, and gesture. His paintings hold a unique position within contemporary British painting, balancing lyrical freedom with emotional and philosophical complexity.
Explore available paintings by Philip Maltman
