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Bridget Riley
Shift
signed and dated '63 (on the side edge); signed, titled and dated 1963 (on the reverse)
emulsion on canvas
76 by 76.5 cm. 30 by 30⅛ in.
Executed in 1963.

This artwork has generously been loaned to the exhibition.

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Victor Musgrave, London
Dr & Mrs Robert J. Fussillo, Atlanta (acquired from the above in August 1964)
Steven Leiber Gallery, San Francisco
Private Collection, Europe (acquired from the above in 1987)
Christie‘s, London, 30 June 2016, Lot 5 (consigned by the above)
Private Collection
Sotheby's, London, 11 February 2020, Lot 17
Acquired directly from the above sale by the present owner

London, Gallery One, Bridget Riley, September 1963, n.p., no. 2 (text)
Bochum, Städtische Kunstgalerie, Profile III. Englische Kunst der Gegenwart, April - June 1964, n.p., no. 134, illustrated
Hanover, Kunstverein; Bern, Kunsthalle Bern; Dusseldorf, Städtische Kunsthalle; Turin, Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna; and London, Hayward Gallery, Bridget Riley: Paintings and
Drawings 1951-71, November 1970 - September 1971, n.p., no. 17 (text)
Buffalo, Albright-Knox Art Gallery; Dallas, Museum of Fine Arts; Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales; Perth, Art Gallery of Western Australia; and Tokyo, National Museum of Modern Art, Bridget Riley: Works 1959-78, September 1978 - March 1980, p. 17, no. 11, illustrated in colour
London, The Serpentine Gallery, Bridget Riley: Paintings from the 1960s and 70s, June - August 1999, p. 57, no. 6, illustrated in colour
Dusseldorf, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Bridget Riley: Selected Paintings 1961-1999, October 1999 - January 2000, p. 9, illustrated in colour
London, Tate Britain, Bridget Riley, June - September 2003, p. 35, no. 5, illustrated in colour
Aarau, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Bridget Riley: Bilder und Zeichnungen 1959-2005, September - November 2005, p. 63, no. 2, illustrated in colour
Paris, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Bridget Riley: Rétrospective, June - September 2008, p. 189, illustrated

Anon., Studio International, Vol. 175, June 1968, p. 297, illustrated
Maurice de Sausmarez, Bridget Riley, London 1970, p. 67, no. 42, illustrated in colour
Exh. Cat., Kendal, Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Bridget Riley Works: 1961-1998, 1998, p. 9, illustrated
Robert Kudielka, Ed., Bridget Riley: Dialogues on Art, London 1999, p. 38, illustrated in colour
Francis Follin, Embodied Visions: Bridget Riley, Op Art and the Sixties, London 2004, p. 41, no. 11, illustrated in colour
Exh. Cat., Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool (and travelling), Bridget Riley: Flashback, 2009-10, p. 11, illustrated in colour
Exh. Cat., Siegen, Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen, Bridget Riley: Malerei 1980-2012, 2012, p. 69, no. 2, illustrated in colour
Robert Kudielka, Alexandra Tommasini and Natalia Naish, Eds., Bridget Riley: The Complete Paintings: 1946-2017, Vol. I , London 2018, p. 85, no. BR 29, illustrated in colour

B ridget Riley’s Shift stands as a defining masterpiece of 1960s Op art, capturing the bold innovation that cemented her reputation as one of the movement’s leading figures. The stark black-and-white scheme of Shift is emblematic of Riley’s earliest phase, before she embraced colour in 1967. By stripping away hue, Riley heightened the purity of geometry and intensified the composition’s restless vitality. Works like Movement in Squares (1961, Arts Council Collection, London) and Current (1964, Museum of Modern Art, New York) share this monochrome approach, which reveals form in its most elemental state. Indeed, 41 of her black-and-white works from the decade are now held in prominent museum collections worldwide. In 1965, Riley described her approach: “The basis of my paintings is this: that in each of them a particular situation is stated. Certain elements within that situation remain constant, others precipitate the destruction of themselves by themselves... the original situation is restored” (Tate Britain, 2003, p. 15).

This dynamic instability animates Shift, its triangles seemingly pulsing and dissolving in an endlesscycle of disruption and renewal. The painting’s precise geometry creates a strobing, almost sculptural sense of movement that grips the viewer. More than half a century later, Riley’s influence remains powerful, as evidenced by her celebrated exhibitions today, including her 2019 show at the Hayward Gallery. On completion in 1963, Shift’s importance was quickly recognised: within just a few years of its creation, Shift featured in several landmark exhibitions, among them Städtische Kunstgalerie, Bochum (1964), the Hayward Gallery, London (1971), and the acclaimed travelling show that opened at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo (1978). The painting’s hypnotic precision and distinctive optical effects have ensured its presence in major exhibitions ever since.

In Shift, black and white triangular bands spiral and warp as if caught in a rotating column of energy. Diagonals clash and reconcile in turn, generating a sense of perpetual motion. The eye follows the zig-zagging rhythm across the canvas, as though the dark shapes might burst beyond the painting’s edge. The effect is kinetic and immersive: unpredictable yet deliberate, it invites a deeply personal engagement with the act of seeing. True to its title, Shift provokes a fundamental change in perception, allowing hidden contours and fleeting shapes to emerge from its trembling forms. Art historian Paul Moorhouse explains: “Riley’s early paintings radically reversed the traditional relationship between the work of art and the viewer... The process of looking ‘activates’ the painting... This state of flux generates vivid perceptual experiences of movement and light” (Bridget Riley: Paintings and Drawings 1961–2004, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2004, p. 15). The diagonal waves recall rolling seas or undulating hills, a nod to the natural landscapes of Riley’s Cornish childhood, where sunlight on Atlantic waters left a lasting imprint on her imagination. In Shift, light itself seems to shimmer and expand through the tension of contrasting tones, producing a dazzling, rippling surface that feels alive.

Created during a period of explosive creativity, Shift emerged at a cultural turning point. In the early 1960s, British society was casting off post-war austerity, embracing new freedoms in music, fashion, and art. Riley’s electrifying optical experiments resonated with a generation hungry for innovation, their crisp energy aligned with the era’s rebellious spirit—from the Beatles’ sound to Mary Quant’s daring hemlines. As Frances Follin writes: “As an Op artist, Riley was part of ‘new Britain’ along with the Beatles, Mary Quant and David Frost, her art aligned with the urban, scientific, socially progressive face of a new, young national identity” (Embodied Visions: Bridget Riley, Op Art and the Sixties, London, 2004, p.120). In its celebration of abstraction’s fresh possibilities, Shift perfectly channels the dynamism and optimism of its time—an enduring testament to Riley’s ability to make vision itself feel thrillingly alive.