Painting Relief
- Artist: Richard Lin Show Yu
- Date: 1964
- Medium: Oil paint, acrylic sheet and aluminium on canvas
- Dimensions: support: 1180 x 1180 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the "Painting Relief" by Richard Lin Show Yu. It was created in 1964, a period when British artists were exploring new ways to break the flatness of the canvas. Lin Show Yu blends oil paint with acrylic sheets and a sheet of aluminium, giving the surface a subtle three‑dimensional quality. The juxtaposition of matte oil and shiny metal creates a play of light that makes the painted forms lift out of the background.
The work measures a square, 1180 mm on each side, and is mounted on a canvas that allows the layers to sit slightly above the support. As you look around, you’ll notice how the edges of the metal accentuate the brushwork, turning simple shapes into almost sculptural elements.
Lin Show Yu, who lived from 1933 to 2011, was known for his interest in materiality and the physicality of painting. In this piece he experiments with how paint can be more than pigment – it can become a layer, a sheet, a fragment of metal. The result is a composition that feels both solid and fluid, inviting you to explore it from different angles.
See it in person
Painting Relief is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
