British pioneering abstract artist Gillian Ayres, aged 88

Gillian Ayres, one of Britain’s pioneering abstract artists, has died aged 88.

The Turner Prize-nominated artist died at a hospital in north Devon, her representative, the Alan Cristea Gallery, confirmed.

A spokeswoman for the gallery told the Press Association that Ayres was a “pioneering, great, wonderful woman” and revealed she had been battling ill health for the past six months.

Mr Cristea, who worked with Ayres for more than 20 years, paid tribute to the artist who he said “always pursued her own creative path”.

Ayres studied at Camberwell School of Art in London in the post-war period, and as a young artist in the 1950s was friends with leading British abstract artists including Roger Hilton.

She was attracted to Tachism – a French style of abstract expressionism – creating a large body of work which made her a leading light in the UK.

In the following decades, her style changed as she tapped into prevailing national moods or the work of other artists, but she remained committed to abstraction.

In October 2011 she received a CBE for her services to art.

Mr Cristea revealed they had staged seven exhibitions of her work and said every one was a “life-enhancing experience since her exuberance and her strength imbued all of us at the gallery”. “She was a joy. I loved her to bits and will miss her enormously,” he said.

Gillian Ayres.