Pioneering artist dies 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 yesterday, her representative, the Alan Cristea Gallery, confirmed.

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

Mr Cristea said that the artist “always pursued her own creative path”.