Michael Forster was an Anglo-Canadian abstract artist, born in the Northern Indian city of Meerut, situated in the vast Ganges plain. Meerut was a dramatic visual contrast for Forster and also a place of great personal tragedy and loss. After attending school in Calcutta until 1921, he then attended Lancing College in Sussex, England, and subsequently after graduation he took classes with William Roberts and Bernard Meninsky at London's Central School of Arts and Crafts (now Central St Martins), followed by time at the Academie Colarossi In Paris. In 1927-28 he moved to Toronto, Canada in the hope of avoiding The Great Depression.
Forster's abstract paintings were created exclusively with acrylics and acrylic polymers and his work is heavily influenced by the Surrealist movement. Forster claimed that he never planned any of his compositions, rather they were created according to the demands of the subconscious. Canadian art critic Paul Duval deemed him 'Canada's pioneer surrealist'.
As a painter, Forster wanted to embody the transference of light and the patterms of nature into instinctive forms. Inspired by John Constable, he drew on the ever-changing light and cloud formations of the sky.
The 1938 the Surrealist section of the Canadian National Exhibition was to make a deep impact on Forster's art. He observed the movement's emphasis on the unconscious life of the artist in his intuitive, delicate handling of paint. After the war he was on friendship terms with Jean-Paul Riopelle and the Canadian Automatistes, as well as Diego Rivera and Rufino Tamayo in Mexico City, thus his artistic roots lay well outside the scope of any one movement or national school. He was honoured with a one-man show at the Museo Nacional in Mexico City in 1960 before returning to Canada four years later.
In 1974, after the death of his wife, Adele, Forster returned to England, settling in Treen,Cornwall where Forster's work flourished, Forster's concern for the medium of paint itself led him to create brilliant surface textures that are uniquely personal. He worked the varied luminous passages across his canvas from corner to corner, leading the eye through subtle and constant changes. These rich variations remain regardless of the dimensions of his work.
Forster’s paintings have been exhibited in leading museums of the world, including the National Gallery, Washington, Musee d’art Moderne, Paris, the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the British Museum, and Sao Paulo Museum, Brazil.