Euan Uglow: An Arc from the Eye - 2

 

'I'm painting an idea not an ideal. Basically, I'm trying to paint a structured painting full of controlled, and therefore potent emotion.'  Euan Uglow.

Euan Uglow - An Arc from the Eye

at the MK Gallery, Milton Keynes.

This is the second post on this exhibition and it's Uglow's paintings of nudes. I am usually not comfortable with posting female nudes painted by men, especially a whole post, but these paintings are such a large part of the exhibition, the poses are unusual, the brushstrokes are fascinating as are Uglow's measurements, that I felt I had no choice.

Uglow has stated that he set out to explore the long art historical tradition of the nude, as an idealised religious or mythological form, from a contemporary perspective.

Art historian Richard Kendall wrote about these paintings, the 'brazen unnaturalness of these poses and settings served to announce their separateness from ordinary lived experience'.

                                                          

                                                                                                        

As I said in my previous post, when I saw the brustrokes in the painting that featured in the poster for this exhibition, I just had to go and see it. And I was not disappointed. It is a wonderful exhibition and it's so exciting discovering a new artist.

Euan Uglow (1932-2000) was known for his close observation and precise technique, often working on a single painting for several years whilst working on three or four paintings at a time. He would construct set-ups or arrangements of models and objects in order to experiment with different ways of depicting perspective, light and colour. Working in an almost mathematical way, Uglow left on the canvas the dashes or crosses that came upon measuring. In his still lifes especially, this also registered how the pasage of time changed his subjects.

Nude, 12 regular vertical positions from the eye, 1967, (oil on board)

In order to make this painting, Uglow had the model, artist Daphne Todd,  stand on a box in front of a box in front of a wall marked out with twelve equal divisions. Uglow painted the figure while sitting on a purpose-built scaffold. The scaffold was raised and lowered so that his eyes were always looking at the figure straight on. The ochre bands in the background correspond to how far the body is away from the back wall: 'the wider the band the further the body projects at that point'. The pale arrows indicate the points where the widths of the figure are changing.

looking closer

Curled Nude on a Stool, 1982-83, (oil on canvas)

The model is author Celia Lyttleton

looking closer

Zagi, 1982-82, (oil on canvas)

The model is Julie Burton. The painting was made over a year, five or six days a week, up to five hours a day and requiring absolute stillness.

The composition comes from decisions on the proportion of the canvas. Here, the height relates to the width by the square root of two, and the width of the model's head is one-eighth of the width of the canvas. Uglow described: 'the curve of the left-hand edge of the [ochre] structure allows the artist to retain the required distance between its base and the model's left foot, without having to make the arms unnaturally long ... the lower right leg and foot are painted with a change of scale, in order to accommodate the figure within the root-two rectangle with the foot fitting in the corner'.

Three In One, 1967-68, (oil on canvas)

The title of this painting came about because three models were used to pose, the last being Eve Herrmann Martin. The white marks near the model's head are from where an earlier model had placed her arm: above the figure a heater is suspended. Uglow wrote that looking at the figure was 'like trying to paint a moving snake all the time: one's got to try to look at its tail at the same time as its tongue - that's the important thing about painting anything which is alive'.





looking closer

Root Five Nude, 1974-75, (oil on canvas)

The title of this painting comes from the proportions of the canvas, the length being 2.23 times the height (the square root of five). Uglow often used rectangles based on square root ratios because of their harmonious proportions. He stated that 'the root-five rectangle is a very beautiful rectangle, with all kinds of lovely qualities'. 

The table the model lies on was made specifically for the work, with a curved front edge so that the edges were the same distance from the artist's eye. The model, French designer Sietske Smid, posed over nine months, and was positioned so her body followed the curve of the board.

Uglow used flat areas of colours next to each other, rather than blending. He explained: 'What I would like... is that there are colours I can call a colour, so it doesn't become a kind of mud to make a tone'.

Pepe's Painting, 1983-85, (oil on canvas)

The model, Gloria Carlos, against a stark black background on a canvas with the proportions of a double square (root-four rectangle).

The Diagonal, 1971-77, (oil on canvas)

The model for this painting was Jacque Rochester, an American student at the Slade. The painting took six years, partly because Rochester was only available during term time. The pose here was in part a response to the model, 'she was so long and could hold the pose'. The canvas is a root-two rectangle, in which the width equals the height multiplied by the square root of two. On the rear wall of the studio set-up Uglow drew a grid with 10 height divisions, 14 width divisions and 17 diagonal divisions.

'I remember his saying to me in the beginning that we will do this together. I ring the doorbell and walk into a painting atmosphere like into a complete painting. A cup of coffee then three hours on Wednesdays and four hours on Sundays, minus trip to the US. Slow down the rush of life and be still. Sometimes he says high clouds are the best days. My left foot won't stay on the floor. After a lot of difficulty preserving the head to feet sttraight line of the pose, Euan decided to have it pointing up. That changed the rhythm'.

looking closer

Striding Nude Blue Dress, 1978-81.

The model for the finished painting was Debbie Hayes.

Striding Nude Blue Dress (unfinished), 1978-80, (oil on canvas)

The model for the unfinished Striding Nude was barrister Charie Blair while she was in 'pupilate' training position.The painting was abandoned when she no longer had time to continue sitting. 

Girl Tree, 1989-91, (oil on canvas)

The Blue Towel, 1982-83, (oil on canvas)

Night Scene, 1995-97, (oil on board)

Nuria, 1998-2000, (oil on canvas)

Euan Uglow - An Arc from the Eye

'Art is an artifice ... it's nothing to do with being true to life. You're trying to construct a new world so it can stand: nothing to do with illusionism'. Euan Uglow.

Euan Uglow - An Arc from the Eye

at the MK Gallery, Milton Keynes.

When I saw the brustrokes in the painting that featured in the poster for this exhibition, I just had to go and see it. And I was not disappointed. It is a wonderful exhibition and it's so exciting discovering a new artist.

Euan Uglow (1932-200) was known for his close observation and precise technique, often working on a single painting for several years whilst working on three or four paintings at a time. He would construct set-ups or arrangements of models and objects in order to experiment with different ways of depicting perspective, light and colour. Working in an almost mathematical way, Uglow left on the canvas the dashes or crosses that came upon measuring. In his still lifes especially, this also registered how the pasage of time changed his subjects.

Influencers:

The exhibition opens with works by five artists who taught or influenced him: Paul Cezanne, Alberto Giacometti and William Coldstream, Victor Pasmore and Claude Rogers.

Paul Cezanne, The Painter's Father, Louis-August Cezanne, 1865, (oil on plaster, later mounted on canvas)

Cezanne wrote that an artist should aim to give 'concrete expression to his sensations, his perceptions, by means of line and colour'. In his twenties, he made this painting of his father reading a neewspaper, directly onto a wall of their home.

Uglow said that Cezanne helped him dare to 'follow my most awkward, foolish, passions and obsessions'. Looking at Cezanne made him aware 'that the smallest shift in viewpoint would result in a quite different picture'.

Alberto Giacometti, Diego, 1950, (oil on canvas)

Uglow said that Giacometti 'gave you the courage to try and do what you could'. That Giacometti 'seemed to be trying to solve some of the problems that I was tryhing to solve as a painter: trying to make something work in space. And not with any formula but with distillation'.

William Coldstream, Two Female Nudes in the Studio, 1953-54, (oil on canvas)

Goldstream was one of Uglow's most influential tutors while studying at both Camberwell and Slade Schools of Art. Goldstream had developed a method of painting in which he stood in one spot, held his arm out to the subject with one eye shut and measured, taking in fixed vertical and horizontal lines. His goal was to see objectively and afresh.

Victor Pasmore, Rectangular Motif: Red and Mustard, 1950, (oil on canvas)

Passmore was Uglow's tutor. His influence can be seen in Uglow's use of colour and geometry, as well as the importance of process in his work.

Euan Uglow, Girl with Light Hair, 1949, (oil on canvas)

In Uglow's last year at Camberwell, he painted a series of cubist-inspired works, in which the subject is broken into geometric shapes.

Claude Rogers, Burning Field, 1959-60, (oil on canvas)

Uglow has repeatedly stated that Rogers was his most influential tutor.

Euan Uglow paintings:

In his painting, Uglow put aside ideas of how things should look and instead focused on close looking, measuring and slowly building an image. Each painting began with a conceptual premise: how to turn an idea related to a three-dimensional subject to a two-dimensional painting. The shape, dimensions and proportions of his canvases were carefully determined and many frames were specifically made to extent the diagonal line of the canvas.

The Musicians, 1953, (oil on canvas)

Looking closer - as I said earlier, fascinated by the brushstrokes

Miss Benge, 1961, oil on canvas)

The patches of pink, lilac, blue and cream paint on the face show Uglow's technique of painting colour observed by looking at individual areas on the model, sometimes through a tunnel made from his hand.

Brunelleschi's Dome, 1961, (oil on board)

Gloria Wearing a Necklace, 1959-60, (oil on canvas)

Pakefield Church, Lowestoft, 1961, (oil on board)

Snow on Lambeth, 1987, (oil on canvas)

Polygons, 1970, (oil on canvas on board)

Passionate Proportion, 1964, (oil on canvas)

Marigold, 1969, (oil on canvas)

Goodbye Greece

We are back in the UK. Had a great time in Greece. I particularly enjoyed the sunsets. 

These pictures were taken a few days before we left. We went to Edem, one of our favourite places, just after it had rained hard. We did not know whether there would be more rain, so everyone sat under shelter: awnings or umbrellas.

One of the pleasures of going to Edem is to have a table as near the sea is possible, on the sand, but it did not matter, because as you can see, all the front tables were empty, so we still had uninterrupted views.

We sat under an unbrella, and next to it there was a tree. This cat climbed the tree and then proceeded to sit on top of our umbrella.


 

Uzo Egonu - Painting in Darkness

Uzo Egonu, Nigerian Modernism exhibition, at Tate Modern.

The work of Uzo Egonu was part of the Nigerian Modernism exhibition. I loved the whole exhibition and discovered so many artists whose work I had not seen before. Egonu's work was one of my favourites, so I have decided to do a separate post on it. You can see the other four posts on this exhibition through the search facility on the right of the screen.

A Nigerian artist living in postwar Britain, Egony dedicated his work to themes of nationhood and belonging. Born in 1931, in Nigeria, Egonu began painting and drawing at a young age. He moved to the UK as a teenager and later enrolled at Camberwell College of Arts and Crafts in London.

The devastating loss of life during the Nigerian Civil War left a deep impression on Egonu as an Igbo artist. Although he only briefly returned to Nigeria once in 1977, he remaiend deeply invested in the struggles of the emerging independent nation.

In his work, he blended the figurative and the abstract, fusing the aesthetics of European modernism with traditional Igbo sculpture and Uli wall art. Egony became interested in etching, exploring what he described as 'the poetry of lines'. However, this process exposed him to toxic fumes and by 1979 he had lost much of his vision. During this period, which he described as 'painting in darkness', he created some of his most vibrant and expressive painting - Stateless People for instance. 

Poetess, 1980, (oil on canvas)

Stateless People, 1981, (oil on canvas)

Stateless People: an artist with Beret, 1981, (oil on canvas)

The Stateless People series draws on the bold, graphic qualities of Egonu's printmaking. Each painting centres on a creative activity: music, art and poetry. The figures serve as metaphors for the alienation and exile experienced by many artists forced to leave their homelands due to political or social intolerance. Post-war reconciliation in Nigeria had brought with it a vision of growth and progress, while the oil boom elevated the country's economic standing. Yet, alongside this optimism, the era was also marked by corruption. Egony noted that a country 'without a permanent foundation, foresight, common sense and ambition for the good of the country... is non-existent'. He felt that anyone who inahabits such a place is 'symbolically stateless'.

Will Knowledge Safeguard Freedom 2, 1985, (oil on canvas)

In this painting, Egonu reflects on the interdependence of power and knowledge. He explores how creative endeavours and technological advancement shape the destiny of humankind. For Egonu, the challenges of modern nation-building across Africa were a source of deep anxiety and sorrow.

His composition presents figures engaged in a range of activities. A ladder stands within reach yet remains unused, implying that advancement is available to humanity only through the pursuit of knowledge. While the overall colour palette is subdued, Egony introduces the image of a flower as an emblem of hope and optimism.

Woman in Grief, 1968, (oil on canvas)

Piccadilly Circus, 1969, (oil on canvas)

This painting expresses Egonu's anguish and despair during the period when the region of Nigeria that he once called home seceded to form the Republic of Biafra. Even though he embraced this new Biafran identity, he was very concerned about the fact that his ties to his homeland were strained by both conflict and distance.

Hair Plaiting, 1867, (oil on canvas)

Artist Painting Mother and Child, 1978, (oil on canvas)

Woman Reading, 1978, (oil on canvas)