Euan Uglow

Uglow Estate
Marlborough Fine Art, London, where purchased by the present owner

London, Flowers East, British Figurative Art, Part 1: Painting: The Human Figure, 1994, illustrated in the catalogue (published 1997) in an early state.

Catherine Lampert, Euan Uglow: The Complete Paintings, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2007, cat. no.250, p.109, illustrated.

Original canvas. There is a minor scratch to the back of the canvas by the sitter's left thigh that has made a very feint impression on the recto and there are a few tiny pin holes in the corners and scattered in a few other places where the artist has made transfer marks, one such pinhole to the left of the sitter's neck has a small minor spot of resultant paint loss, otherwise in good overall condition. Under ultra violet light, there are a few very fine lines which flouresce in the upper right quadrant however these appear to be the hand of the artist otherwise there appear to be no signs of retouching. Held in a painted wood frame.
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The present work is also known as Nude with Red Bead Necklace and was painted in 1970.

The recent publication of the catalogue raisonne of Uglow's paintings has provided many collectors with their first extensive view of his work. A meticulous worker, his paintings are carefully constructed investigations into the nature of seeing and transcribing what has been seen, and for his most ambitious works, centred around a corpus of large-scale nude paintings covering his whole career, the exploration of colour, perspective, light and form is paramount.

A student at both Camberwell and the Slade, and a protégée of William Coldstream, Uglow's approach to painting ensured that the paintings could not be produced quickly, and the enforced extended observation of his subject, be that figure or still life, is evident is the finished works. Whilst some of the poses to which his models were subjected appear extremely strenuous, such as The Diagonal of 1971-7 (Private Collection) the geometric and perspectival forces which underpin even those which initially appear simple are formidable.

The nature of the precise system of visual measuring which Uglow developed was of necessity a slow process and in some cases paintings were abandoned when a model was no longer available. In the present work, the apparently simple presentation of the model, shown seated and at three—quarter length, belies the complexity of a composition that is centred around the repetition of triangular forms. Uglow had experimented with a similar composition in at least two earlier paintings, Miss Venne and Nude with Hands on Neckband, both of 1966-7 (both Private Collection) but here the stillness and solidity of the space he creates is quite remarkable. Lit from above in a way that would be revisited later in Celebration of the New Skylight of 1986-7 (Private Collection), Uglow's subtle manipulation of the colours that render the skin tones works in harmony with the precise observation and delineation of her form, the many measuring marks remaining as testament to this process.

Very few of Uglow's large-scale paintings appear on the market, and indeed the appearance of Nude with Arms Folded is the first to be offered at auction for over a decade.