The Artist at Work: On the Working Methods of William Coldstream and Michael Andrews

by Colin St. John Wilson

With this study, Colin St John Wilson focuses on the working methods of artists by direct observation. The two artists under study are William Coldstream and Michael Andrews, two leading members of the School of London.

80 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1999

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

colin st john wilson was an eminent mainstream british architect and professor at cambridge. he is popularly known for his dedicated thirty year labour over the oft maligned and frankly unremarkable british library located between st pancras and euston stations in london. st john wilson represented the last of a generation of corduroy suited british gentleman architects in both his output and sensibility. among his many illustrious achievements st john wilson was a collector of british post war painters and over the years accumulated a small but significant collection. his interest brought him into contact with william coldstream and michael andrews (coldstream's pupil at the slade). coldstream taught at the slade in the fifties and influenced many british painters of the post war period. his style whilst often perceived of and referred to as academic represented in fact a deeper enquiry into ways of seeing and representation. his work revealed in its composition an engagement with authenticity rather than realism. the surfaces of his mostly figurative canvasseswere distinguished by the presence of numerous registration and measurement markers more commonly seen in pencil life drawing. andrews meanwhile, whilst ostensibly pursuing a related line in terms of his technique, developed a more thematic approach to his subjects; for example a series of paintings explored relationships with a number of crowded social scenes at london parties alongside depictions of hot air balloon flights conjuring notions of solitude in stark contrast to the implicit emotional dynamic and intensity of the parties. andrews, st john wilson relates, was interested in the 'presence' of paintings as much as the treatment and figurative resonance of their 2-dimensional surface. he notes that in the same way that francis bacon's paintings assert a presence in a room andrews sought and successfully achieved a similar ethereal quality in his work. coldstream meanwhile when confronted with lines of enquiry regarding his work which even hinted at such metaphysical considerations would brusquely avert them with 'It's best not to talk about it.' notwithstanding his concern and focus on the authentic coldstream's figurative paintings whilst elegantly and accurately rendered have a haunting and faintly melancholy quality akin to phillip larkin's poetry.
st john wilson sat for both painters in the early nineties a decade before his own demise and related his experience and understanding of the technique employed by both painters. he shares anecdotes and describes in careful detail the way they painted him and attempts to identify why. this book is a fascinating insight into the mind of two painters, into the late st john wilson's and a thoughtful albeit oblique perspective on an overlooked school of painting in the school of london. highly recommended