Alas, the show has passed without my getting there, but the book made it across the pond, much to my delight. He also sponsors art books, and told me he was backing the publication of a forthcoming catalogue raisonné on Coldstream, scheduled to coincide with an exhibition of his work in London. It came from Scott Purdin, who, it turned out, is something of an Anglophile and who owns original works by Coldstream, Uglow, and other affiliated artists.
In the subsequent years the catalogue, and thoughts of Coldstream, remained mostly shelved, until I received an unexpected email this past February. He worried his paintings through dozens of sessions without ever falling victim to a conventional standard of finish. Coldstream seemed to me a talented curiosity: dry, meticulous, influenced by Cézanne, and-though this is no debit-reliably irresolute. I preferred Uglow, whose paintings are cooler and clearer. Done, and soon thereafter I hunted up a slender catalogue, published for a retrospective at the Tate Gallery after Coldstream’s death. Euan Uglow’s name came up, as it often did on campus, and James advised me to check out the work of Coldstream, who was Uglow’s teacher.
I was teaching at a small fine arts college and was one day introduced to James McElhinney, who was visiting as a guest lecturer. The first time I heard of William Coldstream was about fifteen years ago.
William Coldstream, Westminster | vi, 1977–8, oil on canvas, 29 x 24 in.
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