Euan Uglow

Euan Uglow was a theoretically radical painter and one of the more experimental postwar artists. Using an empirical approach to space and distance, he would contrive to paint what is objectively perceived without the use of conventional painterly perspective. Uglow rarely attempted to hide this process of empirical construction and stated that his aim was ‘a structured painting full of controlled, and therefore potent, emotion.’ 

Born in south London, Uglow attended the Camberwell School of Art from 1948 where he studied under William Coldstream. When Coldstream left to teach at the Slade School of Art in 1951, Uglow followed him studying at Slade until 1954. Uglow began experimenting with systems of visual representation early on in his career. His 1967 painting Nude, From Twelve Regular Vertical Positions From the Eye is an early attempt to eliminate perspective and won the John Morres painting prize in 1972. 

From July to October 1966, Uglow went on a painting expedition to Turkey. The  Mediterranean landscapes produced on this trip attest to a continual pursuit of clarity and control over form, just as logically devised as his nudes and still lifes. In Turkish Beach Scene, Uglow characteristically avoids prescribed perspective, instead controlling the relationships between dominant and secondary forms.