An elusive member of the School of London is rediscovered in a new exhibition at Newport Street Gallery
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Tuesday, November 5, 2024


An elusive member of the School of London is rediscovered in a new exhibition at Newport Street Gallery
Keith Cunningham, Four Dogs, Spain, 1955.



LONDON.- Newport Street Gallery is presentinng The Cloud of Witness, an exhibition of over 70 works by little-known Australian artist Keith Cunningham, which runs from 16th February to 21st August 2022.

Cunningham’s paintings were produced in London during the post-war period, an artistic environment dominated by the likes of Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud. A student at the Royal College of Art in the mid-1950s, Cunningham worked alongside major artists such as Frank Auerbach, Leon Kossoff and Jo Tilson.

Cunningham’s sombre paintings, coated in layers of dense, sculptural brushstrokes, are populated by skulls, fighting dogs and darkly altered human figures. Like his schoolmates and teachers at the Royal College, Cunningham was interested in figurative painting, transforming the reality of everyday life into loose, slowly disintegrating forms.

His canvases, like those of Bacon, Kossoff and Auerbach, are covered in powerful strokes of dark pigments conveying strikingly expressive forms. The Cloud of Witness seeks to redefine Cunningham’s role in the London art scene of the 1950s, highlighting not only his ability but also the variety of his inspirations. To this effect, it coincides with the major show at the Royal Academy of Arts, Francis Bacon: Man and Beast, encouraging visitors to compare and contrast the works of these two artists.

Upon graduating the Royal College, Cunningham was invited to submit his paintings to the prestigious London Group, with whom he displayed his paintings for two consecutive years. His canvases were singled out by high-profile art writers for their rough materiality and suggestive presence. Auerbach admired his ‘outstanding talent,’ and his tutor John Minton described him as ‘one of the most gifted painters to have worked at the Royal College.’

Praised by critics, admired by peers and increasingly sought after by collectors, in the 1960s Cunningham was on the brink of reaching international fame. However, in 1967 he suddenly withdrew completely from the art world, refusing to submit his paintings to public exhibitions and hardly ever allowing outsiders to see his works.

Upon his death in 2014 at the age of 85, Cunningham had left behind a large collection of unseen works spanning over five decades. His paintings from the 1950s and 1960s, neatly stacked in his house facing the wall, had been kept hidden, amassed in his flat’s spare room. Finally disclosing these canvases to the public, The Cloud of Witness rescues Cunningham’s art from oblivion, offering a rare chance to rediscover his powerful, expressive forms.

Born in Sydney in 1929, Keith Cunningham moved to London in 1949 to study graphic design at the Central School of Art, where he graduated with a dissertation on architecture. Animated by a consuming passion for painting, he later applied to the Royal College of Art, where his talent was quickly recognised.

A driven and resolute individual, his years at the Royal College were spent working tirelessly and exploring every artistic medium available. In 1955 he was granted a travelling and continuation scholarship and arranged a trip to Spain which greatly influenced his painting style.

On graduating from the College in 1956, he exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Beaux Arts Gallery – then one of the most influential galleries in London – at the invitation of its director, Helen Lessore. In the same year he applied for a part-time position as lecturer of Drawing and Printing at the London College of Printing, which he held for around 40 years.

His works were shown twice with the prestigious London Group, attracting high praise from an art critic from The Times. The art collector and celebrated photographer Elsbeth Juda was one of Cunningham’s most vocal admirers and circulated his paintings worldwide.

From the late 1960s, however, he refused to exhibit his work and started to focus instead on graphic design, watercolours and small-size drawings. Between the 1970s and 1980s, Cunningham worked as a graphic designer for the publisher Peter Owen, producing impressive hardback book covers. A number of these were shown at the 2004 Barbican exhibition Communicate: British Independent Graphic Design Since the Sixties and were acquired posthumously by the University of Brighton Design Archives.
The majority of his works, including thousands of drawings and watercolours, however, never left Cunningham’s studio. His vast estate, like many details of his personal life, remained undisclosed until his passing in 2014, at the age of 85.










Today's News

February 21, 2022

Lark Mason Associates announces sale of Thomas Rowlandson prints and drawings

'Jitish Kallat: Order of Magnitude' opens at Ishara Art Foundation

The exhibition ''From Dawn to Dusk'' opens at the National Nordic Museum in Seattle

In Brazil, a museum within a museum restores a legacy

Christie's presents fRiENDSiES by FriendsWithYou, on OpenSea

When architects made worlds

Foam opens an exhibition of works by Bill Brandt

Group exhibition features five key emerging contemporary artists from Ghana

Peter Earnest, CIA veteran who ran a spy museum, dies at 88

Hauser & Wirth presents an exhibition of works by Takesada Matsutani

Celebrity items highlight Abell Auction Co.'s Online Fine Art, Antiques and Jewelry Sale on March 6

Rediscovered Royal presentation vase lost since 1845 set to go to auction

The only working model of Dr. Merryweather's famous 1851 barometer set to go to auction

The Yeh Art Gallery opens Lain Singh Bangdel's first solo museum show in the U.S.

Christie's Watches Dubai announces early highlights

'Unchained: Allan Rohan Crite, Spirituality and Black Activism' opens at MWPAI

Royal Museums Greenwich launches appeal to save Solebay

An elusive member of the School of London is rediscovered in a new exhibition at Newport Street Gallery

Philipp von Rosen Galerie opens an exhibition of new works by Belgian painter Koen van den Broek

Zeitz MOCAA launches publication of landmark Home Is Where the Art Is exhibition

Step into the colorful cosmos of Beat Zoderer at museum Voorlinden

Rare Posters Auction #86 presents 425 acclaimed works

Latvian National Museum of Art opens a new permanent exhibition 12 Photographers / 125 Photographs / 10 Series

Using Will Power to Start Your Career in Photography

Queens Murals bringing colors in Grim Times

Where Are ASUS Laptops Made?

How To Choose The Right Laptop for Digital Art

Milky Oil In Boat Engine-What To Do




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Holistic Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful