John Denis Harwood Catleugh (1920-2009) - 1993 Mixed Media Black Circle

Description

A wonderful 20th century abstract composition by John Denis Harwood Catleugh. This atmospheric and striking shape has been created using oil paint and a liquid latex resist. After a visit to Venice where he saw works by Jackson Pollock, Catleugh was strongly influenced by the artist and started series of ‘Space/Time’ paintings. Pollock's influence can clearly be seen with this composition. Finished with a varnish and well presented in a contemporary white wooden box frame. Unsigned. On board.

Condition

With some small marks to the frame. Overall in good condition.

Size

28.4 x 28.1cm (11.2" x 11.1")
Framed Size: 33.3 x 33.6cm (13.1" x 13.2")

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Artist Biography

Abstract painter born in King’s Lynn, the son of John Harwood Catleugh OBE a former mayor of that city. After war service he qualified as an architect in 1949 and soon after began to make a series of Perspex and wood reliefs. About this time Catleugh visited Venice where he saw the Jackson Pollock and was strongly influenced and started series of ‘Space/Time’ paintings. He turned his hand to stage design and in 1951 designed sets for Picasso’s play, 'Desire Caught by Tail' staged at the Watergate Theatre. Multi-talented, the following year he began to design furniture and in 1953 was a Prize-winner in the Furniture Makers Guild, Coronation Design Competition. He also designed textiles, collages and from 1954-59 worked on a series of relief paintings on a plaster ground. In 1959, he began a series of Scottish landscape pictures continuing in this vein until 1962. As an exhibitor he participated in many group shows including venues such as Gimpel Fils, Redfern Gallery, The Mirror and the Square, Artists' International Association, ICA, Royal Academy of Arts, the seminal ' This is Tomorrow' at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London and latterly in 1988 in the 'Reflections of the Fifties' at England & Co which was a two-person show with John Milnes-Smith. From 1988 until his demise Catleugh lived in London. Catleughs’s career was mainly that of an architect who happened to paint for the love and creativity it afforded him. He was, however, a world authority on the work of William De Morgan and also wrote about William Morris and his tile designs. He had a large and important collection of De Morgan tiles and was the Chairman of the De Morgan Foundation in 1996 and during his term 'The De Morgan Centre for the Study of 19th Century Art and Society' was established in Wandsworth, London. From 2002, until its closure in June 2014, a large collection of the ceramics of De Morgan and the paintings of Evelyn De Morgan together with considerable archive material were on display.