|
|
William Foreman
I first encountered William Foreman at London's Bruton Street Gallery when I was a regular reviewer for the arts page of a leading London listings magazine. At the time I was visiting and assessing every major public and commercial exhibition in the capital. My regular 'beat' included the National Gallery, the Tate, the Serpentine, the Haywood Gallery and the commercial gallery aristocracy of Cork Street and Mayfair. For some time my experience of the contemporary art in these venerable institutions had been of neutral encounters with a seemingly endless procession of competent monotony. There 'was evidence that many contemporary painters could paint: their draughtsmanship could be admired; the rules of perspective were respected; their use of colour was judicious, palatable and inoffensive. However, nothing amidst this tidal wave of mere adequacy particularly sparkled. Nothing stood out. Nothing excited. Nothing communicated. Until William Foreman. My first experience of William Foreman's landscapes - at the Bruton Street Gallery in 1994 - was more than a metaphoric breath of fresh air. Here, at last, were landscapes in which you could breathe; images that invigorated; depictions of scenes that lifted the spirit or bathed one's mind in tranquillity. Colour, texture and form used instinctively and authoritatively to convey ambience whilst transcribing the inherent beauty of nature or the grandeur of architecture. I was immediately impressed and have remained an enthusiastic follower of Foreman's career ever since - a career that has consistently resulted in a series of deserved sell-out exhibitions at the Bruton Street Gallery. As a critic I am not alone in my high praise and appreciation for William Foreman. John Malony, formerly a Director of Cork Street's Richmond Gallery, writes: "William Foreman is an exceptionally gifted painter. His masterly handling of reflections and water reveal the same deep feeling for composition as Sisley and Pissarro. Foreman's bold, luminous landscapes are fresh and uninhibited, yet hark back to the great age of French landscape painting in the 1870's." This close connection with Sisley is documented by Foreman himself. Foreman, who is entirely self-taught, says: "Sisley and Monet are my greatest influences." Indeed, whilst Foreman was developing his signature style he studied both these artists' work in great detail and made frequent painting pilgrimages to Moret and Giverny. That Foreman has inherited the great legacy of Impressionism is clear for all to see. That he is now its latter-day standard bearer is equally undoubted. It is a burden that sits well on his capable shoulders. Viewing an archetypal Foreman work such as 'Terrace of the Colom.be d'Or, St Paul' (1994) or 'Lake Como, South West of Bellagio' (1994) one is immediately assured that the future of the Impressionist movement as we enter the 21st Century rests in safe and talented hands. Although William Foreman has worked his palette-knife magic on subjects as diverse as London and its suburbs and Scotland during wintertime there are two principal regions to which his keenly observant eye returns time and time again: Italy and the South of France. His French works include the sunny, yacht-filled bays of St. Tropez, Villefranche and Cap Ferrat. He says of these canvasses: "My favourite location in France is St. Paul de Vence. St. Paul is a very special place for me where I have produced many paintings. I would often stay at the Colombe d'Or and sketch their fabulous terrace from every conceivable angle." Yet it has been Italy - and Venice in particular - that has exerted a seminal creative influence on Foreman and inspired him to produce a body of work constituting the apotheosis of the internal dialogue he conducts with every landscape he encounters. Writing of his arrival in Venice for the first time Foreman observes: "It was one of the most moving experiences for me as a painter. The beautiful and mysterious atmosphere was, for me, a spiritual experience. It was the start of a love for Venice that remains to this day." Certainly, Foreman's Venetian paintings provide the most eloquent evidence of this grand passion. In work such as 'The Grand Canal (Misty Morning)' (1994), and 'Afternoon Light, Santa Maria delta Salute (1994) Foreman blends his Impressionists' instinct with an Old Master's authority, vision and sense of majesty. The result is a collection of paintings that define Venice: images as ionic as the architecture and waterways of the city itself. When questioned concerning his technique, Foreman is characteristically modest. "My technique is not unique" he says. However, he admits: "An interesting article on the painting knife changed everything for me. The knife is clean and immediate. It is quicker to catch the moment...the spontaneity which enables the painting to seem fresher." This immediacy - and passionate concern to communicate the inner essence of a landscape - lies at the very heart of William Foreman as an artist. That he wholly succeeds in these endeavours sets William Foreman far apart from the vast majority of landscape painters of his generation. Through the kind invitation to me to provide the preface for this deserved book on the life and work of William Foreman I have learned many fascinating biographical anecdotes concerning William's development as an artist. Of these, Foreman's honest and self-effacing assessment of how he first became a painter (whilst stationed in Gibraltar as RAF ground crew) serves to illustrate the warmth, humour and modesty of the man behind the artist. He says: "For no particular reason I felt the urge to start painting. I had seen the light!" Clearly, the RAF's loss has been the art world's gain. Simon Corbin, Author and Critic, June 2000
Exhibitions: His paintings are to be found in many private collections in the United Kingdom, Europe, the United States of America, Canada, the Middle East, Singapore, the Far East, Republic of Trinidad & Tobago and Japan.
|
William
Foreman
- Reflections of Nature's Glory