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RA Magazine talks to Joe TIlson RA
Photograph by Eamonn McCabe.
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Photograph by Julian Anderson.
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Photograph by Eamonn McCabe.
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Photograph by Julian Anderson.
Born: 16 February 1930, London, UK
Elected ARA: 25 April 1969
Elected RA: 12 February 1974
Category of Membership: Painter
I am not interested in pure representation. My work is about responses to the moods and atmospheres generated by landscape, still life or interior. I am interested in the developments of 20th-century painting in abstraction...and in new ideas and art forms. My philosophy is that the more I work the more I discover. Drawing is essential as a tool of discovery; skill and mastery of technique are also essential, but only as a vocabulary and a means towards an idea. I struggle to keep an open mind.
Fred Cuming RA
Fred Cuming RA, The Wave, Golden Cap, Dorset. © the artist. Photography by FXP and John Riddy.Fred Cuming studied at Sidcup School of Art from 1945 to 1949 and, having completed his National Service, went on to study at the Royal College of Art from 1951 to 1955, where he gained a Rome Scholarship and an Abbey Minor Scholarship.
Cuming’s first solo show was held in 1978 at the Thackeray Gallery, London, and since then he has exhibited regularly in solo shows throughout the UK and more recently in the United States. His work has also been included in many group exhibitions since 1953. In 2001 he was given the honour of being the featured artist in the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition, with an entire gallery within the show dedicated to his work.
Among Cuming’s many awards are the Grand Prix Fine Art (1977), the Royal Academy’s House & Garden Award and the Sir Brinsley Ford Prize (New English Art Club, 1986). His work is held in private collections throughout the world.
Cuming was elected Royal Academician in 1974 (ARA 1969). He is also a Member of the New English Art Club and an Associate of the Royal College of Art. He lives and works in East Sussex.
Recent solo exhibitions
2012 Brian Sinfield Gallery, Oxfordshire
2011 Thompson’s Gallery
2010 Adam Gallery, London
2009 Brian Sinfield Gallery, Oxfordshire
Thompson’s Gallery, London
2008 Adam Gallery, London and Bath
2006 Adam Gallery, London and Bath
Thompson's Gallery, London
2002 Alresford Gallery, Alresford
2001 City Gallery, London
Adam Gallery, Bath
Neville Gallery, Canterbury
Alresford Gallery, Alresford, Hampshire
2000 New Grafton Gallery, London
1999 Barneys Gallery, Greenwich, Connecticut, USA
City Gallery, London
Neville Gallery, Canterbury
Alresford Gallery, Alresford, Hampshire
Adam Gallery, Bath
1998 The Vogel Gallery, Dallas, Texas, USA
New Grafton Gallery, London
Jonleigh Gallery, Guildford
Jorgenson Gallery, Dublin
1997 City Gallery, London
Alresford Gallery, Alresford, Hampshire
1996 New Grafton Gallery, London
Mason Watts, Warwick
1995 City Gallery, London
Jonleigh Gallery, Guildford
1994 New Grafton Gallery, London
Sinfield Gallery, Burford
Mason Watts, Warwick
1992 New Grafton Gallery, London
Sinfield Gallery, Burford
1991 Drew Gallery, Canterbury
1990 New Grafton Gallery, London
Easton Rooms, Rye
Sinfield Gallery, Burford
Public collections
Kent University, Derek Jarman Room
National Portrait Gallery
Shell
Stormont Gallery, Rye
Bradford and Scunthorpe Museum
Brighton and Hove Museum
Canterbury Museum
Carlisle Museum and Art Gallery
Chantrey Bequest
Department of the Environment
Eastbourne Towner Gallery
Farendon Trust
Folkestone New Metropole Arts Centre
Kendall Museum
Maidstone Museum
Ministry of Works
Monte Carlo Museum
National Museum of Wales
Royal Academy of Arts
Salford Museum and Art Gallery
Southend Museum
Contact details for further information
Email membershipoffice@royalacademy.org.uk
