Study after George Frederick Bodley

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

Mark Lancaster began using rectangular grid systems as structures for his abstract paintings in 1967. In this work, the lines demarcating each triangular geometric shape follow intersecting diagonals that cut through the rectangles. Some of the lines are clearly defined, whilst others are blurred or hinted at. Though the grid is an infinite system, which could continue beyond the canvas itself, the composition is self-contained. Our eyes are drawn to the central pattern of brown shards and subtly deflected away from the edges by the use of darker and lighter browns. Small white crosses demarcate strategic mid points in the composition, forming a lozenge of their own.

The painting’s title refers to George Frederick Bodley (1827-1907) the architect who designed All Saints’ Church of Queens’ College, Cambridge. Lancaster was artist-in-residence at King’s College, Cambridge from 1968 to 1970, during which he produced his Cambridge series of paintings.

Born in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, Mark Lancaster studied at Newcastle University (1961–65), where he was taught by Pop artist Richard Hamilton. Lancaster first visited New York in 1964, working as an assistant to Andy Warhol. On his return to Newcastle later that year, he began to work on a larger scale and focused on abstract painting. After graduating, he worked as a teaching assistant to Hamilton, and went on to teach painting at Bath Academy of Art in Corsham. Visits to New York during the 1960s led him to settle there in 1972. He worked as a secretary to the artist Jasper Johns and took part in some of Warhol’s films. Later in the 1970s and early 1980s he was artistic advisor and designer for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. In 1985, he briefly returned to Britain. He departed for the United States in the wake of Andy Warhol’s death in 1987, going on to produce a series of 200 paintings collectively titled ‘Post-Warhol Souvenirs’. He became an American Citizen in 1999 and now lives in Florida.

Places

Subjects

triangle (abstract shape), abstract

Materials & Techniques

acrylic (paint), canvas, acrylic painting

Artist

Mark Lancaster (1938 - 2021)

Title

Study after George Frederick Bodley

Date

1971

Medium

Acrylic on canvas

Dimensions

height: 112.00 cm, width: 111.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Rowan Gallery, February 1973

Inscription

verso: Study after George Frederick Bodley 1971 44" x 44" Aquatec Mark Lancaster 71.

GAC number

10018