(1932 - 2000)
Euan Uglow was born in Tulse Hill, London. At the start of the Second World War, he was evacuated to Cornwall, then to Wales. Back in London, Uglow attended the Junior Art School of Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts (1947) where his tutors were William Coldstream and Victor Pasmore. In 1950–54 he studied at the Slade School of Art, taught again by Coldstream, who encouraged him to paint using exact, almost scientific, methods of observation. Uglow regularly made exact measurements of his subjects, using a special instrument and marking the surface of his canvases with small lines. As a conscientious objector to National Service, Uglow worked as a labourer in Surrey for a year, during which he was a commissioned by the Shell Oil Company for a painting that was exhibited in London in 1955.
A respected tutor, Uglow taught in London and St Albans up to the 1960s, while also exhibiting in solo and group shows. He won first prize at the John Moores Liverpool Exhibition 8 (1972); and in 1974, had a major touring show that opened at the Whitechapel Gallery. Uglow travelled widely, visiting South Africa, Italy, India, China and Iraq. A second solo show was held at the Whitechapel Gallery (1989); and from 1990–95, Uglow was Artist–Trustee of the National Gallery. He was made an Honorary Member of the London Institute in 1997, three years before his death.
