Fred Cuming RA

Fred Cuming RA (1930 - 2022)

Richard Holmes, the Romantic biographer, describes how Fred Cuming RA ‘reinvent[s] the world through colour’ to paint ‘both a recognisable place, which can be visited; and yet a completely transformed object of poetic intensity.’

For Fred Cuming, Turner has long been an acknowledged influence, alongside Constable. Fred has always painted outdoors as much as possible and his ability to capture the magic of light effects on sea, sky and mountains is quite unique. It was a pleasure to work with Fred Cuming and show his paintings.

We have two of Fred Cuming’s limited edition silkscreen giclée prints in stock which can be viewed or bought from the gallery.

Call us on 01308 459511 if you would like to enquire about any of the paintings or email us on gallery@sladersyard.co.uk

SILKSCREEN PRINTS

Fred Cuming RA devoted his life to expressing fleeting impressions of the world around him. He captured the moods and atmospheres generated by his subject matter. Fred’s subtle approach, focusing on light and tone, lent an elevated atmosphere to everyday scenes. His subjects often oriented around the sea, skies, harbours, marshland, ships and figures wandering on beaches. However, interiors and still life objects were often sources of inspiration.

Fred Cuming was born in 1930 in London and trained at the Sidcup School of Art between 1945 and 1949. After National Service he studied at the Royal College of Art for four years and was awarded the Abbey Travel Scholarship to visit Rome. In 1969 he was elected an Associate Member of the Royal Academy, becoming a full member in 1974. At that time, he was the youngest member ever elected. Fred has been a member of the New English Art Club since 1960.

Fred has exhibited widely since his first one-man show at Thackeray Gallery, London, and has work in private and public collections internationally. In 2001 he was given the honour of being the ‘Featured Artist‘ in the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, with an entire gallery of his own. In 2004, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of the Arts by the University of Kent in Canterbury.

He showed at Sladers Yard several times between 2012-22. Fred lived near Rye in East Sussex. He and his wife Audrey had two children and five grandchildren.

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, that has been present in all movements, 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