WILLIAM PACKER - neac, HON. rba
William has dedicated his life to the visual arts variously as Teacher, Critic, Curator and Author - and always as Painter.
We follow William Packer from ABSTRACTION and POP-ART in the 60s and 70s to the STILL LIFES he has focused on over the last 25 years - with regular detours into PORTRAITURE and LANDSCAPE documenting the people he has met and places he has visited in his career. The exhibition spans 60 years from Wimbledon School of Art through to work produced in his Brixton studio this year. For all the apparent differences, there are common threads, in terms of formal composition, structure and colour palette - not least his constant and enduring commitment to painting.
'The greater mystery is ever there, of quite how that dab of paint on the canvas becomes, by some alchemy, something quite other than itself'
Alongside painting, William’s parallel careers as Art Critic, for many years for the Financial Times, and teacher at art schools around the country made him an established figure in the British art world. He has curated numerous shows, written innumerable catalogue essays and served on many selection committees. He is a member of the New English Art Club and and Honorary member of the Royal Society of British Artists and his work is represented in the National Portrait Gallery, Sheffield City Art Galleries and many private collections. Turning 81 this year provides a perfect opportunity to acknowledge the breadth of his artistic achievement.
‘As a schoolboy I remember envying those of my fellows who had any idea of what they wished to do and be: I had no idea. Perhaps I still don't, for in an odd way I sense that my life in art found me'.
STILL LIFE
Side By Side
2022, oil on linen, 46 x 38cm | £2,200
Peony Buds
2023, oil on linen, 51 x 41cm | £2,200
Sloping Off
2021, oil on linen, 91.5 x 91.5cm | £5,000
Spring Iris & Tulips
2020, oil on linen, 91.5 x 91.5cm | £5,000
Off Kilter
2020, oil on linen, 76 x 76cm | £4,000
Blue & Brown
2003, oil on canvas, 61 x 61cm | £3,000
White Jug Behind, Tall Jug In Front
2001, oil on board, 46 x 61cm | £2,500
Still-Life La Guérinière
1997, oil on board, 91 x 70.5cm | £4,000
Tin Can & Saki Box - Pink, Gold & Grey
2001, oil on board, 46 x 61.5cm | £2,500
Passion Pods, 2002, oil on linen, 61 x 76cm | £3,500
Greys and Browns
2004, oil on linen, 93 x 93 framed | £4,200
Green Jug and Medal Box
oil on canvas, 76x76cm, 2003 | £3,800
Winter Leaves
oil on canvas, 61x46cm, 2003
£2,500
Black & Blue
2014, oil on canvas, 61x61cm | £3,000
Autumn Unsettled
2017, oil on canvas, 76x61cm | £3,200
Blue Jug
2003, oil on canvas, 61x61cm | £3,000
For last 20 years William has focused on still life painting. He likes to work in natural light although the painting and composition can change radically during the process (of reconciling space, form and light on to the two dimensional surface of the canvas) so the finished image is not always quite what it seems to be.
William also produces collages which hark back to his early Pop-Art days, torn and cut paper scraps arbitrarily cropped and fraught with surrealist possibility when brought together. They have much in common with the paintings in terms of formal composition and structure with their strong vertical/horizontal emphasis and blocks and strips of colour.
Trained at Wimbledon School of Art
Group shows include the Royal Academy at intervals since 1963, the Bradford Open; Flowers Gallery; Annely; Juda Fine Art; Russell Gallery; Camden Art Centre; NEAC; Pastel Society; RP; RBA; Discerning Eye; Cadogan Contemporary; New Grafton Gallery; the Lynn Painter-Stainers Exhibition.
One-man shows at Piers Feetham Gallery 1996; 2001; 2004; 2009; 2014, 2018
Two and Three-man shows at Cadogan Contemporary, Piers Feetham, The Chapel Row Gallery (variously with Giles Auty, William Feaver and Ian Potts).
Works owned by the National Portrait Gallery, Sheffield City Art Galleries and many private collectors.
Art critic with the Financial Times 1974-2004. Innumerable introductions to exhibition catalogues, newspapers, journals and magazines. Served on many exhibition and competition selection panels from the NPG Portrait Award, Crafts Council Awards to the Hunting Art Prizes.
Curated numerous shows including The British Art Show I (Arts Council) 1979, Elizabeth Blackadder Retrospective (Scottish Arts Council) 1981, a Critic’s Choice for the Lemon Street Gallery, Truro, 2006.
Books include The Art of Vogue Covers (Octopus) 1980, Fashion Drawing in Vogue (Thames & Hudson) 1983, Henry Moore (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) 1985, Sarah Raphael (Unicorn) 2013