Darren Coffield (born 1969, in London) is a British painter.
Coffield studied at Goldsmiths College, Camberwell School of Art and the Slade School of Art in London, [1] where he received his Bachelor's Degree in 1993 in Fine Arts. He has exhibited at venues ranging from the Courtauld Institute, Somerset House to the National Portrait Gallery, London. [2]
In the early 1990s, Coffield worked with Joshua Compston on the formation of Factual Nonsense — the centre of the emerging YBA scene. He subsequently wrote Factual Nonsense: The Art and Death of Joshua Compston, published in 2013. [3]
In 2003, his controversial portrait of Ivan Massow, former chairman of the ICA, in fox hunting attire, was exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery [4] in London. Coffield has painted portraits of Molly Parkin, George Galloway, [5] and Peter Tatchell. Coffield has painted Arthur Scargill using coal dust as a medium, and made protest art prints relating to The Battle of Orgreave. [6]
Coffield lives and works in London.
Many of Coffield's paintings deal with cultural and political historical references. He references early Romantic artists such as Henry Fuseli and William Blake.
The Triumph of David (1996), for example, combined a Nicolas Poussin painting with an image of the marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer to create a new image.
In the Paradox Portraits series, Coffield inverts well known faces, in "an exploration of celebrity, identity and perception". [7] [8]
Thomas Gainsborough was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of the second half of the 18th century. He painted quickly, and the works of his maturity are characterised by a light palette and easy strokes. Despite being a prolific portrait painter, Gainsborough gained greater satisfaction from his landscapes. He is credited as the originator of the 18th-century British landscape school. Gainsborough was a founding member of the Royal Academy.
Sir Thomas Lawrence was an English portrait painter and the fourth president of the Royal Academy. A child prodigy, he was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was an innkeeper at the Bear Hotel in the Market Square. At age ten, having moved to Bath, he was supporting his family with his pastel portraits. At 18, he went to London and soon established his reputation as a portrait painter in oils, receiving his first royal commission, a portrait of Queen Charlotte, in 1790. He stayed at the top of his profession until his death, aged 60, in 1830.
Francis Bacon was an Irish-born British figurative painter known for his raw, unsettling imagery. Focusing on the human form, his subjects included crucifixions, portraits of popes, self-portraits, and portraits of close friends, with abstracted figures sometimes isolated in geometrical structures. Rejecting various classifications of his work, Bacon said he strove to render "the brutality of fact." He built up a reputation as one of the giants of contemporary art with his unique style.
Giovanni Battista Cipriani was an Italian painter and engraver, who lived in England from 1755. He is also called Giuseppe Cipriani by some authors. Much of his work consisted of designs for prints, many of which were engraved by his friend Francesco Bartolozzi.
William Powell Frith was an English painter specialising in genre subjects and panoramic narrative works of life in the Victorian era. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1853, presenting The Sleeping Model as his Diploma work. He has been described as the "greatest British painter of the social scene since Hogarth".
The Courtauld Institute of Art, commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist colleges for the study of the history of art in the world and is known for the disproportionate number of directors of major museums drawn from its small body of alumni.
The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world that was dedicated to portraits.
Leigh Bowery was an Australian performance artist, club promoter, and fashion designer. Bowery was known for his flamboyant and outlandish costumes and makeup as well as his performances.
Joshua Richard Compston was a London curator whose company Factual Nonsense was closely associated with the emergence of the Young British Artists (YBAs).
The Courtauld Gallery is an art museum in Somerset House, on the Strand in central London. It houses the collection of The Samuel Courtauld Trust and operates as an integral part of The Courtauld Institute of Art.
Muriel Belcher (1908–1979) was an English nightclub owner and artist's model who founded and managed the private drinking club The Colony Room. The club opened in 1948 at 41 Dean Street, Soho, London and became known as "Muriel's". Its long term popularity amongst London's bohemians lasted for 60 years and is widely credited to the exclusivity resulting from Belcher's charisma, strong personality and daunting door policy as "a tough, sharp-tongued veteran of the Soho drinking club scene".
The Colony Room Club was a private members' drinking club at 41 Dean Street, Soho, London. It was founded and presided over by Muriel Belcher from its inception in 1948 until her death in 1979.
Dame Laura Knight was an English artist who worked in oils, watercolours, etching, engraving and drypoint. Knight was a painter in the figurative, realist tradition, who embraced English Impressionism. In her long career, Knight was among the most successful and popular painters in Britain. Her success in the male-dominated British art establishment paved the way for greater status and recognition for women artists.
Henryk Gotlib was a Polish painter, draughtsman, printmaker, and writer, who settled in England during World War II and made a significant contribution to modern British art. He was profoundly influenced by Rembrandt, and the European Expressionist painters. Gotlib was a leading member of the Polish avant-garde 'Formist' movement in the interwar Poland.
Molly Parkin is a Welsh painter, novelist and journalist, who became most well-known for her work on Nova magazine, newspapers and television in the 1960s.
Christopher Piers Arthur Wardle was a British artist, musician and art factotum. Born in Beckenham, he lived in Southwark, London, UK and died in Clyst Hydon, Devon, UK.
Mark Louis Hallett is an English art historian specialising in the history of British art. He is the Märit Rausing Director of the Courtauld Institute of Art.
Portrait of Mai (Omai) (also known as Portrait of Omai, Omai of the Friendly Isles or simply Omai) is an oil-on-canvas portrait of Omai, a Polynesian visitor to England, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, completed about 1776.
Young Woman Powdering Herself is an oil on canvas painting executed between 1889–90, by the French painter Georges Seurat. The work, one of the leading examples of pontillism, depicts the artist's mistress Madeleine Knobloch. It is in the collection of the Courtauld Institute of Art and on display in the Gallery at Somerset House. The painting is now back on display at the Courtald.
Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear is an 1889 self-portrait by Dutch, Post-Impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh. The painting is now in the collection of the Courtauld Institute of Art and on display in the Gallery at Somerset House.