Noel Armstrong Forster (15 June 1932 – 7 December 2007) was a British artist who trained at
King's College Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
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a part of
Durham University
, mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1)
, established = (university status)
, type = Public
, academic_staff = 1,830 (2020)
, administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19)
, chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen
, vice_chan ...
, graduating in 1957.
Forster was born in
Seaton Delaval
Seaton Delaval is a village in Northumberland, England, with a population of 4,371. The largest of the five villages in Seaton Valley, it is the site of Seaton Delaval Hall, completed by Sir John Vanbrugh in 1727.
In 2010 the armed robbery of ...
,
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land on ...
and attended to
Gosforth Grammar School
Gosforth is a suburb of the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It constituted a separate urban district from 1895 until 1974 before officially merging with the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. In 2001, it had a populati ...
.
He married Eileen Conlon in 1962, later having three sons with her. In due course he became Principal lecturer in Painting at the Chelsea College of Art & Design in
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
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* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
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United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
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as well as Artist-in-Residence and Supernumerary Fellow at
Balliol College
Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. In 1978 he won the
John Moores Painting Prize
The John Moores Painting Prize is a biennial award to the best contemporary painting, submission is open to the public. The prize is named for Sir John Moores, noted philanthropist, who established the award in 1957. The winning work and short-li ...
His art can best be described as abstract, colourful and usually involving a cross-weaved fabric of straight or curved parallel lines drawn by hand, often executed in oil on linen. He died in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.
"Noel was in my view the most important post-War abstract painter in England, and his work combined performance, intellectual rigour and the artist's craft. It was simultaneously clever and sensuous. He was an influential teacher too and a very gifted musician. But he was also larger than life.
Stephen Bury, Curator, British Library, 8 December 2007
/blockquote>
"Noel was a splendid friend, and a wonderful painter.He thought endlessly about the relations of paint and light, and talked with extraordinary clarity - and complexity - about making works of art. He taught me a lot about looking.The ideas behind his own work were intricate and uncompromising."
http://www.noelforster.co.uk AS Byatt, Author, Dec 2007
"Noel Forster was an adventurous and productive artist whose glowing, audacious personality looked out from his canvasses.
Obituary in ''The Times'', 17 January 2008
Bernard Cohen, Artist, Dec 2007
References
External links
Chris Yetton, ''Noel Forster: Artist who believed that painting is the 'concretisation of light' (obituary), '' The Independent, 2 January 2008
Noel Forster official website
Detailed Profile at Flowers
Obituary in ''The Times'', 17 January 2008
1932 births
2007 deaths
Modern painters
20th-century English painters
English male painters
21st-century English painters
21st-century English male artists
People from Seaton Delaval
British abstract artists
People educated at Gosforth Academy
Academics of Camberwell College of Arts
Alumni of King's College, Newcastle
20th-century English male artists
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