About
CG (b. London 1961) is a painter based in London, working between her London studios.
CG trained at London’s Camberwell School of Arts & Crafts, and the Royal Academy Schools, at which she won the Royal Academy Gold Medal in 1987.
Her painting of Antony Sutch won First Prize in the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in 2002, following which the National Portrait Gallery commissioned CG’s painting of Dame Cicely Saunders, for its collection.
CG is represented by Marlborough Fine Art, at which she has exhibited since 2004; her most recent solo exhibition at the gallery, the last house in the world, was held in November 2016, following her 2014 solo exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, titled Portraits from Life. The National Portrait Gallery acquired her portrait of film director Stephen Frears from this exhibition the following year, for its 20th Century Collection.
Although CG is known for her portraits, her practice includes expressionistic landscapes, vigorous sketches and experimental collages; central to her process is the act of drawing from observation, whether from life, objects or the great masters and their works.
Her exhibition at Colnaghi, Drawing from Veronese, demonstrated that drawing from old master paintings leads to the evolution of works in their own right, rather than functional sketches that exist only as developmental tools.
CG’s longstanding academic interest in artists’ development led to a strong concern about the increasing absence of observational drawing programmes in contemporary studies. To address this gap in art education, in 2000, CG co-founded the Royal Drawing School with HRH The Prince of Wales. She continues in her role as Artistic Director and Academic Board Member and has been a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order since 2014, for her services to the School.
Chronology
1961 / Born in London
1979-84 / Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, London
1984-87 / Royal Academy Schools, London
1987 / Royal Academy Gold Medal
2000-07 / Director, The Prince’s Drawing School
2002 / First Prize, BP Portrait Award, National Portrait Gallery, London
2004-05 / National Portrait Gallery commission, portrait of Dame Cicely Saunders
2008 / Artistic Director, The Prince’s Drawing School, now the Royal Drawing School
Solo Exhibitions
1988-95 / Four solo exhibitions at Cadogan Contemporary, London
1997 / Theo Waddington Fine Art, London
2008 / Marlborough Fine Art, London
2012 / Marlborough Fine Art, London
2014 / Drawing from Veronese, Colnaghi, London
2014 / Portraits from Life, National Portrait Gallery, London
2016 / the last house in the world, Marlborough Fine Art, London
Group Exhibitions
2004 / Two London Painters: Catherine Goodman and David Dawson, Marlborough Fine Art, London
2006 / Drawing Inspiration, Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal
2007 / Summer Exhibition, Marlborough Fine Art, London
2015 / Last of the Tide: Portraits of D-Day Veterans, The Royal Collection Trust, London
2015 / Summer Exhibition, Marlborough Fine Art, London
2016 / Summer Exhibition, Marlborough Fine Art, London
2017 / Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London (Invited Artist)