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Details: Category: Conversation Pieces

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Details: Category: Conversation Pieces

This cycle executed between 1990 and 1991 consists of six paintings, oil on canvas, that describe the intimate world of William Utermohlen.

This excerpt from Pat's 2006 essay explains the context.

In 1989 we moved to our present address in Little Venice and here began, what was to be his last series. The flat is on the second floor of a large 1847 stucco house bordering the Grand Union Canal in Little Venice, opposite Browning’s pond. It was a lateral conversion, so the rooms are large. When we moved we opened the space and put in roof lights. The main room has windows front and back as well as three huge roof lights. It is lined with book- cases to hold some of our extensive library and we painted the walls yellow. I have gone into this detail to explain my explanation of the pictures William painted which have since been called ‘The Conversation Pieces.’ These are the pictures discussed so eloquently by Dr Patrice Polini, Psychiatrist and friend. I see them a little differently. There is no doubt that William felt completely comfortable in the new space. He had a good studio, well lit and in which he would gather a few friends together to draw from the model, a practice he kept until he could no longer manage to hold charcoal. I believe the pictures to be a celebration of our life together and until circumstances decreed differently, he painted persistently one after another, describing the warmth and happiness of our new flat and the joy we took together in the companionship of our friends.

You can view these images by scrolling down the page or go to a slideshow by clicking here.

00 utermohlen 1989 conversation-pieces hoxton-studio-ginny-button oil-on-canvas 1680x835mm col-boicos-paris