Antony Williams is among Britain’s leading figurative painters and before now has never made still life paintings continuously. Williams paints with egg tempera, a slow and exacting medium and perhaps one well suited to the prolonged and intense observation that characterises his work.
Over the years his admiration has ranged freely, from Bellini and Piero della Francesca through to Turner, Cezanne and Morandi. In terms of modern British art, Williams feels particularly stimulated by the still life paintings of Euan Uglow, who was close to William Coldstream and the painters of the Euston Road School. Uglow’s measured approach, aided by a metal instrument of his own design, has links with Williams’ intense urge to paint what his eyes see without using conventional perspective.
Extract form Memento Mori, an essay by the art historian and critic Richard Cork
