Nancy Cadogan (born in 1979) is a British-American figurative painter living in the UK. Her work ranges from still life to landscape via portrait and is notable for its combination of a traditional painterly style with an almost abstract approach to her subject matter. She was named as one of the 'Top 20 New British Art Talents' by Tatler magazine in 2008, describing her as ‘the new Paula Rego.
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Life and career
Born in Cincinnati, United States, Cadogan led a peripatetic early childhood, including stints in Crete and Cyprus with her father, the eminent archaeologist Gerald Cadogan. The family settled in the UK and Cadogan attended Oxford High School followed by City and Guilds of London Art School before graduating from Canterbury Christ Church University with Degree in Fine Art Painting in 2002. She moved to New York shortly after, sharing a studio in the Starrett-Lehigh Building with artist Franco Ciarlo.
Success came quickly with sell-out solo shows at Frost & Reed New York in 2005 and 2006, the former featuring “a series of dramatic paintings depicting the vast Utah landscapes.” In 2008 Cadogan returned to the UK and followed her early success with another solo show at Sladmore Contemporary. With breaks for motherhood, she continues to paint from her studio in Northamptonshire and most recently featured in shows with Art Bastion in Miami and Southampton, USA and The Blue Edition in London.
Artistic Style
Cadogan's paintings are characterised by a contrast between a traditional painterly style, a strong design element, and landscapes filtered through the imagination to become almost abstract. She was taught by the school of Euan Uglow and her painting style shows the influence of his work. Other influences include early David Hockney, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Paul Cezanne and Georges De La Tour. Much of her earlier work focused on portrait and landscapes, and "demonstrate[s] a skillful and purposeful use of colour, balanced with planes and spaces that draw your eye out into large vistas."
In more recent work, which can be seen on Artsy and Art Sales Index, Nancy turns to the concepts of stillness and place, both in the sense of a still life and the various emotional connotations held semantically. Her works are deceptively simple but require deep reading. She has stated, "I am interested in stillness, not only in the sense of a still life and how that tradition explores the passing of time, but actual physical stillness." Critics have also noted her strong use of colour, particularly blues.
Painting frequently en plein air, Cadogan's subject matter has included Morocco, Utah and Lake Como. She predominantly works with oil on board, linen and canvas.
Selected exhibitions
Family
Cadogan is the daughter of the archaeologist Gerald Cadogan, known for his work on the Myrtos Pyrgos Minoan site on Crete and the Maroni Vournes site on Cyprus.
She is married with three children and lives in Northamptonshire.