Series: British Artists

Lucian Freud (1922 - 2011) was one of the most influential artists of his generation. Hailed as the 'greatest living realist painter', Freud's commitment to realism, and particularly to the human figure, was often controversial. Always creating debate, Freud consistently addressed questions of human existence and perception, testing, through a sustained practice of looking, the possibility of knowing and recording...

Ben Nicholson (1894-1982) was one of the greatest British artists of the twentieth century, first coming to international prominence with his famous 'white reliefs' of the 1930s. A pioneer of abstract art in Britain, he played a significant role in the European avant-garde, forming close links with Picasso, Braque, Arp, Mondrian and others. At the same time, he had a...

Terry Frost was one of Britain's great abstract painters. His career spanned seven decades, starting with his introduction to art in a prisoner of war camp and stretching into the twenty-first century. He drew inspiration from a wide range of sources, but most especially from poetry and from the landscapes of Cornwall, Yorkshire, the Greek islands and America. Resolutely abstract,...

John Constable is best known for his idyllic paintings of the English countryside. Yet he was also a brilliant innovator who brought a new vivacity to the observation of nature. He practised oil painting in the open air, capturing in particular the 'effervescent' effects of atmospherics—as can be seen, for example, in his wonderful studies of clouds. His art became...

When Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion was exhibited in 1945, Francis Bacon (1909–1992) instantly became the most controversial painter in the country. By the end of his life, his status as one of the giants of modern art was established, as was his reputation for hard drinking and heavy gambling. Andrew Brighton casts fresh light...