Frederick George Rees Cuming (February 16, 1930 – 12 June, 2022), normally known as Fred Cuming, was a contemporary British

landscape painter Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction in painting of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, rivers, trees, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a cohe ...

, who worked in a traditional manner.

Life and art

Cuming was born in London of English, Scottish and Irish ancestry.Buckman, David: "Dictionary of Artists in Britain since 1945", page 362. Art Dictionaries, 2006 He received his art education at Sidcup School of Art (1945–49) and, after

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

, at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

. He was awarded the Abbey Minor Travelling Scholarship to visit

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. In 1957 his oil painting of Lewisham Road was included as one of the 'Young Artists of Promise' in Jack Beddington's book. In 1969, he was elected an Associate of the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

(ARA), and a Royal Academician (RA) in 1974. He was elected as a member of the

New English Art Club The New English Art Club (NEAC) is a society for contemporary artists that was founded in London, England, in 1886 as an alternative venue to the Royal Academy. The NEAC holds an annual exhibition of paintings and drawings at the Mall Galleries ...

in 1960. As well as continuing to paint Italian scenes, including

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, he still devoted much time to the landscape of the Southern English coastline, including Hastings and Rye. His art has an

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

quality which captures "the fleeting impressions of his surroundings". He first encountered such landscapes as a child evacuee during

the Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...

. The powerful contrast to his home in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

created an enduring love for it. He lived in

Rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...

, near

Ashford, Kent Ashford is a town in the Borough of Ashford, Ashford district, in the county of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Great Stour at the southern or Escarpment, scarp edge of the North Downs, about by road southeast of centr ...

until his death in June 2022. In a review for the BBC, Andrew Walker said:

Awards

His awards included: *1977 Joint winner of Grand Prix Fine Art, Monte Carlo *1986 Sir

Brinsley Ford Sir Richard Brinsley Ford (10 June 1908 – 4 May 1999) was a British art historian, scholar, and collector. He inherited a large collection of art from his family and was himself an avid collector. A drawing that he purchased in 1936 was sold ...

Award, New English Club *1988 Grand Prix de l'Art Contemporaries *1994 ''House and Garden'' Award"Fred Cuming"
Adam Gallery. Accessed 1 February 2007

Collections

His work is in many collections including the

, Ministry of Works, Maidstone Museum, Carlisle Museum,

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms was ad ...

, London Tourist Board, National Trust Foundation for Art,

Department of the Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

, Brighton and Hove Museum,

National Museum of Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

, Cardiff, Bradford Museum, New Metropole Arts Centre, Folkestone, Monte Carlo Museum,

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...

Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is a insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gover ...

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT; now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00&nbs ...

and the Guinness Collection.

Notes and references

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cuming, Fred 1930 births 2022 deaths Royal Academicians 20th-century British painters British male painters 21st-century British painters Alumni of the Royal College of Art British landscape painters 20th-century British male artists 21st-century British male artists Artists from London

Life and art

Awards

Collections

See also

Notes and references

External links