Michael Lawrence Cadman

Michael Lawrence Cadman RI ARCA was a painter born in Epsom, Surrey. He lived in , , and .
Biography
*1920 November 9 Born in Epsom, Surrey
*1937-39 Wimbledon School of Art, Education Exams in Drawing
*1941 Wimbledon School of Art, Education Exams in Painting
*1941-44 Royal College of Art, Diploma in Painting (ARCA)
*1947-69 Lecturer in Fine Art and Head of Department, Epsom School of Art
*1947 Lecturer (Intermediate course) in Drawing, Croydon College of Art
*1969 Became a Professional Freelance Painter
*1970 Elected a Member of the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour
*1977 Elected a Member of the St Ives Society of Artists
*2010 April 17 Swanage, Dorset. Died peacefully, aged 89, after a long illness.
Michael Cadman worked initially in oils, moving on to watercolour from about 1969. He painted seascapes and rural landscapes, mixing architecture and plant forms. Paintings of jockeys, done when he lived in Epsom in the 1960s, are rare: a large jockeys painting was commissioned by Epsom racecourse. A series of paintings of Spanish hillsides date from the 1950s. He was head of the Department of Fine Art at Epsom School of Art until 1969.
Cadman's post-impressionist style unifies his paintings by composing each subject of broad flat brushstrokes in a soft palette of blues, purples and earth tones. The image as a whole is revolved through restrained suggestions of form, generating a strong sense of atmosphere, while the structure of his painting is reinforced through a predominance of vertical and horizontal elements.
From 1969 until 1990, Cadman lived between Dorset and Cornwall, finally settling in Dorset. His paintings of Cornish tin mines and farm carts are typical of this period. After the death of his wife in 1990, he began exploring further afield, returning to France and working with French vernacular architecture. Paintings of the Mayenne region and the Lot, near his French home in Cahors, date from that period. In the late 1990s, Cadman experimented with a series of London paintings, focusing on the 1950s Routemaster buses and the effects of night and rain."
During his career, Michael had several one-man shows of which a number were in London. He was elected a full member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours in 1970 after first showing with them in 1967. His work appeared in calendars and in watercolour technique textbooks.
"I am influenced by elements in the works of JMW Turner, Impressionism (notably Monet) and Post-Impressionists; Cezanne and Gauguin exercise some influence on my work. Camouflage, design, colour and structure are all aspects of compulsive interest and inspiration." Michael Lawrence Cadman RI ARCA
Exhibitions
;Solo Exhibitions
*1982 Mussellwhites, Southampton
*1970 Mezzanine Gallery, Dame Sybil Thorndyke Theatre, Leatherhead, Surrey
*1967 Whitehall Galleries
*1964 Canaletto Gallery, Little Venice, London
;Group Exhibitions
*1947-60 Royal Academy
*1947 Royal Society of British Artists, Mall Galleries, London
*1947 Royal Institute of Oil Painters, Mall Galleries, London
*1947 Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours, Mall Galleries, London
*1947 Royal Watercolour Society
Awards
*1943 ‘Award for Architect’, Royal College of Art
*1943 ‘Award for Landscape Painting’, Royal College of Art
Publications
*‘Buildings’, Quatro Publishing, 1995
*‘Encyclopaedia of Watercolour Techniques’, Quatro Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7624-0465-0, Pg 94, 95 and 183
*‘Leisure Painter’,3 articles, 1977
 
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