About

’When I see images in my mind they never have the characteristics of photography. Painting from life is as close as I can get to realising images as I first see them.’

Nicholas C. Williams is a painter whose work examines aspects of human behaviour conveyed through symbolism and direct observational painting. Public collections include the British Museum, London; the Frissiras Museum, Athens; Bournemouth Central Library; Falmouth Museum; and Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery. Williams’s most recent exhibitions were at the Horse Hospital, Bloomsbury, London, and at Emanuel von Baeyer Gallery, London. Previous solo shows include Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum, Bournemouth; Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery, Truro; and Liverpool Cathedral for the opening of the European Capital of Culture.

 

“Actual life is present in the making of these paintings. You feel that. That’s to say that Williams’ way of painting, his attention to surfaces of skin, hair, and painted plaster, is also a way of insisting that what you’re seeing actually took place. That whatever is taking place is an event to which the painted canvas bears witness.” _ Ben Street, writer and historian

“The quality of the painting seemed to me astounding.” — Brian Sewell, critic.

“Williams may paint like a modern-day Counter-Reformation artist, but his subject matter is worlds away and unique to him, visually and intellectually gripping.” — Ian Dejardin, Director, Dulwich Picture Gallery.

“Nicholas Charles Williams is one of British art’s well-kept secrets… even so his reputation is growing fast as both one of the most accomplished figurative artists of his generation, and one of the most unusual.”

— William Packer, critic.

“An artist who has such a comfortable and informed relationship with the art of the past… he is able to draw on a large number of sources to produce fresh and vibrant images.” — Mark Bills, curator, Museum of London.

“The fruit on the table is painted so beautifully it reminds me of the Spanish still lifes at the National Gallery earlier this year.” — Daniel Farson, art critic.