Bridget Riley: From Life (National Portrait Gallery, London 15 May–5 December 2010)

Bridget Riley: From Life
Bridget Riley and Paul Moorhouse

With previously unseen work, Bridget Riley: From Life presents a dramatic new account of the role of life drawing in the artist's career. Best known for her large scale abstract works, Riley writes candidly about how the disciplines of observation and drawing were instilled in her at art school, and paved the way for her professional career. Focusing on her early drawings from life, the book includes portraits of models and the artist's family and friends.

‘It was figure drawing in the life class that paved the way. There I looked for structure, the distribution of weight, the proportions of the body, the light and tonal scale and ... the first impression of the whole. ... These ways of thought and ordering of work built up patterns of practice which extended far beyond my student days.' Bridget Riley

Bridget Riley (b.1931) is widely celebrated for her compelling abstract paintings which engage with colour, line, space and implied movement. This new book focuses on an important aspect of her art that has not been previously explored. Bridget Riley: From Life illuminates the roots of her mature work, emphasising the role of drawing and the importance she has always placed on observation.

Born in London, Riley studied at Goldsmiths and the Royal College of Art. The leading exponent of ‘Op Art' in Britain, she worked initially in black and white, only introducing colour in 1966. Solo exhibitions in 1962 and 1963 secured an international reputation for her meticulous paintings with dazzling 3-D effects. She won the International Prize for Painting at the 1968 Venice Biennale, was made a CBE in 1974, and awarded the Companion of Honour in 1999. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious Kaiser Ring of the City of Goslar, Germany, one of the leading prizes in the art world.

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