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13 October 2019

Milein Cosman and her friendship with Kyffn Williams 14 Nov

Milein Cosman and Kyffin Williams studied together at the Slade School of Fine Art in the early 1940s, when it was evacuated to Oxford. 

This talk by Dr Ines Schlenker will explore their days at the Slade and traces Cosman’s post-war career in London that led to a co-operation with Williams on an arts programme for ITV and the creation of each other’s portraits in the early 1960s.

Cosman lived and worked in Hampstead and drew many local and nationally famous faces including Moore, Hepworth, Kellman etc. Many of her drawings are in National collections and also in private collections in Hampstead

 

Join us on Thursday 14th November at 7.30pm in Keats Community Library, 10 Keats Grove, NW3 2RR.

Tickets are £10 and can be brought through the Library (020 7431 1266) or online from www.wegotickets.com: Link HERE

 

Milein Cosman lived in Frognal Gardens until her death in 2017.  She was brought up in Dusseldorf and moved to Hampstead in 1939 and then entered the Slade School of Fine Art during the war. After the war she began freelance drawing for newspapers and magazines specialising in the world of music and dance. She was also a prolific book illustrator and made a series of school programmes on drawing for ITV in the late 50s. She married musician and broadcaster Hans Keller in 1961, with whom she often collaborated. In 1996 Sir Ernst Gombrich commented: “Posterity will be grateful to Milein Cosman above all for the sureness of her eye, with which she has succeeded in capturing the unique quality of so many of our distinguished contemporaries.”  Her work can be seen at the National Portrait Gallery in London as well as in the collections of the British Museum, The V&A, the Ashmolean and the Fitzwilliam.

Kyffin Williams taught art at Highgate School form 1944-73 before moving back to Anglesey to become one of Wales’ best-loved artists.   He had got to know Milein at the Slade.   He was a Royal Academician and some of his work can be found in the RA permanent collection as well as the Government Collection, The Arts Council, and the National Museum of Wales.

Dr Ines Schlenker is an independent art historian with a special interest in degenerate and émigré art.  She has written a biography of Milein Cosman: “Milein Cosman: Capturing Time”.

This abundantly illustrated biography showcases the work of Milein Cosman, a prolific and talented German-born artist who was part of the British art scene in the second half of the 20th century.

Highly regarded in England's classical music circles, Milein Cosman was a remarkable artist who drew primarily from life. Her portraits of fellow artists were fueled by her own passions for music, literature, and visual arts. This biography traces Cosman's entire life, starting with her childhood in Germany where drawing provided her with a much-needed mental escape, to her immigration to England before the war, and to her successful career as one of the most highly regarded illustrators in Britain. It also explores her marriage to musician and broadcaster Hans Keller and the fruits of their artistic collaboration. In addition to her drawings, this book features Cosman's paintings, sculptures, and prints. Also discussed is Cosman's remarkable drawing technique, which involved extremely rapid sketching completed in one sitting. Readers are treated to the full panoply of her works, including sketches of renowned figures such as Francis Bacon, T.S. Eliot, and Igor Stravinsky. Few artists have created an oeuvre that matches Cosman's range, quantity, and quality and this book shows why she remains a widely respected artist to this day.