1980s
Figure at Dawn c.1966- 67 oil on canvas, 183 x 153 cm
‘I don’t believe Francis Bacon has done anything more disturbing’ - Professor Carel Weight
Early Work
1960s - 1970s
“From the mid 60’s to the mid 70’s I felt myself to be an artist of conscience and accountability; a witness.
Paintings with such titles as Figure at Dawn , No Hiding Place and Frail Peace, support this.
Works of that period are from a limited palette, concentrating on the gravity of the subject matter,
eschewing beguiling colour as inappropriate to the case.
I always looked upon Bergman’s film ‘The Seventh Seal’ (1957), shot in black and white,
as holding all the weight of passionate colour.”
Sonia Lawson
“I want the paint to have its own indulgence; oil, pigments, colour, honed and wrought -
not just gestural notations, but something made and ‘built’: growing and filling out like a
fed thing.”
“Lawson is concerned with the actual quality of brushwork. There is something deliberately public
and oratorial about her paintings, though they are also, and paradoxically, domestic.”
Fire at Noon 1977, oil on canvas, 153 x 122cm
Prisoner 1967, oil on canvas, 153 x 122cm: Collection: RWS, Bristol
Sonia Lawson
Northern Garrison 1986, oil on canvas, 186 x 155cm:
Collection: Murray Edwards College Cambridge: The Women’s Art Collection
Watchman, What of the Night? 1982, oil on canvas, 198 x 156cm:
Private Collection: (Destroyed by fire: 1990s)
Edward Lucie-Smith
Homage to Molière and Watteau 1981, oil on canvas, 198 x 153cm:
Private Collection: Germany
Exercising Dogs on Watling Street 1980, oil on canvas 153 x 122cm
Collection: Arts Council
Sonia Lawson in her studio :1980s
All images: copyright the estate of Sonia Lawson
CONTACT
Sonia Lawson
Figure at Dawn c.1966- 67 oil on canvas, 183 x 153 cm
‘I don’t believe Francis Bacon has done anything more disturbing’ -
Professor Carel Weight
Fire at Noon 1977, oil on canvas, 153 x 122cm
1980s
Prisoner 1967, oil on canvas, 153 x 122cm: Collection: RWS, Bristol
Sonia Lawson
Northern Garrison 1986, oil on canvas, 186 x 155cm:
Collection: Murray Edwards College Cambridge:
The Women’s Art Collection
Watchman, What of the Night? 1982, oil on canvas,198x156cm
Private Collection: (Destroyed by fire:1990s)
Edward Lucie-Smith
Homage to Molière and Watteau 1981, oil on canvas, 198x153cm
Private Collection: Germany
Exercising Dogs on Watling Street 1980, oil on canvas 153 x122cm
Collection: Arts Council
All images: copyright the estate of Sonia Lawson
CONTACT
Sonia Lawson in her studio :1980s
Early Work
“From the mid 60’s to the mid 70’s I felt myself to
be an artist of conscience and accountability; a
witness. Paintings with such titlesas Figure at
Dawn , No Hiding Place and Frail Peace, support
this.
Works of that period are from a limited palette,
concentrating on the gravity of the subject matter,
eschewing beguiling colour as inappropriate to the
case.
I always looked upon Bergman’s film The Seventh
Seal (1957), shot in black and white, as holding all
the weight of passionate colour.”
“I want the paint to have its own indulgence; oil,
pigments, colour, honed and wrought -not just
gestural notations, but something made and
‘built’: growing and filling out like a fed thing.”
“Lawson is concerned with the actual
quality of brushwork.
There is something deliberately public and
oratorial about her paintings, though they
are also, and paradoxically, domestic.”
1960s - 1970s
SONIA LAWSON
