William Coldstream painted only two standing nudes in his career, the first in 1937 and this work, Standing Nude, some four decades later. Coldstream painted the female nude on many occasions and the reason he painted so few in a standing pose was due to his extended process of painting from life; to stand for a painting placed considerable physical demands upon the model. Taking precise measurements of the subject was an essential aspect of Coldstream’s technique. The sitter remembered him ‘measuring her body’. The figure is covered in red and black markings that are dissociated from the subject of the painting; these were included as reference points, which established the relational distance between two points in space. According to the model, Coldstream’s ‘measuring did not seem rigid but had organic “margins of error”. […] Bill’s dots were arrived at with […] organic alternatives’.

For much of his career Coldstream maintained a fastidious record of life sittings. Standing Nude was executed over the course of at least seventy-seven sessions between 1 June 1977 and 3 July 1978 in his home studio at 20 Church Row, Hampstead. It was preceded by a preliminary drawing, which was made on 1 June 1977. There was a hiatus shortly after painting commenced, which extended from July to October. Most weeks included two or three sessions. These generally lasted one hour, although some were as short as half or three-quarters of an hour; others were as long as two or three hours (see appendix).

The model for this painting was Jane Ford. She was a friend of Coldstream’s who, during the period of modelling for Standing Nude, was considering whether or not to marry the artist’s old friend B. A. R. (Sam) Carter (1909–2006). She was much younger than Carter, and Coldstream apparently teased her: ‘don’t do it, do do it …’. When she acquiesced, the marriage took place at St Pancras Registry Office with Coldstream acting as a witness.

Writing to Bruce Laughton in relation to his monograph about Coldstream in 1997–98, Jane Carter (née Ford) provided the following account of how Standing Nude came about:

Bill never said directly “will you pose”—but for a while he kept saying he was looking for a model who could stand up instead of sitting down. This went on for some time—he also knew that I always painted very long hours and never sat down. Of course it became clear that he was egging me towards being a volunteer […] eventually (being a soft touch!) I said I would do it, and so we began.

I remember the first session. I was placed with a foot or two between my back and the wall behind me. The first ten minutes was wasted in play, giggling and being ridiculous and quite childish. He kept getting between me and the wall and putting spots on my bum which he wouldn’t see. Anne had insisted that he wore a pair of pyjamas over his clothes, there was a strongly comical atmosphere against the intensity of measuring. He told me the idea for the frontal pose had come from an Egyptian figure with one foot slightly forwards.

Anthony d’Offay became Coldstream’s dealer in 1972, and this painting was first exhibited in Coldstream’s solo exhibition with d’Offay held in 1984. It was loaned by Mr and Mrs Donald Lenox, who acquired the work sometime before the exhibition.


Appendix: Recorded Painting Sessions for Standing Nude

At the time he executed Standing Nude, William Coldstream kept a detailed log of painting sessions in his pocket diary. These diaries were donated to the Tate Archive following the artist’s death. In diaries for 1977 (TGA 8922/2/8) and 1978 (TGA 8922/2/9), entries refer simply to ‘J.F.’ (Jane Ford who modelled for Standing Nude) and the duration of the session. The dates and duration of sessions are listed here:

1977
June
Wednesday 1st – 1 ¼ hours
Friday 3rd – ¾ hour
Thursday 9th – 1 hour
Friday 10th – 1 hour
Tuesday 14th – 1 hour
Wednesday 15th – 1 hour
Thursday 16th – 2 hours
Monday 20th – 1 hour
Tuesday 21st – 1 hour
Monday 27th – 1 hour
Tuesday 28th – 1 hour
Wednesday 29th – 1 ¼ hours

July
Friday 8th – 1 hour

October
Friday 7th – 1 ½ hours
Monday 10th – 1 ½ hours
Thursday 13th – 1 ½ hours
Friday 14th – 3 hours
Monday 17th – 1 ¼ hours
Tuesday 18th – 1 hour
Wednesday 19th – 1 ½ hours
Thursday 20th – 1 ¼ hours
Friday 21st – 1 ¼ hours
Monday 24th – 2 hours
Tuesday 25th – 1 ½ hours
Wednesday 26th – 1 ¾ hours
Friday 28th – 1 hour

November
Thursday 3rd – 1 hour
Monday 14th – 1 hour
Tuesday 15th – 1 hour
Friday 18th – 1 hour
Tuesday 22nd – 1 hour
Friday 25th – 1 hour

December
Thursday 1st – 1 hr
Friday 2nd – ¾ hour
Monday 5th – 1 hour
Friday 9th – 1 hour
Tuesday 13th – 1 hour
Wednesday 14th – 1 hour

1978
January
Monday 16th – 1 hour
Monday 23rd – 1 hour
Thursday 26th – 1 hour

February
Thursday 2nd – ½ hour
Friday 3rd – 1 hour
Wednesday 8th – 1 hour
Thursday 9th – 1 hour
Friday 10th – 1 hour

March
Thursday 9th – 1 hour
Friday 10th – 1 hour
Wednesday 15th – 1 hour
Thursday 16th – 1 hour
Friday 17th – 1 hour
Monday 20th – 1 hour
Tuesday 21st – 1 hour
Wednesday 22nd – 1 hour
Thursday 23rd – 1 hour
Tuesday 28th – 1 hour
Wednesday 29th – 1 hour

April
Wednesday 19th – 1 hour
Thursday 20th – 1 hour
Monday 24th – 1 hour
Wednesday 26th – 1 hour
Thursday 27th – 1 hour
Friday 28th – 1 hour

May
Monday 1st – 1 hour
Wednesday 3rd – 1 hour
Thursday 4th – 1 hour
Monday 8th – 1 hour
Friday 12th – 1 hour
Wednesday 17th – 1 hour
Friday 19th – 1 hour
Wednesday 24th – 1 hour

June
Monday 5th – 1 hour
Friday 9th – 1 hour
Monday 26th – 1 hour
Wednesday 28th – 1 hour
Friday 30th – 1 hour

July
Monday 3rd – 1 hour