Gerald Anthony Coles (1929 - 2004)

Gerald Anthony Coles was a man with many artistic skills; a printmaker, a painter of portraits, landscapes and interiors, and a stained glass designer of repute producing many watercolours and drawings for both secular and ecclesiastical stained glass windows. However, his most important artistic legacy consists of a remarkable output of monotypes and woodcuts. Mostly executed during the 1950s and 60s they are powerful and expressive works which address both the monumentality of the single human figure and the dynamic force of human emotions and physical interactions. These black and white prints, which number over forty different images, were executed during the most productive period of his career and are undoubtedly the finest examples of his art.The son of an ordinary working couple in Luton, Coles demonstrated an early talent for drawing and obtained a small grant to study part time at Luton School of Art. He left the school in 194