Chch artist has ready market in Britain

Press, 25 October 1982, Page 6

Chch artist has ready market in Britain

By DIANA DEKKER in London

An artist from Christchurch who lives "quite substantially" by painting from photographs in London will take an exhibition of his work to New Zealand early next year.

It is two years since Andrew Coates, aged 27, exhibited his work in New Zealand. At that time he took numerous photographs, many of them of the Canterbury landscape. He is now translating them into oils and expects to have finished about 25 in time to show them in Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland in February.

Mr Coates, who lives and paints at Sutton. Surrey, has

found a ready market for his work in Britain. He paints for 40 hours each week and finished 30 to 40 landscapes each year. They sell for up to £ 1500 ($3400) each. His work has been exhibited at Patterson’s Gallery in London's West End and sold well there. A scenic painting exhibited at the Royal Academy .exhibition in April this year sold for £6OO ($1350). At an exhibition sponsored by the “Daily Mirror" newspaper at Sotheby’s earlier this year a painting on a Falklands’ war theme was sold to an Arab sheik for £B2O ($1850).

Mr Coates says he became established in London after "peddling his works around the top galleries." His German wife. Traude, and their baby daughter. Georgina, will accompany him to New Zealand next year.