Catherine Lampert, a distinguished art historian, curator, and model, shared a remarkable 46-year tenure as a muse for the celebrated artist Frank Auerbach. She also held close connections with other prominent figures in the art world, including Lucian Freud and Euan Uglow.
In November of the previous year, a painting titled “Potiphar’s Wife” by the British artist Euan Uglow was put up for private sale by Christie’s in London. Lampert expressed her excitement, stating, “We were all so excited. I had tried many times to find out where that picture was.” The artwork portrays a woman reclining on the ground, her legs crossed and arms outstretched behind her as if to prevent a man in a T-shirt from departing. Both figures are depicted holding onto a beautifully draped section of orange fabric.
This painting was the last one Uglow discussed with Lampert before his passing from cancer in August 2000. Their acquaintance began when she was in her early twenties, and she had organized his inaugural major exhibition in 1974. During the final months of his life, Lampert was diligently compiling the catalogue raisonné of his paintings, an exhaustive annotated list of Uglow’s complete body of work.
“Euan was quite cryptic,” Lampert recalled. “But in the last months, he let me record him in anticipation of this book and then he would be quite,” she emphasized, tapping the table decisively, “‘This is what this picture is about.’ The last time I went to see him in hospital, he said, ‘Let’s get to work.’”
Although Lampert only managed to record a few minutes of conversation that day, she treasured the insights she gained – such as the description of the vertical yellow band that grounds the entire composition as “satiny and still,” and the way the drapery “moves” – as if they were precious gold dust.
Lampert is currently seated at a well-worn, square table that has graced her London home for five decades, mirroring her own long-standing presence there. The numerous individuals who have gathered around this table, including Uglow and Frank Auerbach, alongside the art by Alison Turnbull and photography by David Hockney (in Lucian Freud’s studio) and Auerbach and Leon Kossoff at a dinner, all adorning her walls, serve as testaments to her quiet but significant standing within the contemporary art scene.