Coldstream was born at
Belford, Northumberland, in northern England, the second son of country doctor George Probyn Coldstream and his wife Susan Jane Lilian, daughter of Maj. Robert Mercer-Tod, of the
43rd Regiment. His mother's family were Scottish landed gentry. He grew up in London, where he was privately educated, then studied at the
Slade School of Fine Art between 1926 and 1929. In 1931 he joined the London Artists' Association and then, two years later, the
London Group. In 1934, Coldstream joined the
GPO Film Unit to make documentary films with
John Grierson. During his time with the GPO, Coldstream worked alongside
W. H. Auden,
Benjamin Britten and
Barnett Freedman but also continued to paint. In 1937, with some financial support from
Kenneth Clark, Coldstream returned to painting on a full-time basis. Later that year, he co-founded the
Euston Road School with
Graham Bell,
Victor Pasmore and
Claude Rogers, having previously been involved in the short-lived
objective abstraction movement. Notable among his paintings of this period is the portrait of
Inez Pearn (at that time married to Stephen Spender), which has been called 'a masterpiece of analytical realism' and which was said to have needed some forty sittings. Coldstream's earlier years were characterised by a dedicated engagement with socialist ideals, and by the pursuit of a non-elitist form of art. To this end, he supported the
Mass Observation social survey of Britain and participated in their 1938 painting trip to
Bolton. At first he served as a gunner with a training regiment near Dover and then, from 1940 until 1943 was a camouflage officer with Camouflage Command in
Farnham and later in
Bristol. In 1943, the
War Artists Advisory Committee, WWAC, offered Coldstream a full-time commission which he accepted, having previously declined to work for the Committee. He was stationed in Cairo with an Indian transport unit and painted four portraits of individuals there. From Cairo he travelled to Italy, painting buildings in
Capua,
Rimini and
Florence. Due to his slow means of working, Coldstream only produced nine pictures during his WAAC commission. He also painted
Helen Darbishire in her role as principal of
Somerville College, Oxford. In November 1945, he became a visiting teacher at
Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, and later its professor. In 1949 he returned to lead the Slade School as principal, and professor of Fine Art. Under his direction the Slade achieved an international reputation. In the
1952 Birthday Honours, he was appointed a
CBE. In the
1956 Birthday Honours, Coldstream was knighted as a
Knight Bachelor. Between 1958 and 1971 he was Chairman of the National Advisory Council on Art Education, which published its first report in 1960—called the "Coldstream Report"—outlining the requirements for a new Diploma in Art and Design (Dip.A.D.). Coldstream's proposals eventually led to more art school courses being given degree status. Other administrative posts he held were as vice chairman of the Arts Council, and as a director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and as a trustee of the National Gallery. He was also chairman of the
British Film Institute from 1964 to 1971. In 1978 he was awarded the
Sir Misha Black award and was added to the
College of Medallists. Coldstream retired from the Slade School in 1975, and continued to paint until 1984, when his health was in marked decline. He died in the Royal Homeopathic Hospital in London on 18 February 1987. ==Personal life==