The first thing that strikes me when I see a Euan Uglow painting is not so much the fleshy bits and the focus of the work, but its geometric design.

His precise, meticulous technique and analytical observations are from the hand - and mind - of a highly intelligent artist.

In Controlled Passion, starting on Monday, Abbot Hall Art Gallery is the first gallery in the country to stage a major exhibition of paintings selected from the whole of Euan’s 50-year-long career.

Many are on loan from private collections, so it’s a rare opportunity to see the complete picture of one of Britain’s most distinguished contemporary painters, who died in 2000, aged 68.

Abbot Hall director Edward King and his team describe it as the most important exhibition to come to Kendal since Lucian Freud in 1996.

And figuratively speaking, in my opinion, that’s where the comparisons with Freud end.

Uglow’s nudes are worlds apart from Freud’s: elegant, celebrating the beauty of form, mainly of a woman’s body, limbs and torso perfectly proportioned, whereas Freud’s exaggerated lines and brutal brushwork, although more expressive, hardly (and are not intended to) beautify the female figure, Having said that, Nude on a Rose Chaise Longue isn’t a million miles away from Freud.

Uglow’s approach was draftsman-like and much has been made of his fascination with mathematics and his working method, evident in the way he plots his images within a constructed rectangle - a reflection, and tribute to his mentor when studying at Slade Arts School, William Coldstream, and the influence of the Euston Road School painters.

Uglow’s worked directly from the model in his studio and the vivid geometry is no more apparent than in The Diagonal, from top left to lower right, naked and relaxed, with all the characteristics of anatomy, poise and startling colouration.

Although his nudes are frontal and open-legged at times, to me, rude, crude or titillating doesn’t really come into it, just the human form and a brilliance of palette.

The smoothness of Curled Nude on a Stool is a good example.

And Zagi is pure poetry on canvass.

Of course, there’s much more to his art than just nakedness.

Still life such as Mimosa and Quince are as measured, and The Church by the Sea, Khlorakas, Cyprus, is spatial, gorgeous in colour, with a strong architectural composition.

Wit too is not far away, as in his The Three Graces picture of a green plastic toothbrush reflected in two mirrors.

Born in London in 1932, Uglow’s trained at Camberwell School of Art before receiving a scholarship to Slade.

He took months, sometimes years to complete each of his paintings, which could be due to the precision of his work.

From an early 1948 portrait to Mr Uglow’s final flourish, Nuria, Controlled Passion is exactly that.

And no doubt will raise a few eyebrows.

The exhibition runs until October 11.

Open Monday to Saturday, from 10.30am-5pm.

Further information on 01539-722464.