DO not be misled by the dramatic title of Malcolm Ludvigsen's new exhibition at The ArtSpace in York. Farewell Show will not be the end of the professor's prodigious painting exploits.

"It's not a goodbye Malcolm Ludvigsen show; it's a fond farewell to the style that has seen him sell well all over the world, " clarifies gallery co-owner Greg McGee.

"The paintings he's bringing out next summer are a real departure, very different. It'll be a Madonnaesque reinvention! It's a good move: he's a prolific painter, very professional, but he's also very shrewd."

Analysing that shrewdness, Greg says: "Malcolm is aware that there are York people irritated by the fact he's all over the city, and though he has always seemed unruffled by it, his new style shows a very different approach.

"Whether that's because of the grumblings or not, I don't know.

But you can't argue with the 'Ludvigsen brand' - it exports very well, and it's instantly recognisable. So this solo show is a tribute to the old, loose-limbed style and gives everyone a last chance to purchase a piece of 2007 vintage Ludvigsen."

In the tradition of Mark Twain, Malcolm allays fears of his demise.

"It's true that I'm having a change of style, but this is certainly not my final exhibition. At least I hope it isn't!

"Greg did make some sinister comments about artists selling better after their death, and he did intimate that it's about time I retired from painting, " he says.

"By the way, don't accept a cup of his hemlock herbal tea. It tastes awful."

Turning to the future, Malcolm intends to continue doing plein-air landscapes and seascapes, and nudes too, but in a more minimalist style with a slightly more intense use of colour.

"I've noticed over the years that the paintings I find the most satisfying to paint, and also the ones that sell best, contain as little clutter as possible - for example, a painting depicting nothing but beach, sky and sea, or perhaps even only one of these, " he says.

"It sounds boring, but it's the hardest thing in the world to get such a painting right, especially the colour and subtle changes of tone, and when it is right it tends to be a good painting. I've been encouraged in this respect by my American agent, who claims she can sell all I can produce if I use bigger canvasses and include only the bare essentials."

A painting holiday on the island of Tilos in Greece has inspired Malcolm, too.

"In order to capture the colours around me, I had to abandon my sombre Yorkshire palette for something much more intense and vivid, and this came as something as a revelation, " he says.

"I've always disapproved of using strong colours just for the sake of it, but painting in the vivid light of Tilos has, I think, taught me how to use strong colours properly.

Hopefully my new style will show this."

There will be no rest for Malcolm, who is preparing for the Edinburgh and Chelsea art fairs and the New York Art Expo, following exhibitions at the New Grafton and the Mall Galleries in London.

Meanwhile, back home in York, Farewell Show runs until Tuesday at The ArtSpace in Tower Street.