Once upon a time I took a photograph of the Hill House in Helensburgh in Scotland, long before it gained its giant canopy to protect it from the elements. It was an overcast day and the image was remarkably devoid of colour. A considerable time later the image would be the focus of a colour… Continue reading Hill House Recoloured
Category: Art
Items relating to general themes in art – lives of artists, specific galleries, materials and technologies used historically and currently, specific histories of items of art and trends in art.
Cassis by J.D. Ferguson
I have competed this write up some days after visiting the McLean Museum and Art Gallery in Greenock, Scotland. JD Ferguson is one of the four famous Scottish Colourists. I would have imagined the painting was completed at a single session. Perhaps the artist is ‘time stamping’ his creation into a specific day. This is… Continue reading Cassis by J.D. Ferguson
Crème de Menthe by Francis Cadell
(Written while studying the painting in Greenock, Scotland in the McLean Museum and Art Gallery.) It is a large painting with a focus of interest all around. There is a little glass of green liquid in the foreground, almost within reach of the hand of the subject. So you are being told, yes, very soon… Continue reading Crème de Menthe by Francis Cadell
Samuel Peploe in Greenock
(Written while studying ‘Stlll Life’ by Samuel Peploe in Greenock in the McLean Museum and Art Gallery.) The colour palette is subdued. The jug and fruit stand are essentially white – likewise the fabrics and napkins. Apples with their full colour are prominent but the highest accolade is with the oranges on the raised platter.… Continue reading Samuel Peploe in Greenock
Plein Air Day at Troon Art Club
It was the warmest day of the year. We gathered at the car park of the Marine Hotel in Troon while all around activity was on going for the 2024 Open Golf Championship. We eventually got going sometime after 11 o’clock. Preparations had been made. A trusty easel from my teenage years had been spruced… Continue reading Plein Air Day at Troon Art Club
The Penny Wedding in Scotland
Every picture tells a story of some sort and ‘The Penny Wedding’ by Alexander Carse in the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh records a old Scottish custom. At a wedding celebration guests would contribute to the function after the wedding ceremony with the passing round of a hat. Any surplus funds would be passed… Continue reading The Penny Wedding in Scotland
Modern Art #1 Edinburgh
In the line of chasing up some family relations living in Edinburgh, there was time to call in at one of the sites of modern art in the city – Modern Art #1. Driving by car, I seemed to navigate with ease, perhaps emboldened by Google Maps to check progress. The gallery is essentially on… Continue reading Modern Art #1 Edinburgh
Goldmark: An Extraordinary Gallery
The Leicestershire Town of Uppingham is noted certainly for its famous private school but the Goldmark Gallery in the town certainly deserves more than a passing mention. One connection with school is that this was attended by the brother of Vera Brittain who would write Testament of Youth to immortalise her deep personal losses of… Continue reading Goldmark: An Extraordinary Gallery
Waking up the Burrell
Trying Harder In the modern era there is a certain challenge of waking up historical artefacts in major collections to an increased level of perception. This process is quite evident in the recent makeover of the Burrell Collection housed in Glasgow, which first was opened in an imposing modern building in 1983 and which after… Continue reading Waking up the Burrell
Still Life Revisited with Samuel Peploe
It was the still life paintings of Samuel Peploe on display in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow that promoted an inspiration about their composition. The works were part of the permanent exhibition of Scottish Colourists. The view of Samuel Peploe was that each painting of still life promoted some sort of challenge to convey… Continue reading Still Life Revisited with Samuel Peploe