Brown’s Gallery, Tain, until 6 October 2007

Sir William Gillies, Border Landscape (photo - Bourne Fine Art).

THIS LATEST exhibition at Brown’s Gallery in collaboration with Bourne Fine Art, Edinburgh, provides a great opportunity to view historical works by Scottish artists and adjacent contemporary works by Highland-based artists within the newly renovated space.

That such an exhibition should be presented by a commercial gallery is admirable, however it again underlines the lack of public provision for Visual Arts and the significant contribution of private sector galleries to cultural access in the Highlands.

The way in which artists influence each other over the centuries is always of interest, and seeing contemporary work as part of a continuum of visual investigation, and as part of a national and world stage is often overlooked.

As an audience we are not given the opportunity to make that connection through lack of public exhibition space and access to national collections in the Highlands. From a private curatorial point of view Browns and Bourne Fine Art have made that connection visible and it is an exciting development which I hope will lead to regular exchanges between the Highlands and Central Belt by both commercial and public galleries in the future.

For local collectors this show broadens the spectrum of artworks for consideration. Specialising in Scottish Art from the 17th century to the present day, Bourne Fine Art have contributed works from artists such as Waller Hugh Paton, Sir David Young Cameron, George Houston, J.D. Fergusson, Sir William Gillies, William Wilson, Alberto Morocco and Elizabeth Blackadder.

For the general public this is a rare opportunity to see work by artists who are part of the canon of art history and of national and international importance. For artists or students the exhibition is an excellent opportunity for direct observation.

What I enjoyed most about this show was how certain works focused my attention so acutely on technique, palette and paint handling. What fascinates me most about art history is what that visual history reveals about human experience and how technical problems are resolved, particularly in painting.

A still life by John Bulloch Souter (1890- 1971) was a supreme example of the latter. Framed in a texture of beaten silver his “Still Life with Plate” is an elegant lesson in observation, simplicity and design. There are no screaming colours or frenzied clutter of marks to attract your immediate (but all too fleeting) attention but a subdued palette of grey, pinkish browns and opaque lustre that absorbs you in the composition.

The lighting in the piece subtly guides the eye to contemplate each object in a way that draws you back to it time and again. It is a lesson in seeing and how to be still within a work of art.

Sir William Gillies (1898-1973) large work “Spinningdale” (oil on canvas) with its loose post impressionistic brushwork is outshone by a smaller work “Border Landscape” (oil on board).

With a high horizon and blocks of warm peach, cool green and lines of purple-grey, your eye travels beyond the dry stone wall into the undulating landscape. This is a warm, lyrical view articulated by the brushwork and a piece that – like Souter’s still life – I felt compelled to return to.

J.D. Fergusson’s two figure studies in chalk present a vision of femininity that is strong, lithe and rhythmic, a treatment of line and of the figure that is pure Art Deco. The seated figure holding what is presumably an apple reads like a question mark and this seductiveness is at the heart of Fergusson’s drawings from life.

His distinct stylistic treatment of the female figure is unique among the Scottish Colourists and owes much to his lifelong relationship with choreographer Margaret Morris. Though I am not a great fan of Fergusson’s paintings these are fantastic examples of his distinct style and of pure draughtsmanship based on his ideal of the feminine.

Two works by Waller Hugh Paton (1828-1895) present a romantic view of nature reminiscent of Caspar David Friedrich. The small watercolour “After the Storm” depicting moonlight breaking through cloud illuminating the wreck of a ship is a fine example.

“Dawn”, a larger painting in which the sky and emerging light are contrasted with foreground foliage in umber silhouette, places contemplation of nature at the centre of the work. The human scale in this landscape is small with a female figure drawing water just visible in the foreground.

Although romanticised, Thomas Duncan’s “Milkmaid” (oil on board) is an interesting work. An idealisation of honest labour, the figure’s bare feet, rosy cheeks and pure complexion give a wholesome view of the life we see defined by the low whitewashed croft in the background.

The young girl is still a child and details in the painting such as the treatment of her opaque milk-like apron contribute to the picture of innocence and virtue. Though this is a typically sentimentalised 19th century view of rural life, the moral associations of the work, like so many other paintings of this period, make it worth revisiting.

In the original rooms of Browns Gallery, now the lower level, works by artists such as Neil MacPherson, John Byrne, Alan Macdonald and Alex Main feature alongside work by David McClure, Alberto Morrocco and Elizabeth Blackadder.

The exhibition flows quite naturally into this space despite having travelled several centuries. Neil MacPherson’s “Flowers by the Sea”, “The Troubadour” , “The Music Makers” and a particularly fascinating piece entitled “The New World” are beautiful examples of his surreal vision.

John Byrne’s “Dessie Outside the Brickhouse” and “Evening–Ferguslie Park” (recalling the “Slab Boys” era) are superbly drawn, with thin layers of paint in ochre, umber and sienna, details scratched into the surface.

There is an energy in these pieces exemplified by the scratched concentrated marks that make up the glowing end of a cigarette, the drawing itself is infused with light and energy. The elongated figures, huge teddy boy hair and decorated frames place the work in a specific age, but the life in this work and Byrne’s technique as an artist makes it timeless.

Alex Main’s “Untitled” oil, a wonderfully open abstracted landscape in clear blocks of colour echoes the work of Kandinsky. “Untitled” drawing, a superb abstract composition of striated and varied marks in black and white has an almost etched quality and is beautifully balanced. Though these are small works in comparison to many of the other pieces on show they sing off the wall.

You would expect to be able to see a permanent representation of Scottish Art in any city in Scotland, the presence of this temporary exhibition in Tain heightens my sense of that absence in the Highland capital.

The excellence of presentation and the ease with which national historical works are presented in the same gallery as contemporary works from artists based in the Highlands sends a clear message about the value of both. Seeing work within Brown’s new gallery space is a joy, with the light and space to appreciate work and a standard of presentation that equals the quality of the artworks on display.

(Brown’s Gallery, Castle Brae, Tain, Mon-Sat,10-5.30 or by appointment 01862 893884)

© Georgina Coburn, 2007

Links

• Bourne Fine Art