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This item WAS NOT SOLD. Auction date was 2002 Sep 17 @ 10:00UTC-08:00 : PST/AKDT
Colin Middleton RHA (1910-1983)
BUILDINGS WITH DISTANT SPINNEY
signed and dated [1939] lower left
oil on canvas
41 by 51cm., 16 by 20in.
1939 was a year of extraordinary variety within Colin Middleton's work. Paintings that date from this year include surrealist work in a range of styles, quiet views of Belfast executed in an impressionist manner, and also a small number of landscapes similar to the present picture.
This seems to have been the first body of work Middleton completed that is based around the landscape, and he would not return to it in depth for about another eight years. These paintings could be seen as a sister group to the Belfast street scenes of this period. It is likely that both sprung from the same sources, in particular two events of that year, the death of Middleton's first wife, Maye, and the outbreak of war in Europe. The Belfast paintings have an atmosphere of pathos and slight melancholy, and an affection for the ordinariness of these familiar scenes.
The landscapes have a similar mood. The tones of the present work are predominantly autumnal, and quite high-toned rather than dark. The location is soft and full of compositional interest, quite different from the emotionally charged post-war landscapes, and the brushwork is even and unfussy. The contrast between the geometric buildings and the rolling landscape is very reminiscent of John Luke's work of the same period, such as 'The Fox', creating an harmonious, rhythmic composition that has a heightened atmosphere that combines artificiality and naturalism. There is no evidence that Middleton would at this time have been aware of the British neo-romantic movement that had come to prominence in the 1930s, but there is a sense of affinity with Sutherland and others whose sense of unity with their surroundings had been brought into a sharper focus by the threat of war.
Middleton's interest in his natural surroundings was also a feature of his symbolist paintings of this time, which were often based around themes of nature such as the cycles of the sun and moon.
Dickon Hall, Killinchy, August 2002.
Dickon Hall is the author of Colin Middleton: A Study, JOGA Press, Belfast, 2001.
€10,000-€12,000 (IR £7,800-£9,400 approx.)
Auction Location:
United Kingdom
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Viewing: September 14-16, 11am to 6pm. (to 9pm on 16th).
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