Description
Signed, oil on canvas
Dimensions
51cm x 61cm (20in x 24in)
Footnote
Note: The artistic link between Scotland and France in the early decades of the 20th century was strong and, in many ways, remarkable. Famously, the Scottish Colourists Fergusson, Peploe, Cadell and Hunter forged a path in Paris ahead of many of their English counterparts, quickly absorbing and reacting to the work of their heroes of the Post-Impressionist school. Milne was the son of traditional landscape artist Joseph Milne and, though his very early work is indebted to his father's influence, he soon turned his attention to developments on the Continent. Though a generation younger than his fellow compatriots in France, Maclauchlan Milne followed exuberantly in their tradition; earning himself the moniker of "The Fifth Colourist".
Milne found his way to stylistic maturity after his studies in Paris post-WW1 led him to meet and marry a Frenchwoman. France became his second home and the couple lived there for much of the year amongst the medieval villages of the Loire Valley, travelling to St Tropez, Provence and Cassis, where he would mingle with fellow British artists, S.J. Peploe, F.C.B. Cadell and Duncan Grant.
His ties with Scotland remained strong, however, and on his visits home he translated Perthshire and the East Coast into his new artistic language. Ultimately, he was to settle on the Isle of Arran, making his home near Corrie harbour. The effect of the brilliant French light never deserted Milne, and his depictions of Arran are virtually always of idyllically bright days, featuring white-washed cottages, wind-ruffled blossom trees and turquoise bays. The third painting offered here, 'Corrie', is likely to be an early work created shortly after his permanent return from France. Milne's form is experimentally free and unfettered; the foliage and proportions of the house almost swirling with movement and expression, alluding, perhaps, to the work of one of his greatest influences, Vincent Van Gogh.