SIR ROBIN PHILIPSON P.R.S.A., R.A., R.S.W., R.G.I. (SCOTTISH 1916-1992) §
NEVERMIND II, 1965-84
£10,625
Auction: 18 August 2016 at 12:00 BST
Description
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
91.5cm x 123cm (36in x 48.5in)
Footnote
Exhibited: 'Festival Exhibition', The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, 1965; Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 1985; 'Robin Philipson Retrospective', Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh, 1989, cat. 55; 'Sir Robin Philipson', The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, May 2012
Provenance: Private Collection, London
Illustrated: Patricia R. Andrew, 'A Chasm in Time: Scottish War Art and Artists in the Twenieth Century', Birlinn, Edinburgh, 2014, p.229
Note:
In this important and monumental work in Philipson's oeuvre, the artist addresses the theme of the Great War, rather than that in which he had served himself (WW2).
In his typically expressive, almost abstracted technique, Philipson positions his central figure of a red-coated Napoleonic British General holding a map. On each side he shows a WW1 deserter bound to a post and shot by firing squad. The colours recall the stained glass of the gothic cathedrals by which he was so often inspired, adding a further dimension to our interpretation of the subject's narrative.
The piece relates to his series of works in the early 1970s of Threnodies, or lamentations.
The title appears at first jarringly incongrous and dismissive of the serious subject matter, but may refer to the famous (and darkly comic) Tommies' song:
"If the Sergent steals your rum; Never mind!
If the Sergent steals your rum; Never mind!
Though he's just a blinking sot, Let him have the bloody lot,
If the Sergeant steals your rum, Never mind!"