Lot 147
JOYCE CAIRNS P.P.R.S.A., R.S.A., R.S.W., M.A. (R.C.A.) (SCOTTISH 1947-) §
PURSUED, CONQUERED & ASSIMILATED
Auction: Contemporary Art | Lots 1 to 271 | Tuesday 31 March 2026 at 10am
Description
Signed, titled and inscribed ‘Scottish New Contemporaries . . . by arrangement,' and ‘Gray’s School of Art' verso, oil, pencil and collage on six panels mounted together
Dimensions
125.5cm x 141cm (49in x 56in)
Footnote
The artist remembers including two works in an exhibition with the title ‘New Contemporaries’ around 1971. The other artwork, Disintegration of Mankind, features five small panels mounted in a horizontal structure, similar to this one. It remains in her private collection and will be part of her major retrospective exhibition A Personal Odyssey at the Royal Scottish Academy this summer. The exhibition will feature a selection of works from the artist’s studio, dating back as far as 1969, when she was at summer school in Hospitalfield, following the end of her third year at art school. This striking painting was inspired by a period when she was living in a farmhouse called West Auchronie, near Skene. One other memorable aspect of this time was that one of her housemate’s granny had been rumoured to have had an affair with George Orwell.