JOHN CUNNINGHAM R.G.I. (SCOTTISH 1926-1998)
DRYMEN LANDSCAPE
£2,800
Scottish Contemporary & Post-War Art
Auction: 25 August 2011 at 10:00 BST
Description
Signed, oil on canvas
Dimensions
69.5cm x 100cm (27.5in x 39.5in)
Footnote
Born in Lanarkshire in 1926, John Cunningham began his studies at the Glasgow School of Art in 1943. While it might at first have seemed as though fate did not wish him to become an artist, with some initial parental
opposition to his choice of career, and then World War II interrupting his studies in 1944, Cunningham's dedication soon was soon repaid as he resumed his artistic training in 1947. From 1967 to 1985 he occupied the post of senior lecturer at his alma mater, where he nurtured new generations of Scottish artists. In his own work from the 1950's onward,
however, Cunningham demonstrated his inheritance of the pictorial tradition of William MacTaggart and the Scottish Colourists. Like them he delighted in the azure waters and pristine white sands of Iona and the West Coast, dividing his time between plein air painting and producing the crisp, luxurious colours of his still lifes in his Glasgow studio, once home to John McGhie and David Gauld. Elected R.G.I. in 1980, and receiving an honourary doctorate from the University of Strathclyde in 1990, his work is included in the Glasgow Museums collection, and is increasingly prized by
collectors for its luminous depiction of Scotland's coast.