ERIC ROBERTSON (SCOTTISH 1887-1941)
CECILE (WALTON) AT CRIANLARICH
£56,250
Scottish Paintings & Sculpture
Auction: 09 June 2019 at 18:00 BST
Description
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
91cm x 105cm (36in x 41.5in)
Footnote
Provenance:Collection of the artist's daughter
Exhibited:Bourne Fine Art, Edinburgh, Eric Robertson 1998
Note: A passionate love affair between two exceptionally talented and promising young artists has the potential to go to two extremes: it could be a promising partnership, full of happiness and support, and the creation of beautiful work by both parties or all that passion and ambition might instead create a toxic atmosphere of jealousy and resentment, tearing a couple apart and distracting them from their work. In the case of Eric Robertson and Cecile Walton, their relationship and marriage was to continuously move between these two extremes. At times, their marriage was happy and stable and allowed both of them to dedicate time and energy to their work, with the support of someone else who understood an artist's unique trials and tribulations. At other times, the distance created by war and Eric's lack of interest in maintaining conventional relationships created strain, while sometimes jealousy over individual artistic success crept in.
As you might expect from a passionate, artistic relationship there was some scandal associated with the pair, especially by conservative Edinburgh society standards. Cecile Walton was the daughter of established Glasgow Boy artist, E.A. Walton who was extremely invested in his daughter's artistic talent and developing career, while Eric Robertson was a talented art student who wished to follow his romantic ideals and act freely. Their attraction was viewed with suspicion by her family, who viewed Robertson as a philanderer (one engagement had already ended, as he had openly started a relationship with another woman), as well as an inappropriate artist (his work had previously been removed from public exhibitions, over concerns about decency). They quickly sent Cecile off travelling, but a year apart did not affect her feelings and she re-established the relationship on her return and subsequently married Robertson and had their first son.
Robertson held very romantic, idealistic views of how he wished to behave that were mostly incompatible with a conventional marriage. As a result, throughout their relationship they seemed to find themselves involved in love triangles, most prominently with fellow Edinburgh artist Dorothy Johnstone, a very close friend of Cecile's who Eric developed a relationship with, creating an 'inseparable triangle' for a period before he became engaged to Cecile. At this time, while travelling in Scotland, he wrote to Cecile describing how he 'wrote the names Cecile, Dorothy and Eric on a card with a circle round them and laid it in the centre of the top of the Cairn.' Though later, while Eric was in service at the war front, Cecile herself became interested in principles of free love and feelings for the man who was publicising these views at the time. She sent letters to Eric outlining how she thought they would continue their marriage in line with her new perspective, though this does not seem to have followed through on his return. We can only imagine that these additional relationships and complications were widely known and discussed within Edinburgh social and artistic circles, particularly as art also imitated life, and on more than occasion the artists and their relationships featured, rather thinly disguised, in works of contemporary fiction. It is difficult to say how accurate these fictions are, but they do indicate that this was a widely known, and scandalous set of circumstances.
Throughout their tempestuous relationships, husband and wife continued to paint each other, as well as their friends and family. This striking and elegant portrait of Cecile by Robertson dates from a happy time in their lives and marriage, a holiday they spent in a cottage in Crianlarich across the May and June of 1920. The cottage had the charming feature of this small waterfall leading to a pool located just behind it, where the couple took every opportunity to bathe in the nude. The painting is inspired by these visits and this idyllic Scottish holiday, that took place just a few short years before the marriage ultimately ended. In these early years of the 1920s when Eric had returned from war, their second child was born and both were working passionately and effectively, in part, due to the inspiration and success they had both found in working to establish the Edinburgh Group and its exhibitions. Cecile at Crianlarich has a timeless quality, though her distinctive bobbed haircut and jaunty beret do add a specifically 1920s charm.