Lot 151
JOHN MACLAUCHLAN MILNE R.S.A. (SCOTTISH 1885-1957) §
BALCONY, SOUTH OF FRANCE
£23,940
Scottish Paintings & Sculpture
Auction: Evening Session | 7th December 2023 at 18:00
Description
Signed, oil on canvasboard
Dimensions
Provenance
Provenance:
Portland Gallery, London
Private Collection
Exhibited:
Portland Gallery, London, The Life and Works of John Maclauchlan Milne, 17 June - 9 July 2010, no.30
Footnote
The reverse of the support of this painting bears a Blanchet, Paris stamp, suggesting that it was acquired by the artist whilst he was in France. The artists' materials purveyor occupied imposing premises at 38 rue Bonaparte in the French capital between 1905 and 1964.
The south of France in the 1920s had plenty of attractions to the artist, not least the warmth of its climate, the quality of its light and the modest cost of living. Maclauchlan Milne spent much of the second-half of the decade in the region and it was here that his palette brightened and his technique grew to an impressive pitch of confidently rendering expressive reality.
Balcony, South of France encapsulates the appeal that the area and its lifestyle held for the artist. In an idyllic scene, Maclauchlan Milne draws the eye from the tree in the very foreground on the right, up the inviting steps on the left, to the terrace midway in the composition. Its umbrellas provide shelter from the Mediterranean sunshine and hint at leisurely days spent outdoors, whilst the shuttered villa which rises behind it suggests cool rooms perfect for a mid-day siesta. One can only imagine the longing for foreign travel that paintings such as this must surely have aroused in visitors to exhibitions staged by institutions such as the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh and the Royal Glasgow Institute, to which Maclauchlan Milne sent his latest creations.
During the 1930s, the artist turned his focus to the Scottish landscape, especially that of the west Highlands. Following a move to the island of Arran in 1940, one can sometimes be forgiven for thinking that his scenes of the island’s villages and beautiful natural surroundings were basking in the sunshine of the south of France, such was its impact on Maclauchlan Milne.
We are grateful to Maurice Millar, author of ‘The Missing Colourist: The Search for John Maclauchlan Milne’ for his help in researching this work.
