Still-lifes may not seem the most contemporary of subjects, but the arrangement of various, often domestic, objects has always allowed artists to play with their skills and style, and contemporary artists are no different: taking the opportunity to utilise this classic subject matter as a playground for artistic experimentation.
Within the sale, we were delighted to offer a wide range of paintings within this category, including three still-lifes by John Bellany. In each of these, Bellany evolves a little from his established coastal and landscape palette, moving more into a rainbow of rich reds and deep greens.
He does maintain his expressive and dramatic brushwork; a hallmark of his style, just applied here to various vases of flowers as opposed to fishermen and celtic maidens. The more unusual subject matter for him enthused bidders, with Lot 193, Flowers of Spring achieving £11,875 on the day.
We can see a similar enthusiasm for bright colour in Lot 158, a view of pink roses and fruit by Joan Gillespie. Though she brings a more controlled approach to the brushwork, using the graphic shape of the brush to her advantage and being surprisingly sparse with her pigment, at times: a nod to the work of her key inspirations, the Scottish Colourists.
Meanwhile, Alexander Goudie takes a more traditional approach in Lot 106, depicting bottles, glassware and a silver candlestick against a richly coloured background, the result is elegant and timeless, and generated an over-top-estimate price of £3,750.
We are already accepting consignments for the next Contemporary & Post-War Art auction which will take place on 3rd February 2021 in Edinburgh. If you wish to discuss consigning, please do not hesitate to get in touch on 0131 577 8844.