About this lot
Description
Douglas Swan (American 1930-2000)
Abstracted Still Life
signed and dated 69 to the reverse
oil on canvas
43 x 92.5cm
Footnote:
Born to Scottish parents in Connecticut in 1930, Douglas Swan spent the early years of his childhood in the United States, before moving with his family to Carnoustie on the east coast of Scotland in 1936. Upon the completion of his National Service, Swan studied at the Dundee College of Art between 1943 and 1953 and before accepting a residency at Patrick Allan Fraser's Hospitalfield House, Arbroath, where he worked under the tutelage of Ian Fleming.
1954 would prove to be a seismic year in Swan’s career, after he began exhibiting at the Royal Scottish Academy and was subsequently awarded the RSA scholarship to study in London. It was in London that Swan met the painter, William Scott. The pair would go on to form a lifelong friendship and were known to pain alongside one another on their trips to Cornwall and Somerset. In 1958, together with influential artists from the St Ives scene, including Heron, Lanyon, and Bell, Swan was awarded the British Council scholarship to study in Milan.
Suffused with naïve charm and rendered in a sensitively and skilfully tempered palette of brackens, flints, aquas, and terracottas, the works offered in this sale are characteristic of Swan’s broader portfolio.
Condition report:
Surface has an overall layer of dirt throughout, with staining and discolouration of varnish particularly evident around the purple border on the right hand side and on the purple flower pot. The white areas of paint show some yellowing. There are some very fine cracks to the paint layer around the purple border. The surface is mostly glossy, though there are some matte areas which presumably have not been varnished. See additional images.
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