William Scott, Scottish, 1913-1989
Title: Frying Pan, Eggs and Napkin
Date: 1950
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
74 x 91 cm
Signed: lower right: W. SCOTT
Credit Line: Purchased, 2010 (Shaw and Dargan Fund)
Object Number: NGI.2010.5
DescriptionScott coupled a long-standing fascination with still-life painting with an unusual ability to capture spatial tension through the juxtaposition of simplified, everyday objects. Though he was essentially indifferent to the identity and/or function of these items, he was acutely aware of their place in the tradition of still-life painting. Their presence in his pictures was not an oblique reference to that tradition, but a deliberate acknowledgement of it. Scott also possessed a keen eye for colour, as demonstrated by this work, which relies heavily for its impact on the contrast between the blues of the background and the vibrant yellow of the lemons. This contrast complements the interplay between the various elements and shapes of the composition.
Typically, Scott’s pictures are not grand pictorial statements but modest compositions. In this instance, no line is too precise, no contour overworked, and despite its flatness, the picture retains a painterly, textural quality. Though this picture predates the artist’s critical exposure in North America to current developments in Abstract Expressionism, it anticipates the increasingly abstracted works he would produce on his return. Born to a Scottish mother and an Irish father, Scott spent his childhood in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh and studied in Belfast and London. He subsequently spent periods in Italy, France, Germany and Ireland, but lived for most of his adult life in England.
March 2016
Typically, Scott’s pictures are not grand pictorial statements but modest compositions. In this instance, no line is too precise, no contour overworked, and despite its flatness, the picture retains a painterly, textural quality. Though this picture predates the artist’s critical exposure in North America to current developments in Abstract Expressionism, it anticipates the increasingly abstracted works he would produce on his return. Born to a Scottish mother and an Irish father, Scott spent his childhood in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh and studied in Belfast and London. He subsequently spent periods in Italy, France, Germany and Ireland, but lived for most of his adult life in England.
March 2016
ProvenanceLeicester Galleries, London; Howard Bliss; Arthur Tooth & Sons, London; Christie's, London, 1965; The Piccadilly Gallery, London; Lord and Lady Rendelsham; Crane Kalman Gallery, London; Private Collection; Marlborough Fine Art, London, 1985; Gimpel Fils, London; New Art Centre, London, 1985; Private Collection, 1987, purchased, Offer Waterman and Co., Ltd, London, 2010
Exhibition HistoryRecent Paintings by William Scott, Leicester Galleries, London, 1951
Cartwright Memorial Hall, Bradford, 1952
William Scott: Paintings, Drawings and Gouaches 1938-1971, Tate Gallery, London, 1972
British Art of Outstanding Quality, Crane Kalman Gallery, London, 1978
Cartwright Memorial Hall, Bradford, 1952
William Scott: Paintings, Drawings and Gouaches 1938-1971, Tate Gallery, London, 1972
British Art of Outstanding Quality, Crane Kalman Gallery, London, 1978
Label TextScott coupled a fascination with still-life painting with an unusual ability to capture spatial tension through the juxtaposition of simplified, everyday objects. Though he was essentially indifferent to the function of these items, he was acutely aware of their place in the still-life tradition. He also possessed a keen eye for colour, as demonstrated by this work, which relies heavily for its impact on the contrast between the blues of the background and the vibrant yellow of the lemons. This contrast complements the interplay between the various elements and shapes of the composition.