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Colin Middleton RHAMBE (1910-1983)
Opus 1 40 Magpie Delivery (1942)
Oil on canvas, 50.9 x 76.2cm (20 x 30”)
Signed
Provenance: From the Collection of George and Maura McClelland and on loan from them to IMMA from 1999-2004;
Private Collection Dublin
Exhibited:
Colin Middleton
Exhibition, IMMA, Jan-Jun2001
Literature:
Colin Middleton: Paintings & Drawings from the McClelland Collection,
IMMA 2001, illustrated Fig.4;
The Hunter Gatherer,
IMMA, 2005, illustrated Fig.59 p.74
The personal and autobiographical aspects of Colin Middleton’s work are usually disguised and deeply hidden. The events and
aftermath of the Second World War exerted a clear influence on Middleton’s painting and one might wonder whether the isolated
ruins of buildings and the barren landscapes that recur in his work of the 1940s (as seen in the present painting) were influenced by
the blitz of Belfast the previous year. During these years Middleton had lost his first wife but had then married Kathleen Giddens
and had a young family; he was also finding significant recognition as an artist in Belfast and preparing for a major exhibition the
year after this painting was completed.
It is tempting to speculate that the harlequin figure that dominates the left of the composition is a reference to the artist, although
there are suggestions of long hair and the shape of a dress; one could also read the object in the right foreground as a painting on
an easel, although the consistency with the landscape behind also indicates a clear frame. While the sky is heavy and threatening,
the sea is illuminated and calm and this new shore, whilst empty, has promise.
The magpie of the title sits on the frame and the letters they both carry connect it with the figure. The bird is one of the most
frequently recurring images in Middleton’s work, often representing the female presence in a painting and particularly the spiritual
part of the human distinct from that tied down to the physical world. Magpie Delivery is a particularly ambiguous work in mood
and tone and perhaps this reflects the many changes in Colin Middleton’s personal situation at this time, as well as the upheavals
throughout the world.
Dickon Hall, November 2013
€25,000 - 35,000
