Adam's The Antoinette and Patrick J.Murphy Collection 23rd October 2019

106 94 WILLIAM SCOTT CBE RA (1913-1989) Still Life, Pears (1977) Oil on canvas, 25 x 35cm (9.8 x 13.7 “) Exhibited: Dublin, Twelve Recent Paintings, The Dawson Gallery, July 1977, Cat. No.12; Banbridge, William Scott in Ireland , F.E.McWilliam Gallery and Studio March - September 2009, Cat No. 34. Literature: William Scott, Catalogue Raisonne of the Oil Paintings, Vol 4, Cat No. 830, illus. p.217. Denise Ferran, William Scott in Ireland, F.E.McWilliam Gallery and Studio, 2009, illus p.31 € 25,000 - 35,000 Although William Scott did make several forays into what might be termed ‘pure abstraction’ (as demon- strated by his exquisite ‘ Berlin Blues ’ series from the 1960s) he always returned to the recognisable sub- jects arranged in still life scenes. This painting from the mid 1970s exemplifies the artists preoccupation with the stuff of domestic life; fruit, eggs or fish arranged amongst pots, saucepans and cooking utensils upon a kitchen table. A preoccupation with these ubiquitous subjects remained consistent throughout Scott’s career because they provided him with ideal vehicles to carry out an exploration of form. However the artist was also drawn to familiar and quotidien subjects, such as pears, because they are universal, timeless and loaded with symbolic resonance. In 1973, the art critic Hilton Kramer wrote of William Scott’s still life paintings that although ‘the forms are highly simplified, they nonetheless boast a remarkable poetic resonance. They breathe and suggest a very personal emotional atmosphere ’. The coupling of two pears is a motif that possessed a personal signifi- cance for Scott. Variations on this theme in his work can be dated back to 1950 but he seems to have had a renewed interest in the subject throughout from the 1970s. In 1977 an exhibition organised by Edward Lucie-Smith took place at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool in which Scott exhibited a series of 17 small paintings titled An Orchard of Pears . This renewed predilection for the pear as a subject can be partly at- tributed to Scott’s move to a farmhouse in Coleford, England in 1967. An impressive pear tree stood in the garden of this house in front of which Scott was photographed on several occasions. Referring to his youth in Scotland and Northern Ireland, Scott once recalled ‘I was brought up in a grey world: the garden I knew was a cemetery and we had no fine furniture. The objects I painted were the symbols of the life I knew best and the pictures which looked most like mine were painted on walls a thousand years ago .’ Works such as Still Life, Pears certainly highlights Scott’s admiration for ancient art, the elegant simplicity of which he became fascinated by following a visit to the Lascaux caves in France in the 1950s. However, the stark immediacy of Scott’s forms combined with his unique palette also make his work distinctly modern. Moreover, Scott imbues minimal and austere compositions such as Two Pears this with a deeply sensuous quality. Pádraic E. Moore, July 2019