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Lot Essay
'I have no theory. I am not concerned only with ‘space construction’. What matters to me in a picture is the ‘indefinable’’ (W. Scott, quoted in, L. Alloway, Nine Abstract Artists, London, 1954).
Painted in 1956, Reclining Nude (Orange and Silver) forms part of a series of figure paintings that Scott executed between 1953 and 1957.
In 1953, Scott travelled to New York where he was introduced by Martha Jackson to Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock and Franz Kline. Although the monumental, energetic abstracts and the New York artists that created them impressed Scott, he realised that these painters came from a different artistic lineage, stating ‘there’s a whole tradition, the descent from Chardin through Cézanne to Braque and Bonnard, which has no part in their painting, and that’s the tradition I’ve always held to’ (W. Scott quoted in, N. Lynton, William Scott, London, 2004, p. 7).
Scott resolved to explore what he had seen in the United States but from the perspective of the European tradition that he had grown up in. This particularly resonated with him as he explored the female nude as a subject, figure painting having played a major part in his training at the Royal Academy Schools. Scott explained, ‘continual figure painting made me aware of the great paintings of nudes. The pictures I had in mind amongst the Old Masters were Cranach, Titian, Giorgione, Goya, Boucher, and among later paintings, Corot, Manet, Gaugin, Modigliani, Bonnard and Matisse’ (W. Scott, quoted in op. cit., p. 65). Scott particularly admired Pierre Bonnard’s The Bath, painted in 1925, that hung in the Tate Gallery, so much so he commissioned a young painter called Joan Gee to produce a full-sized copy which he hung in his home.
In 1954, Scott visited the famous cave paintings at Lascaux in France, which were to have a great impact on his work. He recalled, ‘I went to see the Lascaux Caves, and my experience of these terrific drawings helped me to rethink what art was about. It renewed my earlier interest in primitivism, and set me on a new course’ (W. Scott, quoted in ibid., p. 70).
The boldness of these pre-historic drawings spoke to Scott and drew him back to Bonnard and the Nabis group. One can see this influence in Reclining Nude, which has a timelessness, broken only by the palpable presence of the artist through the physical marks and the bold black outline of the woman’s figure. Reclining Nude is simultaneously new and ancient, abstract and representational. The figure has emerged from the vibrant orange and silver background and floats on the surface of the work. Ephemeral yet timeless. She has existed for centuries yet is contemporary: ‘indefinable’.
We are very grateful to The William Scott Foundation for their assistance in cataloguing this lot.
Painted in 1956, Reclining Nude (Orange and Silver) forms part of a series of figure paintings that Scott executed between 1953 and 1957.
In 1953, Scott travelled to New York where he was introduced by Martha Jackson to Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock and Franz Kline. Although the monumental, energetic abstracts and the New York artists that created them impressed Scott, he realised that these painters came from a different artistic lineage, stating ‘there’s a whole tradition, the descent from Chardin through Cézanne to Braque and Bonnard, which has no part in their painting, and that’s the tradition I’ve always held to’ (W. Scott quoted in, N. Lynton, William Scott, London, 2004, p. 7).
Scott resolved to explore what he had seen in the United States but from the perspective of the European tradition that he had grown up in. This particularly resonated with him as he explored the female nude as a subject, figure painting having played a major part in his training at the Royal Academy Schools. Scott explained, ‘continual figure painting made me aware of the great paintings of nudes. The pictures I had in mind amongst the Old Masters were Cranach, Titian, Giorgione, Goya, Boucher, and among later paintings, Corot, Manet, Gaugin, Modigliani, Bonnard and Matisse’ (W. Scott, quoted in op. cit., p. 65). Scott particularly admired Pierre Bonnard’s The Bath, painted in 1925, that hung in the Tate Gallery, so much so he commissioned a young painter called Joan Gee to produce a full-sized copy which he hung in his home.
In 1954, Scott visited the famous cave paintings at Lascaux in France, which were to have a great impact on his work. He recalled, ‘I went to see the Lascaux Caves, and my experience of these terrific drawings helped me to rethink what art was about. It renewed my earlier interest in primitivism, and set me on a new course’ (W. Scott, quoted in ibid., p. 70).
The boldness of these pre-historic drawings spoke to Scott and drew him back to Bonnard and the Nabis group. One can see this influence in Reclining Nude, which has a timelessness, broken only by the palpable presence of the artist through the physical marks and the bold black outline of the woman’s figure. Reclining Nude is simultaneously new and ancient, abstract and representational. The figure has emerged from the vibrant orange and silver background and floats on the surface of the work. Ephemeral yet timeless. She has existed for centuries yet is contemporary: ‘indefinable’.
We are very grateful to The William Scott Foundation for their assistance in cataloguing this lot.