William Scott, R.A. (1913-1989)
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William Scott, R.A. (1913-1989)

Feed the Flame

Details
William Scott, R.A. (1913-1989)
Feed the Flame
oil on canvas, unframed
34 x 44 in. (86.5 x 112 cm.)
Painted in 1957
This work is recorded in the William Scott Archive as no. 389.
Provenance
The artist, and by descent.
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Commenting on the still lifes of 1956-58, Alan Bowness (William Scott: Paintings, London, 1964, p. 10) remarks: 'The general development is from balanced and static compositions towards agitated profusion of forms and an extreme disequilibrium. Sometimes there are great empty spaces, with the objects clinging to the edge of the pictures and falling over the sides; sometimes they are crowded pell-mell on to the tables. Often, as in Cézanne, a vertical accent divides the picture into two equal halves: it is established by a knife, or by the side of a pan, or by an alignment. Scott's sense of proportion and interval is highly developed, and the tensions between forms are always taut. Paint surfaces are rich and varied and voluptuous, and a kind of animal vigour seems to cling to the pictures. Tonal contrasts are emphasised: colouring tends to be monochromatic, with a preference for orange-red, blue, and ochre-brown. At times Scott uses more or less the same composition for a different coloured picture. It is as if he wants to find out what happens when he does the picture in brown, not blue, or when the background tone is changed from light to dark'.

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