J A M E S M O R R I S O N

6 to 23 January 2017

16 Dundas Street · Edinburgh EH3 6HZ +44 (0) 131 558 1200 mail@scottish-gallery.co.uk

www.scottish-gallery.co.uk

J A M E S M O R R I S O N D E C A D E S

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James Morrison had his first exhibition with The Scottish Gallery in 1959 and this show of new and some earlier work will be his twenty-fourth with us. The presumption must be that if a relationship between a gallery and an artist works it will persist, but also that in selecting its artists for exhibition the gallery is not influenced by what is à la mode, in a world constantly over-heated with wolfish interest in novelty. Instead the gallery should support and trust an artist in their endeavour while the artist will gain momentum from the process of exhibition, contemplation and renewal of work. In this way, generations of art lovers have been introduced to Morrison and over the decades as his work has developed many have continued their interest and enriched their collections with works as physically disparate as The Gorbals and Ellesmere Island and as psychologically separate as Notre Dame Cathedral and the battlefields of the Somme. Today, physical challenges have arrived uninvited and been overcome – the central motif of the artist, an inner eye that can recognise universal truths in nature, is unaltered and as striking and original as it was in 1959.Guy PEPloE

P R E FA C E

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The retrospective exhibition at the Fleming Gallery in London in 2013 brought together a collection of Morrison’s work from his 60 years as a painter. In common with that show this exhibition is drawn from across the artist’s long career. The majority of the works are recent or from the last twenty years but there are paint-ings from the 1960s to the present day.

James Morrison is a painter of landscape and this show offers the opportunity to consider some of the pathways of his career. The core painting venues repeatedly visited and revisited are represented here as are the shifting responses to the land. The evolution of the now readily identifiable visual language can be seen as can the oscillation between Classicism and Romanticism and a fusion of the two. Just as the sources and the technique evolve and shift, the paintings can also operate in different ways for the viewer. Always more than simple transcriptions of nature, they can appear as a visual diary with entries marking points in time or they can evoke memory and hint at meaning forever just out of reach.

Morrison’s oil painting technique of washes of well thinned oil colour over a smooth gesso ground has evolved over years, seasons and weathers. The familiar easy beginning of thin washes of colour applied with a generous broad brush is a counterpoint to the often more intricate work to follow. The method developed in order to paint rapidly outside with a concentration on tonal acuity, recording particular light events as they occurred, with paintings such as Western Space being painted almost entirely outdoors. In contrast the tonal structure initially established for a painting

such as Connonsyth (2009) would be augmented with more studied elements painted later in the studio. In the most recent paintings that consciously designed element has grown as the works are increasingly painted indoors with the method of working adapting to suit. Now work is completed wholly in his studio. Images are developed relative to each other and to memory. The method is the same, preliminary thin washes are used to define light with the lightest tones created by wiping out back to the bright white ground. Later paint is applied in increasing thick layers building contrasting values of light and dark.

Focal points are worked further with opaque colour. Gestures are suggestive of form, rather than specific in detail but still full of energy and intent. The emphasis has moved from a majority of works centred on recording a sense of place in discrete moments of time, towards a more cerebral memory of place and of structure. Work now develops more slowly, is more reflective. In these paintings a conscious theatricality has emerged, on occasion utilising virtual silhouettes, and sometimes radically reduced and heightened colour range. Along with these developments has at times come a revival of an interest first explored in the 1960s in extreme linear formats, seen in works such as Meditation on Nether Dysart. These paintings are reflected upon more in the creative process and build gradually towards their final form. They draw less on direct experience and are more reliant on decades of looking and seeing the colour, weather, light and form, of Angus in particular. A distillation rather than a point in time. Alyson MAcnEill & JoHn Morrison

I N T R O D U C T I O N

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D E C A D E S

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1 Landscape, Angus, 1965oil on board · 17 x 20 cms

2 Denhead Farm ii, 1963oil on board · 33 x 91.5 cms

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3 Summer Fields, Balgove, 16.vii.1987oil on gesso board · 80 x 114 cms · detail opposite

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4 From Craig, 4.ix.1993oil on board · 90 x 150 cms · detail opposite

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5 Blue Hills, 15.vii.1998oil on board · 100 x 150 cms

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6 Sky Study ii, Montrose, 28.iv.2001oil on board · 100 x 150 cms

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7 Horizon, Quinag, 16.v.2002oil on board · 86.5 x 131 cms

8 Ristol and Mullagrach, 20.v.2003oil on board · 101.5 x 152.5 cms

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9 Assynt, 23.iii.2008oil on board · 57 x 78 cms

10 Atlantic Cloud, 12.v.2003oil on board · 101.5 x 152.5 cms

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11 Cloud Capped Towers, 21.v.2003oil on board · 48 x 152.5 cms

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12 The Tweed, 26.xii.2003oil on board · 46 x 152.5 cms

13 The Powis, 7.iii.2006oil on board · 69 x 105 cms

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14 Cloudy, vii.2006oil on board · 65 x 104 cms · detail opposite

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15 Cononsyth, v.2008oil on board · 79 x 152 cms

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16 Rhum and Eigg from Morar, 17.v.2009oil on board · 96 x 152 cms

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17 Northwards, ix.2010oil on board · 34. 5 x 152 cms

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18 Finally Summer, Mull, 3.vi.2001oil on board · 97 x 152 cms

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19 Farm and Sea, 20.i.2011oil on board · 30 x 61 cms

20 Birch Tree, 12.x.2011oil on board · 76 x 44 cms

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21 Winter Light, 17.i.2011oil on board · 35 x 109 cms

22 Dunninald Trees, 23.iii.2012oil on board · 74 x 102 cms

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23 Meditation on Nether Dysart iv, 13.xi.2013oil on board · 10 x 147 cms

24 Meditation on Nether Dysart xi, 2.i.2014oil on board · 51 x 142 cms

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25 Morning Sun, 21.vii.2013oil on board · 28 x 38 cms

26 Strathella, 1.v.2013oil on board · 93 x 154 cms

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27 Summer Isles ii, 2013oil on board · 29 x 50 cms

28 Approaching Storm, ii.2016oil on board · 30.5 x 40.5 cms

29 To the North East, 2013oil on board · 19 x 23.5 cms

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30 Farm on the Skyline, 31.iii.2014oil on board · 22 x 65 cms

31 Edge of the Forest, 10.v.2014oil on board · 27 x 28 cms

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32 Solitude, 14.ii.2015oil on board · 47 x 148 cms

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33 Angus, ii.2016oil on board · 36 x 64 cms

34 Dunes at Lunan, ii.2016oil on board · 36 x 43 cms

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35 Sky and Dunes, October 2016oil on board · 73 x 102 cms

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36 Strathmore, 2013oil on board · 16 x 19 cms

37 The Sheltering Sky, October 2016oil on board · 73 x 102 cms

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38 Some Sunlight, 22.v.2015oil on board · 70 x 110 cms

39 To the North, October 2016oil on board · 73 x 102 cms

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40 Fallow Ground, 2016oil on board · 37 x 44 cms

41 The Lunan, xi.2016oil on board · 36 x 54 cms

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Portrait?

1932 Born in Glasgow1950–54 Studied at Glasgow School of Art1958 Won Torrance Memorial Prize, rGiFounder Member of Glasgow Group1962–63 Visiting Artist at Hospitalfield House, Arbroath1965 Moved to MontroseJoined staff at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee1968 Arts Council Travelling Scholarship to Greece1969–71 Presenter of BBc Arts Programme ScopeFrom 1976 Painting in various regions of France – Provence, Isere, Lot and Paris1979–87 Senior Lecturer at Duncan of Jordanstone1987 Resigned post at Dundee to paint full-timeExtended painting trip to Canada1988 Writer and presenter of sTv series The Scottish Picture Show1990, 92, 94, 96 Painting in the Canadian High Arctic1997 Painting in Botswana1999 Painting in the Fens, Cambridgeshire2003 Painting in Switzerland2007 Painting in Collioure, France

solo ExHiBiTions

1956, 58 McClure Gallery, Glasgow1959, 64, 67, 75, 78, 84, 88, 90, 92, 94, 97, 99, 2002, 2005 The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh1962 The Reid Gallery London1968, 70 Vaughan College, Leicester1968, 69 Richard Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh1970, 77 Compass Gallery, Glasgow1971, 72 Galleria Vaccarino, Florence1973 Steiger Gallery, Moers, Germany1974 Düsseldorf Kunstmesse1979, 81, 85, 95, 97, 2000 Thackeray Gallery, London1986 The Fine Art Society, Glasgow1987 Waddington and Shiell Gallery, Toronto1988 Perth Festival Exhibition, Perth Museum and Art Gallery1989 The Scottish Gallery, London; The Macaulay Gallery, Stenton1990 The Glasgow Paintings, William Hardie Gallery, Glasgow1991 Paintings of the Canadian Arctic, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh1991, 94 The Riverside Gallery, Stonehaven1992 Paris in Winter (drawings) – The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh1993 The Arlesford Gallery, Hampshire1995 Talbot Rice Gallery, (Arctic works) University of Edinburgh2000 Painting of Mawana, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh

J A M E S M O R R I S O N R S A R S W D . U n i v.

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GrouP ExHiBiTions

1956 The Arts and the Cafe Royal, an exhibition of contemporary painting, Edinburgh1964 +/-30, an exhibition of contemporary Scottish Art, Scottish Arts Council1966 10 West of Scotland Painters, Arts Council Gallery, Belfast1967 First Edinburgh Open 100, Festival Exhibition, Richard Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh1968 Three Centuries of Scottish Paintings, CanadaScottish Contemporary Painting, Richard Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh

1969 Oireachtais Exhibition, Municipal Gallery, Dublin2 plus 3 Exhibition: Two Canadians and Three Scots (with Robert Downing, Jack Wise, Neil Dallas Brown and John Knox), Richard Demarco Gallery1973 Galleria Acropoli, Venice1976–85 Scottish Art, Esu, Edinburgh Festival1977 Seven Painters in Dundee, Scottish Arts Council Exhibition, The McManus, Dundee1980 Scottish Painting in Holland Scottish Print Open 2, an exhibition of contemporary Scottish prints1981 Art Fair, Basel; Contemporary Scottish Painting, Arts Council Touring Exhibition; Eleven Scottish Artists, Universities of Surrey and Nottingham; Art in the City, MacLean Gallery, London

1981–82 Contemporary Art from Scotland, Touring Exhibition: Kendal, London, Sheffield, Cardiff, Middlesbrough1982 Small is Beautiful, Dunkeld Gallery; Glasgow Group Jubilee, McLellan Galleries, Glasgow1983 Noise and Smoky Breath, Visual Images of Glasgow 1900–1983, Third Eye Centre, Glasgow1984 Different Kinds of Good Weather, Arts Council Touring Exhibition; A Festival of Scottish Drawing, Fine Arts Society, Glasgow1985 Art for Africa, Contemporary Scottish Art, City of Edinburgh Art Centre1985 Portraits on Paper, Scottish Arts Council; The Parks in Glasgow, Compass Gallery, Glasgow1986 Contemporary Scottish Painting, Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh1988 A Festival of Gardens, Fine Arts Society, Glasgow; 20th Anniversary, Thackeray Gallery, London; Post 1945 and Contemporary Art, Ewan Mundy Fine Art1989 A View from the North East, Esu Gallery, Edinburgh; The Auld Alliance, Riverside Gallery, Stonehaven & The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh; London Sea and Shore, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh1990 Scottish Art, 1900–1990, The Scottish Gallery, London; Paintings from the Clydesdale Bank Collecion, Glasgow; 21 Years of Contemporary Art, Tramway Gallery, Glasgow; A Patron of Art, The Royal Bank Collection, Edinburgh

2000 Art London, The Scottish Gallery at the London Art Fair2007 New Paintings, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh2008 New Paintings, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh2008 Painting Exhibition, Partridge Fine Art, London in association with The Scottish Gallery2009 The Edge of Allegory, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh2010 James Morrison at Kinblethmont, Kinblethmont, Angus2012 A View from Here, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh2013 Land and Landscape: The Painting of James Morrison, Fleming Collection, London2013 James Morrison at Gallery 8, The Scottish Gallery, London

2013 For Greer McKay – Move Him Into the Sun, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh2015 The North Wind, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh2015 Paintings of War, Montrose Museum, Montrose2017 Decades, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh

1991 Scottish Art in the 20th Century, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol1992 150th Anniversary Exhibition, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh1993 The Twelve Days of Christmas, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh1999 Mountain, Wolverhampton Art Gallery; Members of the RSA, The Albemarle Gallery, LondonConnections, rsA Festival Exhibition; Painter Members of the RSA, Albemarle Gallery, London2001 Aspects of Scottish Drawings, 1900–2001, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh2004 Art London with The Scottish Gallery2008 Alliance Francaise, (with Douglas Davies), Glasgow Exhibition2015 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Kinblethmont, Angus

collEcTions

Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum

AnGusalive

Art in Heatlhcare

Aviva Plc

Bank of Scotland

BBC

Brascan, Canada

Britoil Plc

City of Edinburgh Council

Clydesdale Bank

Department of the Environment (DEFrA)

Distillers Co Plc

Dundas & Wilson

Dundee Art Galleries and Museum

Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Heriot-Watt, Stirling and Strathclyde Universities

Earl of Airlie

Earl of Dalhousie

Earl of Moray

Edinburgh Fund Managers

Glasgow School of Art

Glasgow Museums Resrouce Centre

Government Art Collection

Grampian Television

H.R.H Duke of Edinburgh

High Life Highland Exhibitions Unit

Hunterian Art Gallery, Glasgow

I.B.M.

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

Life Association of Scotland

Lillie Art Gallery, Glasgow

Lloyds Bank Plc

Low and Bonar Plc

Perth Museum and Art Gallery

Perth and Kinross Council

Royal Bank of Scotland

Royal Scottish Academy, Edinbrugh

Scottish Amicable Life Assurance Society

Scottish Fisheries Museum

sisis Equipment Ltd

Strathclyde Regional Council

Tayside House, Dundee

The Fleming-Wyfold Art Foundation

The Scottish Arts Council

Vaughan College, Leicester

Wm Grant and Sons Ltd

Works in offices and Embassies worldwide

Works in Private Collections in the UK, Canada, Europe and USA

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Land and Landscape: the Painting of James Morrison 160pp · £30.00 · 27 x 24 cms

Land and Landscape: the Painting of James Morrison, Professor JohnMorrison’s book on his father, published by The Fleming Collection, is available in three different versions (blue, aubergine and brown). It was published to coincide with the major retrospective of the artist held at The Fleming Collection, London from the 19 February – 6 April 2013. Please contact the Gallery for more information.

16 Dundas Street · Edinburgh EH3 6HZ Telephone +44 (0) 131 558 1200 Email mail@scottish-gallery.co.uk

www.scottish-gallery.co.uk

Gallery hours: Monday to Friday 10–6pm and Saturday 10–4pm

Published by The Scottish Gallery for the exhibition James Morrison: Decades held at 16 Dundas Street from 6 to 23 January 2017

isBn 978 1 910267 50 9

Images © James Morrison 2o17 Catalogue © The Scottish Gallery 2017 All rights reserved

Photography by John McKenzie Designed and typeset in Kingfisher by Dalrymple Printed in Scotland by J Thomson

Front and back covers: detail from Strathella, 1.v.2013 [26]