Andrew Macara: New Paintings

ANDREW MACARA

ANDREW MACARA New Paintings

JONATHAN COOPER 20 Park Walk London SW 10 0 AQ

t: + 44 ( 0 ) 20 7351 0410 mail@jonathancooper.co.uk jonathancooper.co.uk

1.

Woodland Skiing

Oil on linen 36 × 40 ins (91.4 × 101.6 cm)

£7,500

ANDREW MACARA The paintings of Andrew Macara are imbued with many of Impressionism’s most admired characteristics: vividly capturing the interaction of light and shade in a landscape, they convey the sensation that we are witnessing a specific moment in time, and a delight in the extraordinary richness of daily life. Like many of its practitioners, Macara is also fascinated by movement, and especially by the unselfconscious joy of children at play, which he finds more dynamic than the measured way in which adults move.

Born in Derbyshire in 1944, Macara continues to live and work in Derby, finding much in the local landscape to inspire him, particularly the crisp light of a low winter sun over its snow-filled fields. Many of the paintings in this exhibition depict children gleefully sledging in the county’s parks. Others, however, testify to his enduring love of travel, including French and Italian ski scenes and views of vibrant Mediterranean streets. He was first attracted to art as a ten-year-old child on holiday, when he was transfixed by a picture of a blue door in a white wall which he spotted in the window of a gallery as his family drove through France. This introduction to art, and to finding beauty in the colours and form of the everyday world, formed a lasting impression on him, and later led him to study painting at evening classes while working for his family business, and briefly with Leonard Fuller at the St Ives School of Painting.

Predominantly, however, Macara considers himself to be a self-taught artist, his practise developed by many years of painting en plein air. Whether depicting a frenzied snowball fight or the sands of a warm summer beach, his choice of scene is visual and instinctual, and once attracted by a landscape he works quickly at his easel outdoors to capture the freshness of his subject. Fascinated by the contrast of light and shadow, he only paints on bright days, and his frequent trips abroad are booked at the last moment, when good weather seems guaranteed. Back in the studio, he re-works his small studies into larger paintings, often populating them with figures from the hundreds of drawings he has compiled in sketchbooks, making his works a careful balance of imagination and observation.

It is the small details and tactile textures of his paintings that make Macara’s works so appealing and uplifting, and looking at the shimmer of light on water or freshly laid snow we feel that we would like to step out of our environment and into his. Although firmly grounded in the observation of the modern world, they are nevertheless infused with a timeless quality, reminding us, perhaps, of our own happy memories of childhood, and inviting us to reconnect with a childlike wonder in life.

2.

Sledging down the Gully, Dam Lane, Ashbourne Oil on linen 25 × 30 ins (63.5 × 76.2 cm)

£3,950 3.

Sledging down the Track, Osmaston, Derby Oil on linen 32 × 36 ins (81.3 × 91.4 cm)

£6,750

4.

Christmas, Calke Abbey

Oil on linen 30 × 48 ins (76.2 × 121.9 cm)

£7,500

5.

Early Snow, Allestree Park, Derby Oil on linen 40 × 50 ins (101.6 × 127 cm)

£7,750

6.

Fresh Snow, Les Arcs, France

Oil on linen 30 × 48 ins (76.2 × 121.9 cm)

£7,500

7.

Hillside, Elton, near Rowsley, Chatsworth, Derbyshire Oil on linen 32 × 36 ins (81.3 × 91.4 cm)

£6,750

8.

Christmas Skating, Hampton Court Palace Oil on linen 12 × 14 ins (30.5 × 35.6 cm)

£1,500

9.

Girls in Red, Hampton Court Palace Ice Rink Oil on linen 16 × 30 ins (40.6 × 76.2 cm)

£3,000

10.

Bright Morning, Hampton Court Palace Ice Rink Oil on linen 20 × 24 ins (50.8 × 61 cm)

£3,000

11.

Evening, Rockefeller Ice Rink, New York Oil on linen 16 × 30 ins (40.6 × 76.2 cm)

£3,000

12.

Yellow and Orange Sledges, Allestree Park, Derby Oil on linen 36 × 40 ins (91.4 × 101.6 cm)

£7,500

13.

Children Sledging, Les Gets, France Oil on linen 16 × 30 ins (40.6 × 76.2 cm)

£3,000

14.

The Orchard, Morzine, France

Oil on linen 16 × 30 ins (40.6 × 76.2 cm)

£3,000

15.

Snowballers, Allestree Park, Derby Oil on linen 30 × 48 ins (76.2 × 121.9 cm)

£7,500

16.

Steep Slope, Les Arcs, France

Oil on linen 14 × 16 ins (35.6 × 40.6 cm)

£1,800

17.

Selva Gardena, Italy

Oil on linen 14 × 16 ins (35.6 × 40.6 cm)

£1,800

18.

The Forest, La Clusaz, France

Oil on linen 16 × 20 ins (40.6 × 50.8 cm)

£2,500

19.

Red Cow, La Vache Rouge, Les Arcs, France Oil on linen 14 × 16 ins (35.6 × 40.6 cm)

£1,800

20.

Tenby Regatta

Oil on linen 28 × 36 ins (71.1 × 91.4 cm)

£4,950

21.

The Sailing Lesson, Tenby

Oil on linen 30 × 48 ins (76.2 × 121.9 cm)

£7,500

22.

Blue Sails, Looe

Oil on linen 30 × 48 ins (76.2 × 121.9 cm)

£7,500

23.

Skimming Stones, Looe, Cornwall Oil on linen 32 × 36 ins (81.3 × 91.4 cm)

£6,750

24.

Tree Shadows, Vrsar, Croatia

Oil on linen 16 × 20 ins (40.6 × 50.8 cm)

£2,500

25.

Football in Bodrum, Turkey

Oil on linen 14 × 16 ins (35.6 × 40.6 cm)

£1,800

26.

Scooter Kids, Symi, Greek Islands Oil on linen 14 × 16 ins (35.6 × 40.6 cm)

£1,800

Andrew Macara Born 1944, Derbyshire Lives and works in Derby Awards 2014 2008 2007 1994 1986 1985 1985 1983 1973

Nottingham Open Exhibition The Worshipful Company of Painter Stainers’ Prize Won the ‘People’s Vote’ for their favourite painting in the 25th Derby Open Exhibition Lord Palumbo’s Choice at Discerning Eye Art Exhibition Brian Sewell’s Critic’s Choice at N.E.A.C. Davis Slade Medal at R.A. De Laszlo Medal at R.B.A. Bernard Dunstan’s choice at Royal Academy Exhibition Honorary Mention at Paris Salon

Selected Publications 2009 Andrew Macara, Jonathan Riley 2008 Express Yourself, Philippa Parks, Tanja Vaillancourt, Cara Webb.

Editions du Renouveau Pedagogique inc.

2003 Sociology, Ninth edition, John J. Macionis. Pearson Education 2003 The Complete Oil Painter, Brian Gorst. Quarto Publishing 2002 Society – the basics, John J Macionsi. Pearson Education 2001 The Artist’s Sketchbook, Lucy Watson. North Light books 1996 How to capture movement in your paintings, Julia Cassels.

Quarto Publishing 1996 How to paint water, Patrick Seligman. Quarto Publishing 1994 Make your paintings look three-dimensional, Brian Dunce. Quarto Publishing 1992 Weather – how to see it, how to paint it, Patricia Seligman. Quarto Publishing 1991 Hands Faces and Figures, Angela Gair. Quarto Publishing 1988 Light – how to see it, how to paint it, Lucy Willis. Quarto Publishing 1987 Tonal Painting – Discover the secrets of light, colour and form, Angela Gair.

Quarto Publishing Selected Commissions Lloyds TSB, Olympic Art programme Derby Chamber of Commerce St. John’s Ambulance Scott Bader Company Sir Anthony Bamford Emscote Lawn School, Warwick New Parliamentary Building, Westminster

JONATHAN COOPER