Works on Paper 9 September - 3 October 2015
16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6HZ +44 (0)131 558 1200 mail@scottish-gallery.co.uk www.scottish-gallery.co.uk
Introduction When David McClure died in 1998 his studio, like those of most artists of his generation, contained a selection of portfolios of drawings, gouaches, watercolours and other works on paper, many of which had not seen the light of day for many, many years. Sketches and studies mingle with exhibited works unfitted from valuable frames as having “had their day” as the artist’s work developed and his areas of interest changed. With a few exceptions, this current selection of work concentrates on a dozen or so years begins shortly before he entered Edinburgh College of Art in the late 1940s and ends shortly after the artist moved to take up a teaching post at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee in 1957, having been recruited by Alberto Morrocco who was to remain a long-term colleague and lifelong friend and who he succeeded as Head of Drawing and Painting in 1983. All works reveal an assured lyrical draughtsmanship and an instinctive feeling for colour, which he was to push to intense heights throughout his career. In the early works, as in those of, say, Elizabeth Blackadder, John Houston and Hamish Reid, his contemporaries at College, the influence of his immediate mentors may be variously detected; Gillies, Redpath and Henderson Blyth may spring to mind.
The work in this exhibition begins with his wartime experiences as a Bevin Boy in the coalmines of Fife and West Lothian in the 1940s and may have formed part of his portfolio submission to Art College and this was a theme he was to carry on there after he secured a place on the course at Edinburgh. College works from France, London and Spain are followed, after he graduated, by an interesting example from an “Artists in Industry” residency at the seemingly unpromising Shell Oil Refinery in Ardrossan in 1954. Many gouaches, sketchbooks and some oils from this survive with some powerful images forming a link with his earlier industrial work from the mines. The following year his Andrew Grant Fellowship from ECA allowed a winter painting in Millport on the Clyde and then a rather warmer year spilt between Florence and Casteldaccia near Palermo in Sicily. Here we see both directly observed landscapes, townscapes as well as still life subjects. We begin also see the artist using these observations as elements for more “abstracted” compositions produced in the studio. A small selection of later collage and mixed media works represent two important themes in the artist’s work, music and the musician and the theme of a painting on an easel. Robin McClure
Mine Interior with Props & Cables, 1946, watercolour & ink, 18 x 25 cms
Although many of McClure’s mining-themed works come from his time serving as a Bevin Boy during and after World War II, it is clear that they continued after he was discharged from service. The date recorded on this piece indicates that this may have been part of his entry portfolio for Edinburgh College of Art.
This charming drawing was drawn during a Summer painting holiday in Paris Lounge, Franco-Brittanique, 1948, pen & wash, 19 x 22 cms
The then still bustling Port of Leith, with its cargo boats, bridges, piers and dockside buildings, was the source of much material during the artist’s college days. On a study trip to London at this time, wharfs and barges on the Thames remained his principal subject matter. The Blue Hut, watercolour, 18 x 27 cms
Thames Barges Study, 1950, gouache, 18 x 22 cms
Barges on the Thames, 1951, gouache, 23.5 x 30.5 cms
Farm Buildings and Haystack, Spain, 29th July 1951, pen & ink, 26 x 35 cms
The winter of 1952/53 saw the artist’s Travelling Scholarship from Edinburgh College of Art which he undertook with his great friend, fellow student Hamish Reid. While they took in Paris briefly at the beginning and Florence at the end, most of their studies and painting was in Spain including a lengthy stay in Toledo. White Buildings, Spain, 1953, gouache, 26 x 31 cms
Spanish Village and Church II, 1953, gouache, 39 x 52 cms
This comes from the artists residency at the Shell Oil refinery in Ardrossan Oil Refinery, Ardrossan, 1954, watercolour & ink, 26 x 35 cms
Having taught part-time at Edinburgh College of Art from 1953, McClure was awarded an Andrew Grant Scholarship by the college in 1955. This afforded him a degree of financial comfort and allowed him a period as a full-time artist. David and Joyce with their eight month old son, Robin, spent several weeks during the very cold winter of 1955/56 in Millport, the only town on the island of Great Cumbrae in the Firth of Clyde, where Joyce had spent many happy childhood holidays. From our Window in Millport, 1955, pen & wash, 44 x 37 cms
The winter at Millport in 1955/56 was particularly bleak and this certainly comes across in many of the works. Perhaps too the bitterly cold conditions were partly the reason for the series of superb pen and ink drawings of the view out from their window across Millport Bay. Stormy Day from the Window, Millport, 1955, pen & wash, 46 x 57 cms
Sweep of the Bay, Millport, 1955, gouache, 46.5 x 59.5 cms
Shore and Houses, Millport, 1956, pen & wash, 38 x 55 cms
Pears with Vase, 1956, gouache, 34.5 x 49.5 cms
Teapot, Vase and Glass I, 1956, gouache, 40 x 61 cms
Following the harsh winter painting in Millport, the McClures moved with son Robin to a much warmer Florence in May 1956 where they spent six months, before moving to Sicily in November. For the artist, it was an extremely fruitful period painting townscapes of Florentine streets with their palazzi, churches and market stalls (and some still life works of market produce) as well as landscapes of the countryside and hill villages that lie around the city. Square and Church, Fiesole I, 1956, gouache, 37 x 59 cms
Stores and Houses, Bagheria, Sicily I, 1957, gouache , 46 x 63 cms
Fishing Boat, Sicily, 1957, monotype, 18 x 25 cms
This work is from a series of lithographs by senior and emerging Scottish and English artists produced by Harley Brothers in Edinburgh in the 1950s Joyce Knitting, 1958, lithograph, 23.5 x 30 cms
Fence Post and Cottages, Mull, watercolour & ink, 19 x 29 cms
The numerous music collages ran over several years in the early 1980s, often in series and most with titles drawn from Classical Music or Jazz, each according to the mood or intention in the particular piece. McClure was an enthusiastic, thoughtful and often inspired jazz pianist; habitually after an evening in the studio and usually between his second and third large Crawford’s 3 Star. White Bird and Piano, 1981, mixed media & collage, 46 x 54 cms
Girl and Piano (red), 1981, collage on card, 20.5 x 28 cms
Fantails on an Easel, pastel with collage, 58 x 75 cms
David McClure RSA RSW (1926-1998) 1926
Born in Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, son of a Scottish furniture designer and a Welsh school teacher. Educated at Queen’s Park School, Glasgow. 1943-44 Attended Glasgow University studying English and History. War service as Bevin Boy working down the mines. 1947-49 Took up studies on Fine Art Degree Course then jointly run between the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh College of Art, combining Drawing and Painting and Art History. 1949-52 Edinburgh College of Art. Switched to Painting Diploma Course to paint full time. 1950 Married in Glasgow to Joyce Flanigan. 1951 Elected member of SSA. 1952 Painting trip to Fife with wife Joyce, Anne Redpath, David Michie and Hamish Reid. 1952-53 Travelling Scholarship to France, Spain and Italy. 1953-55 Taught part time at Edinburgh College of Art. 1954 Awarded a Residency by Shell to paint their oil refinery at Ardrossan. 1955 Birth of first son Robin. 1955-57 Recipient of Andrew Grant Scholarship which led to a period of travelling and panting in Scotland, Florence and Sicily with wife Joyce and son Robin. 1955-56 Spent winter months painting in Millport, Scotland. May-Nov 1956 Lived and worked in Florence, Italy. November 1956 Moved south to Sicily where he lived and worked until May 1957.
January 1957 May 1957
1957-83 1958 1959 1963 1965 1967-69 1971 1976 1983-85 1985 1988 1990 1996 1998
First solo exhibition at Circolo di Cultura, Palermo, Sicily. Returns to Scotland Painted ceiling decorations and murals for the reconstructed King’s Room at Falkland Palace, Fife. First exhibition at The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh. Lecturer in Drawing and Painting, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee under Alberto Morrocco. Birth of daughter Paola. Birth of second son Kevin Elected ARSA. At the invitation of the Norwegian Cultural Department, spent three months living and painting with his family in an artists’ colony on the outskirts of Oslo. Elected member of RSW. President of the SSA Elected member of the RSA Commissioned by architects Wheeler and Sprossan to paint a mural for the staff common room at the University of St. Andrews. Monograph on John Maxwell published for Edinburgh University Press. Head of Painting, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee, succeeding Alberto Morrocco. Retired from teaching to paint full-time. Death of wife Joyce. Elected member of the RGI. 70th Birthday Exhibition at The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh. Died in Dundee on his 72nd birthday.
Solo Exhibitions 1957 1957 1961 1962 1965 1967 1969 1970 1975 1977 1978 1982 1983 1984 1986 1988 1989 1991 1992 1993 1994 1996 2000 2003 2014 2015
Circolo di Cultura, Palermo, Sicily The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh The Saltire Society, Edinburgh The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh University of Birmingham Loomshop Gallery, Lower Largo, Fife The Scottish Gallery (Edinburgh Festival Exhibition) Bondgate Gallery, Alnwick Loomshop Gallery, Lower Largo, Fife Haddington House, Haddington Thackeray Gallery, London The Macaulay Gallery, Stenton (Edinburgh Festival Exhibition) Fairmaid’s House Perth Dunkeld Festival of Arts Thackeray Gallery, London Fine Art Society, Edinburgh and Glasgow (40 Years Retrospective) The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh Thackeray Gallery London The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh Thackeray Gallery, London The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh (70th Birthday Exhibition) Memorial Exhibition, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh Oils and Works on Paper, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh The Art of Picture Making,The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh Works on Paper, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
Selected Collections Aberdeen Art Gallery Argyll Education Committee Bank of Scotland BBC Scotland British Rail Dundee Art Gallery Edinburgh City Art Centre Edinburgh Fund Managers The Fleming–Wyfold Art Foundation Glasgow Art Gallery Paisley Museum and Art Gallery Perth Art Gallery RSA Thorburn Ross Collection Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art Shell Petroleum Company Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne University of Birmingham University of Dundee University of Edinburgh University of St Andrews Works in numerous Private Collections including USA, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, France, Turkey, Norway, Ireland and throughout the United Kingdom.
16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6HZ +44 (0)131 558 1200 mail@scottish-gallery.co.uk www.scottish-gallery.co.uk