MATTHEW DRAPER SOUND OF RAASAY
MATTHEW DRAPER SOUND OF RAASAY 3 – 27 April 2019
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THE CHIAROSCURO OF NATURE
La crepuscule, the twilight: the French word is from the Latin crepusculum and it has a fittingly beautiful sound to describe a beautiful moment in the day, the time of transition between light and dark whose mystery has inspired a good many artists. Whistler was not the least among them and, lacking a suitably poetic English equivalent to crepuscule, he borrowed from music instead and called his series of magical, twilight pictures, Nocturnes. Draper’s work often reminds me of Whistler. It is not that he has generally made pictures of twilight exactly, though it does feature, in this show for example in The Sound at Twilight (cat. 9), but because the mood in his pictures depends on an atmosphere which envelops the whole image. Much as Whistler dissolved Battersea Bridge, or the buildings along the far shore of the Thames in the luminous mist of his pictures, the solid mass of whatever is Matthew Draper’s ostensible subject, whether it be architecture, or mountains, also seems to dissolve into a misty, poetic unity. We see the mountains of Skye dissolve in this way in works like The Silence of the Sound (cat. 4), Windswept (cat. 7), or The Sound at Twilight (cat. 9), for instance, all inspired by the coast of Skye looking south across the Sound of Raasay towards the Cuillins from a point near the rocky pinnacles of the Storr. In these works he is already recording the drama of light moving over water as it breaks through the clouds and the corresponding shifts in the appearance and even the apparent solidity of the distant mountains. He himself describes, however, how the series of works that he had begun with such promise was interrupted by an epiphany that he underwent on the ferry across the Sound from Skye to the Isle of Raasay. On this short crossing he witnessed a drama in the sky that went on to inspire the 28 pictures that he has called the Crepuscular Rays series. In the twenty minutes of the crossing, to and fro, he produced a series of charcoal sketches, often across two pages of his sketchbook and made with great sweeping movements of his hand, not simply with the point of his charcoal but also with the side. He has then translated these sketches into a numbered series of
finished pastels. Each is also given a title, thus Illume, Crepuscular Rays no 28 (cat. 28), for instance, Cloud Burst, Crepuscular Rays no 12 (cat. 27), or Alight, Crepuscular Rays no 18 (cat. 17), but the numbering suggests the views they represent record a sequence of moments in time, even a split second indeed as in A Split Second, Crepuscular Rays no 21 (cat. 21), and, correspondingly, successive changes, both in the ever shifting light of the western skies and in the physical movement of the ferry’s transit across the water. Crepuscular Rays, Draper’s choice of title for his series, apparently takes us back to twilight and so to Whistler, but ‘crepuscular’ is the only word in English to derive from the Latin original and it is an adjective. We have no noun from that root and as an adjective it has been freed from association with a particular time of day — the half light of the day’s end or beginning. Instead ‘crepuscular’ has come to describe gloom, or half-light more generally. Because of that shift in meaning, it has been possible for meteorologists to adopt it to describe a phenomenon for which we don’t seem to have another, more ordinary word. It is that moment when with dramatic shafts of light the sun breaks through a gap in a gloomy overcast sky. These shafts of light can be so distinct and so clearly defined against the darker sky that you can imagine them more as the fingers of God than anything so prosaic, or indeed anything so diminutive as mere sunbeams. Painting the Temple of Minerva at Sunion, Hugh ‘Grecian’ Williams even made a visual analogy between these columns of light and the Doric columns of the ruined temple, thus suggesting a celestial temple in the sky and indeed the phenomenon can have that kind of grandeur. It is Constable however who provides the most interesting precedent to Matthew Draper’s new departure, inspired as it was by momentary contrasts of light and shade and of atmosphere and solid mountain, a moment indeed when the drama of the sky complemented the drama of the mountains of the west. 3
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The crepuscular rays that so moved him are a particularly grand example of what Constable called ‘the Chiaroscuro of Nature.’ His publication of a set of mezzotints in English Landscape Scenery, engraved by David Lucas, was intended to illustrate this idea more generally, but in two of the mezzotints in particular, The River Stour and Summer Morning, he describes exactly those great columns of light that have inspired Matthew Draper’s series. In Summer Morning, too, the latter of the two prints, the light shines down on the wide estuary of the River Stour beyond the little town of Dedham. When the cloud breaks and the sun shines on the sea like this, the drama is all the greater. The sun itself is screened by the clouds, but reflected on the distant sea it creates patches of brilliant light apparently isolated from the surrounding, darker water. Matthew Draper has captured this beautifully in his new series. Sometimes in these pictures, however, the light also catches the shoreline or the mountains in the same way and when it does it lifts the composition with flashes of green or gold among the prevailing blues and silvers. Thus throughout this series, there is more contrast, more ‘chiaroscuro of nature’ in fact, than has been characteristic of Draper’s work hitherto.
single hue in the eye of the beholder, or is achieved by rubbing colours together on the paper, usually with your finger. This is always a tricky business and it is why pastels come in such a wonderful array of different tints. Their variety makes less blending necessary. It is possible to some extent to layer colour, fixing and then working over the fixed surface, but it can easily go wrong. Nevertheless Matthew Draper is so much master of his medium that he can exploit its direct, physical character to the full, rubbing in and scraping off, layering and blending. Nor does he only draw with conventional, finger-sized sticks of pastel. He also uses blocks or bars big enough to fill the palm of his hand. With them held laterally, he can repeat in colour the broad gestures that he makes with charcoal in his sketches. Thus he keeps the spontaneity and breadth of his original inspiration as he works through the thrilling changes in the interplay of mountain, cloud and moving light on water. The columns of light of these crepuscular rays have a truly tangible presence, too, so much so that, almost as if they were almost solid, they can screen the mountains that lie beyond them as much as they illuminate. They are indeed a mystical architecture in the sky. Duncan Macmillan, February 2019
Constable described this chiaroscuro of nature ‘as that power which creates space; we find it everywhere and at all time in nature; opposition, union, light, shade, reflection, and refraction, all contribute to it’. All of this seems to be present in Matthew Draper’s pictures. His approach is unique, however, because of his chosen vehicle. For a long time he has worked exclusively in pastel, using it in a way and also on a scale that is unusual. Pastel is a very direct medium. In fact in a sense it is scarcely a medium at all. There is only the binding agent that holds the pigment together and no vehicle or medium like oil or water to carry, distribute or indeed mix it. In effect therefore you hold pure pigment in your hand and put it directly onto the paper. Any blending of colours has either to be optical, that is when colours put separately in the paper seem to form a 6
The body of work made for Sound of Raasay is the result of numerous visits to the Isle of Skye. My fascination with the Island started some 23 years ago when I first moved to Scotland. It was the same year the Skye Bridge was opened. For some, the bridge was a controversial scheme but, nevertheless, it offered ease of access to the Island and meant that, on my first tentative trip exploring the West Coast of Scotland, it was relatively easy to make an unplanned extension to my journey. For the first time I experienced the rugged, dramatic and varied landscape of this unique Island and regular trips have occurred year on year allowing me to further explore that particular wilderness. Although there are several areas of the Island that I regularly visit, I always make sure that on every trip I visit the Eastern side and in particular drive the coast road north of Portree and beyond the Storr. It’s from here that you travel up the length of the Sound, with views of the Islands of Raasay and Rona, beyond which are the mountain ranges of Torridon and the mainland. Looking south whilst undertaking this journey also provides spectacular views of the Red Cuillin. With the variety of potential subjects or compositions that this landscape provides and the endless possible vantage points to view the Sound, I knew this relatively small area of the highlands would provide me with more than enough inspiration to make an entire exhibition. Matthew Draper, February 2018
1. Beaming, 2018, pastel on paper, 107.5 x 120 cm 8
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2. Aglow, 2019, pastel on paper, 107 x 161.5 cm 10
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3. Advancing, 2019, pastel on paper, 35 x 48 cm 12
4. The Silence of the Sound, 2018, pastel on paper, 55 x 125 cm 13
Cò seo, cò seo, oidhche chridhe? Chan eil ach an nì do-ruighinn, an samhla a chunnaic an t-anam, Cuilitheann ag èirigh thar mara. Who is this, who is this in the night of the heart? It is the thing that is not reached, the ghost seen by the soul, a Cuillin rising over the sea. Extract from An Cuilitheann/The Cuillin by Sorley Maclean
5. At Breakneck Speed, 2018, pastel on paper, 92 x 154 cm 14
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6. Instantaneous, 2018, pastel on paper, 79 x 107.5 cm 16
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As my work evolved, I made other visits to Skye throughout 2018 and my focus fell on two areas; the first being a clifftop below The Storr where several images including The Sound at Twilight and Windswept are taken from. The second focus has developed into the largest series from the short ferry journey from Sconser to Raasay. Whilst on the boat trip in late October I witnessed a fast-moving cloud structure from which numerous shafts of light descended, both illuminating and obscuring the mountains and the water. This light travelled alongside the boat as we crossed the Sound. At points there were numerous streaks of light and at other times just a chink or an illuminated cloud or two – I attempted to record this fast moving, dramatic and ever evolving light condition in my sketch book. On my return to the studio, I immediately started to create a number of images in reaction to that experience. After witnessing such an atmospheric event during that twenty or so minute crossing, I made the Crepuscular Rays series which comprises 28 works in total. I became absorbed in the series, in particular I became fascinated in the subtle changes within the cloud structure and in turn the subtle effects this had on the land and water. It was at this point that I knew that the other vantage points, the views of the mainland and the Sound will have to wait until I attempt to make another exhibition, indeed the Sound and surrounding areas will provide enough inspiration for several years to come. Matthew Draper, February 2018
7. Windswept, 2018, pastel on paper, 89.5 x 155 cm 18
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8. Before the Deluge, a View of Raasay and Rona, 2018, pastel on paper, 17 x 35 cm 20
9. The Sound at Twilight, 2018, pastel on paper, 92 x 156 cm 21
10. For a Moment, Crepuscular Rays series no 5, 2019, pastel on paper, 20 x 24.5 cm 22
11. Light and Air, Crepuscular Rays series no 15, 2019, pastel on paper, 84 x 164.5 cm 23
12. Flickering, Crepuscular Rays series no 4, 2019, pastel on paper, 23 x 54 cm 24
13. Roaming, Crepuscular Rays series no 1, 2019, pastel on paper, 79 x 107.5 cm 25
14. In Passing, Crepuscular Rays series no 10, 2019, pastel on paper, 36 x 45 cm 26
15. Descending, Crepuscular Rays series no 23, 2019, pastel on paper, 35.5 x 50 cm 27
16. Shimmering, Crepuscular Rays series no 9, 2019, pastel on paper, 23 x 33 cm 28
17. Alight, Crepuscular Rays series no 18, 2019, pastel on paper, 64 x 125 cm 29
18. Cloud Break, Crepuscular Rays series no 13, 2019, pastel on paper, 43.5 x 70 cm 30
19. Rapid, Crepuscular Rays series no 26, 2019, pastel on paper, 58.5 x 75 cm 31
20. Advancing Light, Crepuscular Rays series no 3, 2019, pastel on paper, 38 x 58.5 cm 32
21. For A Split Second, Crepuscular Rays series no 21, 2019, pastel on paper, 39 x 57 cm 33
22. A Chink of Light, Crepuscular Rays series no 17, 2019, pastel on paper, 22 x 29 cm 34
23. Streaming, Crepuscular Rays series no 6, 2019, pastel on paper, 22 x 29 cm
24. Accelerate, Crepuscular Rays series no 27, 2019, pastel on paper, 30 x 49.5 cm 35
25. Fleeting, Crepuscular Rays series no 25, 2019, pastel on paper, 30.5 x 50.5 cm 36
26. Sweeping, Crepuscular Rays series no 2, 2019, pastel on paper, 79 x 107.5 cm 37
27. Cloud Burst, Crepuscular Rays series no 12, 2019, pastel on paper, 79 x 107.5 cm 38
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28. Illume, Crepuscular Rays series no 28, 2019, pastel on paper, 16 x 23.5 cm 40
29. Veil, Crepuscular Rays series no 22, 2019, pastel on paper, 14 x 24.5 cm
30. Enveloped, Crepuscular Rays series no 8, 2019, pastel on paper, 42.5 x 57.5 cm 41
31. Momentum, Crepuscular Rays series no 16, 2019, pastel on paper, 24.5 x 40 cm 42
32. Flooded, Crepuscular Rays series no 14, 2019, pastel on paper, 32 x 52 cm 43
33. In an Instant, Crepuscular Rays series no 24, 2019, pastel on paper, 27.5 x 40 cm 44
34. Tumbling Light, Crepuscular Rays series no 20, 2019, pastel on paper, 79 x 107.5 cm 45
INDEX 1. Beaming 2018, 107.5 x 120 cm
2. Aglow 2019, 107 x 161.5 cm
3. Advancing 2019, 35 x 48 cm
4. The Silence of the Sound 2018, 55 x 125 cm
5. At Breakneck Speed 2018, 92 x 154 cm
6. Instantaneous 2018, 79 x 107.5 cm
7. Windswept 2018, 89.5 x 155 cm
8. Before the Deluge, a View of Raasay and Rona 2018, 17 x 35 cm
9. The Sound at Twilight 2018, 92 x 156 cm
10. For a Moment Crepuscular Rays series no 5, 2019, 20 x 24.5 cm
11. Light and Air Crepuscular Rays series no 15, 2019, 84 x 164.5 cm
12. Flickering Crepuscular Rays series no 4, 2019, 23 x 54 cm
13. Roaming Crepuscular Rays series no 1, 2019, 79 x 107.5 cm
14. In Passing Crepuscular Rays series no 10, 2019, 36 x 45 cm
15. Descending Crepuscular Rays series no 23, 2019, 35.5 x 50 cm
16. Shimmering Crepuscular Rays series no 9, 2019, 23 x 33 cm
17. Alight Crepuscular Rays series no 18, 2019, 64 x 125 cm
18. Cloud Break Crepuscular Rays series no 13, 2019, 43.5 x 70 cm
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19. Rapid Crepuscular Rays series no 26, 2019, 58.5 x 75 cm
20. Advancing Light Crepuscular Rays series no 3, 2019, 38 x 58.5 cm
21. For A Split Second Crepuscular Rays series no 21, 2019, 39 x 57 cm
22. A Chink of Light Crepuscular Rays series no 17, 2019, 22 x 29 cm
23. Streaming Crepuscular Rays series no 6, 2019, 22 x 29 cm
24. Accelerate Crepuscular Rays series no 27, 2019, 30 x 49.5 cm
25. Fleeting Crepuscular Rays series no 25, 2019, 30.5 x 50.5 cm
26. Sweeping Crepuscular Rays series no 2, 2019, 79 x 107.5 cm
27. Cloud Burst Crepuscular Rays series no 12, 2019, 79 x 107.5 cm
28. Illume Crepuscular Rays series no 28, 2019, 16 x 23.5 cm
29. Veil Crepuscular Rays series no 22, 2019, 14 x 24.5 cm
30. Enveloped Crepuscular Rays series no 8, 2019, 42.5 x 57.5 cm
31. Momentum Crepuscular Rays series no 16, 2019, 24.5 x 40 cm
32. Flooded Crepuscular Rays series no 14, 2019, 32 x 52 cm
33. In an Instant Crepuscular Rays series no 24, 2019, 27.5 x 40 cm
34. Tumbling Light Crepuscular Rays series no 20, 2019, 79 x 107.5 cm
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MATTHEW DRAPER 1973 1991–92 1992–95 AWARDS 2019 2018 2018 2016 2016 2016 2015 2013 2012 2011 2011 2011 2010 2010 2010 2010 2009 2008 2007
Born Stone, Staffordshire Walsall College of Art Falmouth College of Arts BA(hons) Fine Art
2007
Scottish Arts Club Award, SSA, Edinburgh Elected Professional Member SSA Royal Tallens Rembrandt Award, The Pastel Society, Mall Galleries, London The Artist Magazine Award, Pastel Society, Mall Galleries, London Charles Pears Award, Royal Society of Marine Artists, Mall Galleries, London Elected Professional Member VAS Henry Roche Award, Pastel Society, Mall Galleries, London Orrin Trust Award, National Open Art Exhibition, Royal College of Art, London, Touring the UK Pan Pastels Award, Pastel Society, Mall Galleries, London Visitors Choice Award, National Art Open Exhibition, Chichester, Touring the UK Regional Prize, National Open Art Exhibition, Chichester, Touring the UK Elected member of The Pastel Society UK, Federation of British Artists, Mall Galleries, London City of Glasgow Prize, The Royal Glasgow Institute of The Fine Arts Buzzacot Award, Pastel Society, Mall Galleries, London Annie Longley Memorial Award, Pastel Society, Mall Galleries, London Connell and Connell Prize, Scottish Society of Artists, The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh The Scottish Gallery Award, Visual Arts Scotland, City Arts Centre, Edinburgh Shell Premier Award, Aberdeen Artists, Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums Chairman’s Purchase Prize, Discerning Eye Exhibition, London
2004 2004 2002 2001 2000
2006 2006
Anthony J Lester Art Critic Award, Pastel Society, Mall Galleries, London John Murray Thomson Award, The Royal Scottish Academy Cross Gate Gallery Award, Kentucky USA Pastel Society, Mall Galleries, London Contemporary Fine Art Gallery Award, Paisley Art Institute Most popular work in the exhibition, Hunting Art prizes City of Glasgow Prize, The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts Commendation Aberdeen Artists Society Alexander Graham Munro Travel Award, The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour
SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2017 Small Works, Fidra Fine Art, North Berwick 2016 Amongst The Clouds, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh 2015 From Metropolis to Wilderness, Lemon Street Gallery, Truro 2014 Eilean a Cheo, Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh 2013 Northern Light, Lemon Street Gallery, Truro 2012 Time Lapse, Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh 2011 New Pastels, Beaux Arts, Bath 2010 Festival Exhibition, Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh 2009 Nocturnes, Beaux Arts, Bath 2009 In Series, Lemon Street Gallery, Truro 2008 Luminism, Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh 2007 January Light, Lemon Street Gallery, Truro 2006 Time and Place, Beaux Arts, Bath 2006 Seven Hills, Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh 2005 Nostalgia, Lemon Street Gallery, Truro 2004 Panorama, Beaux Arts, Bath 2004 Old Town, Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh 2002 Atmosphere and Twilight, Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh 2000 Night Life, Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh 1999 The Reynolds Gallery, Edinburgh
right: Light and Air, Crepuscular Rays series no 15, 2019, pastel on paper, 84 x 164.5 cm (cat. 11) (detail) 48
COLLECTIONS Bank of Scotland Huawei corporation, Hong Kong Art in Healthcare Baillie Gifford City of Edinburgh, City Art Centre, Jean F Watson Bequest Fund Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow Canford School The Edinburgh Academy Paintings in Hospitals, Scotland Turcan Connell, Edinburgh and London Dundas Global Investors Walter Scott & Partners Limited Premier Property Group, Edinburgh Morton Fraser, Edinburgh Various Private Collections: Australia, China, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Canada, Europe and the USA Commissioned by The Morton Street Gallery London, for the Caledonian Hotel, Edinburgh
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 2015 BBC Radio Cornwall 2011 The Artist, Ken Gofton 2010 ‘Review of Edinburgh Festival Exhibitions’, The Scotsman, Duncan Macmillan 2010 ‘Review of the SSA 113th Annual Exhibition’, The Times, Giles Sutherland 2006 ‘Exhibition Review’, UK Metro, Anna Britten 2004 ‘Bright Prospect for a Painter Inspired by the Twilight Zone’, Edward Black, The Scotsman 2002 ‘Taking the Traditional Route to an Imaginative Auld Reekie’, Exhibition Review by Iain Gale, Scotland on Sunday 2001 Sunday Telegraph Review 2001 ‘What Can You Hear’, Duncan Macmillan, Business AM 2000 Interview with Brian Morton, BBC Radio Scotland 1999 ‘Seven Days’, Scottish Television
Published by The Scottish Gallery to coincide with the exhibition MATTHEW DRAPER Sound of Raasay 3 – 27 April 2019 Exhibition can be viewed online at www.scottish-gallery.co.uk/matthewdraper ISBN: 978-1-910267-98-1 Designed by Kenneth Gray Photography by John McKenzie and Graham Clark Printed by Barr Colour Printers All rights reserved. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced in any form by print, photocopy or by any other means, without the permission of the copyright holders and of the publishers.
cover: Windswept, 2018, pastel on paper, 89.5 x 155 cm (cat. 7) (detail) inside front cover: Southern Part of the Sound of Raasay and Inner Sound inside back cover: Narrows of Raasay and Caol More maps reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland 52