Christine McArthur 2014

Christine McArthur 1st – 17th April 2014

T H A C K E R AY G A L L E RY E ST. 1968

Rothko’s R A I N BOW and other paintings.

For me, every exhibition takes it own shape.

Not at first, but at some point it changes into something that has its own life and its own personality and hopefully its own magic. I have heard authors say that their characters start to dictate to them.

I have the same experience with each painting and with each group of paintings. That’s what happens. I can’t help it.

I don’t like talking about art and I hate artists’ statements even more. To me that is cold language like a manifesto or a policy. But I could tell you about each individual painting without any trouble.

About the sparky moment when it changes from being a board or canvas with paint and torn paper to something else with a life of its own.

It can happen in a second by a bit of colour or texture changing the whole course of the thing or by a piece of music I am listening to or by somebody saying something on the radio or me remembering something from the past or imagining something in the future. It is always a sharp emotional experience that changes everything. At that point there is an real urgency to work on the painting and everything else is a nuisance to me.

So, that is what each painting is about. Sheer emotion.

If that isn’t there in the work, the work is no good to me.

I destroy a lot of paintings because they don’t have it.

If this all sounds very mysterious, it is to me too, but I hope not pretentious. It is the truth.

Just think of when Peter Pan sprinkles the fairy dust and the Darling children can fly. That’s about it.

I want to feel that the paintings could fly away if they wanted to . . .

My Perfect Day acrylic on watercolour paper 15x21cms (5.5x8ins)

Plinth with Dark Fruit mixed media on board 76x76cms (30x30ins)

4

Rothko’s Rainbow mixed media on board 76x92cms (30x36ins)

6

Like Daisies, Like Sunflowers mixed media on board 100x100cms (39x39ins)

8

A Winters Picnic mixed media on board 76x92cms (30x36ins)

10

Winter Window with six Pots mixed media on board 100x100cms (39x39ins)

12

Fifteen Pears & Chrysanthemum Tea mixed media on board 76x76cms (30x30ins)

14

East Wind mixed media on board 100x100cms (39x39ins)

16

A Painting for a Quiet Person mixed media on board 75x100cms (29.5x39ins)

18

Snap II

Snap VI

oil on board

oil on board

12.5x12.5cms (5x5ins)

13.5x13.5cms (5.5x5.5ins)

Quails Eggs II acrylic on watercolour paper 15.5x15cms (6.5x6ins)

22

The Nijinsky Strawberries mixed media on board 76x92cms (30x36ins)

24

Sunflowers with two Pompom Chrysanthemums mixed media on board 76x76cms (30x30ins)

26

Strange Sun mixed media on board 76x76cms (30x30ins)

28

Hotel Luna Tulips III oil on canvas 66x66cms (26x26ins)

30

Sunflowers, Grain Rice Vase mixed media on board 100x100cms (39x39ins)

32

BIOGRAPHY Christine McArthur was born in Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow in 1953 and studied at The Glasgow School of Art between 1971 and 1976, which included a post-diploma year.

After graduating she taught and produced book illustrations until the demand for her work enabled her to paint full time. Her early work was primarily in oil and she became well known for her large scale still life paintings on canvas. In the late 1980s she began to work in oil pastel and watercolour but more recently she has reverted to oil, as well as acrylic and collage.

Christine McArthur was awarded Scottish Education Department travelling scholarships in 1975 and 1976 and was elected a member of the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts in 1990. In 1995 she was elected a member of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour. In 1997 John Lewis commissioned four large murals – each 6ft x 15ft – for the Glasgow store in 1999. In 2002 she received a commission from John Lewis for murals for the extension to their Peter Jones store, Sloane Square, London. In 2009 she resigned from the RGI and the RSW.

solo exhibitions

1994

Roger Billcliffe Fine art, Glasgow

1995

Thackeray Gallery, London

1996

Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh Roger Billcliffe Fine Art, Glasgow

1997

Courtyard Gallery, Crail

1998

Roger Billcliffe Fine Art, Glasgow

1999

John Martin of London

2000

Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow

2001

John Martin of London

2002

Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow

2003

John Martin Gallery, London

2004

Gertsev Gallery, Moscow Gertsev Gallery, Atlanta, USA Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow

2005

Lemon Street Gallery, Truro

2006

John Martin Gallery, London Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow

2007

Lemon Street Gallery, Truro New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham

1984

Peter Potter Gallery, Haddington

1986

Sue Rankin Gallery, London

1988

Sue Rankin Gallery, London

1990

Fine Art Society, Glasgow Sue Rankin Gallery, London

2008

Roger Billcliffe Gallery

1992

Portland Gallery, London Roger Billcliffe Fine Art, Glasgow

2010

Lemon Street Gallery , Truro

2011

Ainscough Gallery, London

2012

Lemon Street Gallery, Truro

2014

Thackeray Gallery, London

1993

Ancrum Gallery, Roxburgh Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh

awards S.E.D. travelling scholarship 1975, and 1976. Arts Council Award 1979, and 2004.

Glasgow Soc. of Women Artist’s Trust Fund Award, Lauder Award; R.G.I., N.S. Macfarlane Award; Alexander Graham Munro Prize, RSW.

collections include Lord Irvine of Lairg; Scottish Arts Council; Glasgow Caledonian University; Arthur Anderson; Scottish Nuclear PLC; University of Strathclyde; Amerada Hess Corporation; Craig Capital Corporation; Lillie Art Gallery, Milngavie; Argyll Group PLC; United Distillers PLC; Clydesdale Bank PLC; Macfarlane Group (Clansman) PLC; Royal Bank of Scotland PLC; Export & Import Bank of Japan; John Lewis Partnership plc (Glasgow, Nottingham, Edinburgh & Peter Jones, London); Gertsev Gallery, Moscow; Gertsev Gallery, Atlanta, USA; Pernod Ricard; Edinburgh Tapestry Company.