Contemporary & Post-War Art 23
In this important and monumental work in Philipson’s oeuvre, the artist addresses the theme of the Great War, rather than that in which he had served himself (WW2). In his typically expressive, almost abstracted technique, Philipson positions his central figure of a red-coated Napoleonic British General holding a map. On each side he shows a WWI deserter
bound to a post and shot by firing squad. The colours recall the stained glass of the gothic cathedrals by which he was so often inspired, adding a further dimension to our interpretation of the subject’s narrative. This piece relates to his series of works in the early 1970s of Threnodies, or lamentations. The title appears at first jarringly incongruous and dismissive of the serious
subject matter, but may refer to the famous (and darkly comic) Tommies’ song: “If the Sergeant steals your rum; Never mind! If the Sergeant steals your rum; Never mind! Though he's just a blinking sot, Let him have the bloody lot, If the Sergeant steals your rum, Never mind!”
48§ HE565/1 SIR ROBIN PHILIPSON P.R.S.A., R.A., R.S.W., R.G.I. (SCOTTISH 1916-1992) NEVERMIND II 1965-84 Oil on canvas 91.5cm x 123cm (36in x 48.5in) Exhibited: ‘Festival Exhibition’, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, 1965; Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 1985; ‘Robin Philipson Retrospective’, Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh, 1989, cat. 55; ‘Sir Robin Philipson’, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, May 2012 Provenance: Private Collection, London Illustrated: Scottish War Art and Artists in the Twenieth Century’, Birlinn, Edinburgh, 2014, p.229
£10,000-15,000