JHBA_ExhibitionCatalogue_Erskine_FINAL

En plein air AN EXHIBITION OF WORKS BY

ALISTAIR ERSKINE

En plein air AN EXHIBITION OF WORKS BY

ALISTAIR ERSKINE (B.1959) All works are available to purchase from this catalogue Exhibition: 7th – 15th October Monday to Friday: 10am – 6pm Saturday: 11am – 4pm Any other time by appointment

15 Langton Street, Chelsea, London SW10 0JL E: james@jhba.co.uk | W: jamesharveybritishart.com | T: +44 (0)20 7 352 0015

2

1

B

orn in 1959 ALISTAIR JOHN ERSKINE has

of colour through tonal planning and outline.

spent his working life as a freelance decorative

When attempting to convey the poetry of nature

artist. Working on a wide range of conventional and

through painting he has a scientific or analytical

contemporary projects, he has worked alongside many

approach, a mindset perhaps initiated by the

internationally renowned designers such as Dudley

typographic design course where analysis of visual

Poplak, Veere Grenney, Gabhan O’Keeffe, David

language was central. “I discovered that colour

Laws, Guy Oliver, Colefax & Fowler, Sophie Stonor,

interest was relative or interactive. By working swiftly

Nina Campbell, Nicholas Haslam, and Christophe

and with painterly extraction, I try to capture fleeting

Gollut. The Gallery is delighted to be presenting his

interaction of colour with colour and with light and

first solo exhibition in October in which he will be

composition. I aim for unaffected freshness.”

showing a group of pictures that represent a period of work from 1979 to the present day all being seen for the first time.

“In my land and seascape paintings, always done ‘en plein air’, I try to convey mood or sense of place”.

Although human form plays little or no part in his

Brought up in Dorset and Hampshire much of

paintings, he is conscious that landscape without

Alistair’s inspiration comes from his travels on family

reference to human habitation can lose meaning,

holidays in the West Country, East Anglia, France

so buildings or other simple man-made effects are

and Scotland. Although not religious himself, his

usually included in composition however simply

family background has connections with the Scottish

expressed. Alongside his land and seascapes, his

Episcopal and Anglican churches and it is perhaps

still life paintings have a wonderfully direct quality.

not surprising that John Constable’s simple ‘rapture

They are perhaps a little more highly worked than

before nature’ and pantheistic viewpoint, seems to

his landscapes but still retain the ‘moment’ of

resonate with his own motivation. He is most drawn

observation and in this discipline he is conscious of

to working as directly as possible from nature – as

not overworking his subject and staying true to his

Wordsworth described his desire to capture visual

‘en plein air’ technique. This skill is carried through

beauty that has ‘no need of a remoter charm by

his charming and very intimate watercolours

thought supplied’.

and drawings.

Inspired by the ‘en plein air’ oil sketches of Constable, Corot, Frederic Leighton and William Nicholson his

Front cover: Regatta at Salcombe (page 2)

own work also has links to the Scottish colourists

Back cover: Walker’s Hill, Alton Barnes,

sharing their interest in their more intense extraction

Wiltshire (page 6)

2

Regatta at Salcombe. Signed. Dated ‘04. Inscribed Verso. Oil on Board. 23 x 30 cm

3

The Ferry, Salcombe. Signed. Dated ‘06. Inscribed Verso. Oil on Board. 15.5 x 24.5 cm

4

The Long Stone, Butter Cove, Thurlestone Signed. Dated ‘06. Inscribed Verso.

Oil on Board. 14.5 x 23 cm

From Broadsands, Thurlestone Signed. Dated ‘07. Inscribed Verso.

Oil on Board. 24 x 31.5 cm

5

Bosham Quay. Signed. Dated ‘89. Oil on Canvas. 36 x 51 cm

6

Coastal Path, Noss Mayo Signed. Dated ‘08. Inscribed Verso.

Oil on Board. 18 x 24 cm

Walker’s Hill, Alton Barnes, Wiltshire Signed. Dated ‘98. Inscribed Verso.

Oil on Board. 30 x 40.5 cm

7

Loam Castle, Thurlestone Signed. Dated ‘06. Inscribed Verso.

Oil on Board. 15 x 23 cm

Marsh Court River Signed. Dated ‘10. Inscribed Verso.

Oil on Board. 17 x 24.5 cm

8

Daffodils Signed. Dated ‘10.

Oil on Board. 29.5 x 34.5 cm

Still Life with Freisias Signed. Dated ‘98.

Oil on Board. 19 x 24 cm

9

Montana

Still Life with Pink, White and Red Roses

Signed. Dated ‘07.

Signed. Dated ‘06.

Oil on Board. 32.5 x 30.5 cm

Oil on Board. 36 x 30.5 cm

10

Dittisham Signed. Dated ‘98.

Oil on Board. 24 x 30 cm

The Old Boathouse, Bantham Signed. Dated ‘06. Inscribed Verso.

Oil on Board. 20 x 25.5 cm

11

Bantham Estuary. Signed. Dated ‘03. Oil on Board. 23 x 30 cm

12

Montségur, Ariège Signed. Dated ‘07. Inscribed Verso.

Oil on Board. 20.5 x 25.5 cm

Moulin Huet, Guernsey Signed. Dated ‘84. Inscribed Verso.

Oil on Board. 13 x 18 cm

13

River Carron Signed. Dated ‘04. Inscribed Verso.

Oil on Board. 20 x 26.5 cm

Seascape at Mothecombe, Devon Signed. Dated ‘98.

Oil on Board. 22 x 30 cm

14

The Lake at Thenford Signed. Dated ‘91. Inscribed Verso.

Watercolour on Paper. 17 x 27 cm

Across the ‘Bag’ at Bosham Signed. Dated ‘88. Inscribed Verso.

Watercolour on Paper. 17 x 23 cm

15

Still Life with Cornflowers. Signed. Dated ‘05. Oil on Board. 44.5 x 36.5 cm

16

Ribebon, St Aulaye, Dordogne Signed. Dated ‘87. Inscribed Verso.

Oil on Board. 30 x 41 cm

Nivelle, Dordogne Signed. Dated ‘99.

Oil on Board. 30.5 x 40.5 cm

17

The Dordogne near Pessac Signed. Dated ‘07. Inscribed Verso.

Oil on Board. 18 x 25.5 cm

Fields Near Little Cheverell Signed. Dated ‘92.

Oil on Board. 21 x 29.5 cm

18

The Oceanographic Museum, Monaco Signed. Dated ‘93. Inscribed Verso.

Watercolour on Paper. 12.5 x 18.5 cm

Ghajn Tuffieha Bay, Malta Signed. Inscribed Verso.

Watercolour on Paper. 10 x 15 cm

19

Top left: The Hallway, Friars Well Signed. Dated ‘88. Inscribed.

Pen and Ink on Paper. 20 x 15 cm Top right: Still Life with Biscuit Barrel Signed. Dated ‘02.

Watercolour on Paper. 17 x 14 cm Below right: Still Life with Apples and Grapefruit Signed. Dated ‘06.

Watercolour on Paper. 14 x 17.5 cm

20

View from Dizard, Pessac-sur-Dordogne Signed. Dated ‘07.

Oil on Board. 27 x 34.5 cm

View from South Bank with HMS Wellington Signed. Dated ‘04. Inscribed Verso.

Oil on Board. 22 x 30 cm

21

Fishing on the River Test at Longstock. Signed. Dated ‘05. Inscribed Verso. Oil on Board. 30 x 40.5 cm

22

On Wandsworth Common

In the Garden, 58 Ravenslea Road

Signed. Dated ‘88. Inscribed Verso.

Signed. Dated ‘93.

Oil on Board. 21 x 15 cm

Watercolour on Paper. 19.5 x 13.5 cm

23

On the Banks of The Dordogne, Pessac

Poplars at Nivelle

Signed. Dated ‘07.

Signed. Dated ‘97.

Oil on Board. 30.5 x 25.5 cm

Oil on Board. 28 x 25 cm

24

Looking towards Poole from Studland Signed. Dated ‘99. Inscribed Verso.

Oil on Canvas. 25.5 x 35.5 cm

Near Pessac-sur-Dordogne Signed. Dated ‘07. Inscribed Verso.

Oil on Board. 30.5 x 41 cm

25

Low Tide at Studland Signed. Dated ‘95. Inscribed Verso.

Oil on Board. 16 x 22.5 cm

Mothecombe Beach at Low Tide Signed. Dated ‘06.

Oil on Board. 28 x 35 cm

26

Welsh Landscape Signed. Dated ‘96.

Oil on Board. 22 x 30 cm

View over St Enedoc, Cornwall Signed. Dated ‘95.

Oil on Board. 20 x 29 cm

27

Mushrooms. Signed. Dated ‘07. Oil on Board. 36.5 x 44.5 cm

28

Coast near Bawdsey, Suffolk Signed. Dated ‘98. Inscribed Verso.

Oil on Board. 30 x 40 cm

By the Walnut Orchard, Dordogne Signed. Dated ‘07.

Oil on Board. 31 x 40 cm

29

Windsor Castle from the Brocas Signed. Dated ‘86. Inscribed Verso.

Oil on Board. 11.5 x 15 cm

Windsor Castle from the Brocas in Autumn Signed. Dated ‘93.

Oil on Board. 15 x 21 cm

30

Cliffs at Bawdsey, Suffolk Signed. Dated ‘98. Inscribed Verso.

Oil on Board. 30 x 40.5 cm

Cherry Trees Signed. Dated ‘07.

Oil on Board. 20 x 25.5 cm

PRICES Page Title

Price

Page Title

Price

2

Regatta at Salcombe

£1750

17

Fields Near Little Cheverell

£860

3

The Ferry, Salcombe

£2100

18

Ghajn Tuffieha Bay, Malta

£220

4

From Broadsands, Thurlestone

£1500

18

The Oceanographic Museum, Monaco

£500

4

The Long Stone, Butter Cove, Thurlestone

£950

19

Still Life with Apples and Grapefruit

£300

5

Bosham Quay

£2500

19

Still Life with Biscuit Barrel

£300

6

Coastal Path, Noss Mayo

£580

19

The Hallway, Friars Well

£400

6

Walker’s Hill, Alton Barnes, Wiltshire

£1100

20

View from Dizard, Pessac-sur-Dordogne

£1100

7

Loam Castle, Thurlestone

£720

20

View from South Bank with HMS Wellington

£850

7

Marsh Court River

£950

21

Fishing on the River Test at Longstock

£1800

8

Daffodils

£1200

22

In the Garden, 58 Ravenslea Road

£420

8

Still Life with Freisias

£950

22

On Wandsworth Common

£700

9

Montana

£1400

23

On the Banks of The Dordogne, Pessac

£1100

9

Still Life with Pink, White and Red Roses

£1750

23

Poplars at Nivelle

£750

10

Dittisham

£1300

24

Near Pessac-sur-Dordogne

£1400

10

The Old Boathouse, Bantham

£950

24

Looking towards Poole from Studland

£1750

11

Bantham Estuary

£1850

25

Low Tide at Studland

£720

12

Montségur, Ariège

£580

25

Mothecombe Beach at Low Tide

£720

12

Moulin Huet, Guernsey

£500

26

View over St Enedoc, Cornwall

£640

13

River Carron

£980

26

Welsh Landscape

£640

13

Seascape at Mothecombe, Devon

£980

27

Mushrooms

£2500

14

Across the ‘Bag’ at Bosham

£950

28

By the Walnut Orchard, Dordogne

£1100

14

The Lake at Thenford

£950

28

Coast near Bawdsey, Suffolk

£1300

15

Still Life with Cornflowers

£4000

29

Windsor Castle from the Brocas in Autumn

£950

16

Nivelle, Dordogne

£1300

29

Windsor Castle from the Brocas

£520

16

Ribebon, St Aulaye, Dordogne

£1100

30

Cliffs at Bawdsey, Suffolk

£1400

17

The Dordogne near Pessac

£700

30

Cherry Trees

£1100

15 Langton Street, Chelsea, London SW10 0JL E: james@jhba.co.uk | W: jamesharveybritishart.com | T: +44 (0)20 7 352 0015