foreword
I would draw attention to Motion S4M-05614 lodged on the 8th february this year at the Scottish parliament by Patricia ferguson, MSP for Maryhill and supported across the political divide to the effect that George devlin is marvellous! The motion made note of his recent retrospective at the Glasgow Arts Club, his deserved reputation, the variety of his achievements and awards and his significant contribution to Scottish art, celebrated at home and internationally on the 50th anniversary of his club membership. I am pleased to add a post script: he is not finished yet. A studio visit is always a pleasure: the walls are hung three deep with canvasses still wet, drier works are stacked against the wall, a forest of easels show paintings both sides, and George works off a little of his nervous energy with a palette knife as I go around with a sheet of stickers, struggling to find anything to leave out. George is a consummate professional and as generous a spirit as one could wish to meet. His long association with The Scottish Gallery goes back to his first one-person show in 1969 (a landmark for George: somehow accepted into the establishment: robin Philipson nominated him for rSw membership and Anne redpath took him for tea) marks him out as one of our treasured six-decade exhibitors. for May 2013 we have works from all over france, paintings from the inner Hebrides, fife, the high-tops in winter and Venice. Included are a few still lifes often the result of his wife’s shopping in france. All of these paintings have the balance of intuition and consideration, the energetic mark making and assured drawing with the brush which are his trademarks. each is a window onto a different experience made permanent by a painter and philosopher we are privileged to know. Guy Peploe, 2013