Ewan McClure | Gravity and Light

EWAN MCCLURE GRAVITY AND LIGHT 29 JUNE – 20 JULY 2019

cover Still Life with Apparition, 2019, oil on board, 61 x 92 cm (cat. 35) (detail) inside front cover 1. We Three, 2018, oil on board, 35 x 61 cm (detail)

G R AV I T Y A N D L I G H T Is it possible to have charisma and be modest at the same time?

To Pastures New (Aberdeen Art Gallery) given new life, but explicitly

The paintings of Ewan McClure are bravura performances, they have

as an object. The artist’s obsession with geometry, as a tool to harness

extraordinary physical presence, they arrest and beguile. But at the

the chaos of nature into significant form, is playfully expressed in a

same time, they have a dignity: there is nothing showy nor flash: they

series of small paintings (to be hung together) of still life seen through

are Sargent not Boldini, Corot not Monticelli, William Nicholson not

apertures of cut-out geometric shapes in Here’s Looking at Euclid

Matthew Smith. If he was a tenor his singing would be modulated,

(cat. 31). His model’s brilliant smile, as she pins up her hair in a

communicating all the emotion of his song without forcing the notes,

Hammershøi interior, in Preparations (cat. 27) asks “do you really want

without excessive vibrato. This is nowhere more apparent than in his

to make a painting of this you mad boy?” Throughout McClure seeks to

landscapes, modest in scale, subjects cogently unconventional: the

add an element, to surprise, distract and occasionally disquiet. In Still Life

rooftops of Stockholm, rockpools, white hulls in dark harbours, summer

with Apparition (cat. 35) another beautiful composition sits on a table,

houses that make you want to approach carefully and peep in the

rich drapes lending theatricality. But leaning over the edge of the table-

windows. In the studio he applies the intellectual rigour required to set

top is an object, bending: can it be the knife of still life convention?

up his composition, sometimes conventionally beautiful, sometimes

It must be a wristwatch. Behind, the apparition is the artist’s self-portrait

deliberately playful. Then it is the paint itself which leads, a creamy

– disturbingly off-centre in the painted drapery oval, is it a real reflection

enamel-like vehicle, swept in with confident gestures – high tariff

or a painting of a painting?

painting – alla prima, allowing no opportunity for improvement over the first exhalation.

McClure is not a new artist but rather one who has honed his skills and sought new subjects and inspiration, quietly building his reputation and

In Studio Shelf (cat. 49) eight vessels are arranged across the picture

repertoire over the years. He was a student at Gray’s School of Art

space, from black to white, from polished stainless steel to the lustre

in the late nineties where Gordon Bryce, another brilliant technician,

of earthenware, the luscious paint suggests form without slavishly

was an inspiration. Along the way he has gathered many accolades and

modelling while the sumptuous rose-heads suggest a sense of smell;

collectors and his participation in the BP Portrait Award has brought him

another sense satisfied. Elsewhere Guthrie’s Goose (cat. 50) emerges into

considerable national attention. But he remains an enigma: a generous

the light source, a taxidermy model for the iconic Guthrie painting

didact (as is clear on his webpages), an easel painter who has largely

left: Ewan McClure photographed by Vilja-Louise Skough Åborn 3

escaped a conventional career of regular one-person exhibitions, a painter deeply connected to the history of belle peinture but for whom the academy is anathema. Is it worthwhile trying to pin what might be Scottish in his work, whether he fits in a tradition of Scottish painting?

If he recalls any single Scottish painter it is Samuel John Peploe, in his early period: the given of brilliant draughtsmanship, the understanding and respect for the medium, the confidence to eschew the conventional but without relying on contrivance. Otherwise McClure is his own man, harnessing the concept of beauty to achieve psychological insight.

I met him in his studio at Cockenzie House two years ago to discuss this exhibition, a restless creative then grounded by the inspiration of a muse, his Swedish partner and musician Vilja-Louise Skough Åborn. An intense group of portraits had emerged, but the studio residence had come to an end: a summer in Sweden would precede an uncertain future.

When he secured the invitation to occupy Hornel’s studio at Broughton House in Kirkcudbright in October of last year, everything fell into alignment: a generous, custom-built studio space with light from the north and time to work, in an environment inhabited by the benign ghost of the great Glasgow Boy, a place for the couple to let their two deerhound lurchers run, with new friends and new opportunities. The work somehow contains all that life and optimism, a creative outpouring, shorn of anxiety but critically hard won, a defining characteristic in McClure’s oeuvre. I urge all to look closely and reap the rewards.

Guy Peploe, May 2019

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2. Self-Portrait, 2019, oil on board, 40 x 30 cm 5

W H AT T O PA I N T More and more, my choice of subject is determined by what I foresee will be a delight to paint. From the endless richness of the visible world, ďŹ ltered by personal whim and by the example of past practitioners, I select or contrive a motif that feels inherently made for oils.

Experience recommends tangible forms, controlled colour and a carefully deďŹ ned play of light.

Ewan McClure, May 2019

3. The Move, 2018, oil on board, 61 x 92 cm 6

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4. The White Jug, 2018, oil on board, 22 x 37 cm 8

5. Tearoom, 2019, oil on board, 60 x 80 cm 9

6. The Last News Stand, 2019, oil on canvas, 123 x 92 cm 10

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SUMMER IN SWEDEN My Swedish plein-air painting represents an urgent return to productivity after a quiet period of settling in to my new life abroad.

Visiting Sweden’s rocky west coast during my partner’s concert tour, I relished the interplay between the familiar coastal topography and the particular clear light and wooden architecture of rural Sweden.

During subsequent forays outdoors with the easel, I have been exploring the archipelago island of Fjäderholmarna, and tackling views from the rooftop of our apartment in Stockholm’s old town.

Ewan McClure, May 2019

7. Swedish Summer, 2017, oil on board, 20 x 30 cm 12

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8. Verdigris and Ochre, 2018, oil on board, 36 x 46 cm 14

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9. Southside at Dusk, Stockholm, 2018, oil on canvas, 36 x 54 cm 16

10. Stockholm Cloudscape, 2018, oil on paper, 27 x 35 cm 17

11. Sรถdermalm, 2018, oil on canvas, 28 x 54 cm 18

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12. Up on the Roof, 2018, oil on canvas, 35 x 54 cm 20

13. Rooftops, Gamla Stan, 2018, oil on canvas, 36 x 53 cm 21

14. Sea Breeze, Swedish West Coast, 2017, oil on board, 13 x 41 cm 15. Rock Pools in Sun, 2018, oil on canvas, 24 x 36 cm 22

16. November Sun, Fjäderholmarna, 2018, oil on canvas, 25 x 44 cm 23

17. On the Swedish Archipelago, 2018, oil on canvas, 35 x 52 cm 24

18. Lichen Rocks, 2018, oil on board, 26 x 36 cm 25

19. Coastal Sketch, 2018, oil on canvas, 32 x 50 cm 26

20. Deep Blue Shallows, 2018, oil on canvas, 33 x 49 cm 27

21. Stockholm Harbour, 2018, oil on canvas, 34 x 45 cm 28

22. Anchored, 2018, oil on canvas, 36 x 47 cm 29

23. Evening Light, Stockholm Old Town, 2018, oil on paper, 23 x 36 cm 30

24. Fjäderholmarna, 2018, oil on canvas, 50 x 35 cm 31

25. Heavy Weather, Stockholm, 2018, oil on canvas, 29 x 53 cm 32

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THE MUSE I need hardly explain what compels me to paint my wonderful other half Vilja-Louise. She has a timeless beauty and grace, and an endlessly compelling range of mood and expression. To my admittedly partial eye, she is a living reminder of the pantheon of Western art.

Ewan McClure, May 2019

26. Composite, 2018, oil on board, 200 x 150 cm 34

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27. Preparations, 2018, oil on board, 58 x 79 cm 36

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28. Vilja-Louise Incognito, 2018, oil on board, 109 x 63 cm

29. Vilja-Louise in Profile, 2018, oil on canvas, 74 x 49 cm 39

30. Drama School, 2019, oil on board, 74 x 74 cm 40

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A STILL-LIFE OBSESSION To the casual observer, a still-life painter’s workday involves a surprising amount of arbitrary juggling with bric-a-brac. But amid the trial-anderror process of setting up; principles of harmony and order are dimly suggesting themselves to the painter – there to be obeyed or defied.

As an idea finally crystallises, every passage of space and form is understood to relate to every other, and the channelled excitement of painting can begin.

Ewan McClure, May 2019

31. Here’s Looking at Euclid, 2011, oil on board, 100 x 130 cm 42

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32. Roses I, 2019, oil on board, 39 x 33 cm 44

33. Roses II, 2019, oil on canvas, 40 x 33 cm 45

34. Fast and Loose, 2019, oil on board, 61 x 92 cm 46

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35. Still Life with Apparition, 2019, oil on board, 61 x 92 cm 48

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36. Dutch Loaf, 2018, oil on board, 33 x 41 cm 50

37. Late Quartet, 2018, oil on board, 35 x 60 cm 51

38. Baker’s Cloth, 2018, oil on canvas, 33 x 42 cm 52

39. Assembly, 2018, oil on canvas, 35 x 61 cm 53

PEOPLE AND PLACES The lessons I’m continually learning from portrait painting inform everything else I do. In order to convey the illusion of individual character and particular interior states, my sole concern is to render the colour before me; the play of light on form.

Likewise, as every landscape painter discovers, all those particularities of place, climate and time of day helplessly inhabit the general configurations of colour that the eye perceives. For me, this elementary point bears repeating, and is most intriguingly demonstrated when those colours are equally recognisable as brush marks on canvas.

Ewan McClure, May 2019

40. J.B.’s Doppelganger, Michael Wildman, Photographer, 2015, oil on board, 42 x 32 cm 54

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41. Self Study, 2018, oil on canvas, 23 x 32 cm 56

42. White House, Civita, 2015, oil on paper, 21 x 22 cm 57

43. Lake District, Bassenthwaite, 2018, oil on paper, 22 x 32 cm 58

44. Field Work, 2019, oil on board, 25 x 32 cm 59

I N T E R I O R S PA C E S Broughton House Studio has afforded me the space to work on larger canvases and gain greater control of my arrangements under the steady natural light. Building large, shadow box contexts for my arrangements, and contriving the fall of light into the shallow space to relate to the conďŹ nes of the picture frame, I have sought a more palpable illusion of forms in space.

Ewan McClure, May 2019

45. Double Decker, 2019, oil on canvas, 123 x 92 cm 60

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46. Mirror Tilts, 2019, oil on paper, 112 x 88 cm 62

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47. Shelf Portrait, 2017, oil on board, 60 x 46 cm 64

48. Summit, 2019, oil on canvas, 123 x 92 cm

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49. Studio Shelf, 2019, oil on canvas, 51 x 76 cm (detail opposite) 67

50. Guthrie’s Goose, 2018, oil on canvas, 51 x 77 cm 68

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E WA N M C C L U R E BORN 1975 EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS 1997 B.A. (Hons.), Gray’s School of Art SCHOLARSHIPS AND AWARDS 2018/2019 Broughton House, Artist-in-Residence, Kirkcudbright 2017 Scottish Portrait Award Commendation 2013 Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year, Finalist 2008 Glasgow Art Club Fellowship Award 1999 Artists’ Pad Painting Prize 1997 Deveron Arts, Artist-in-Residence, Huntly 1997, 1998 Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant (Montreal) and 2000 SELECTED COLLECTIONS Royal Scottish Academy Robert Fleming Holdings Ltd Princeton Theological Seminary The University of Edinburgh PUBLICATIONS Troubleshooting features, Artists and Illustrators magazine, March, April, May 2013 ‘Easel Words’, The Jackdaw, Sept, Oct 2013 ‘Artist-in-Residence’, Scotland magazine, Issue 91 SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2018 Artist and Muse, Castlegate House Gallery, Cockermouth 2012 Recent Work, Mill on the Fleet, Gatehouse 2008 An Encounter with Hornel, Broughton House, Kirkcudbright 2001 Housemates, Artists Gallery, Aberdeen 2001 Housemates, Orchardton House by Castle Douglas 1999 Windows, Artists Gallery, Aberdeen 1998 Northern Light, Italian Sunlight, Duff House, Banff 1996 Former Pupil, St. Machar Academy, Aberdeen

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SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2013 Sky Arts Portrait Artist Finalists, National Portrait Gallery, London 2013 BP Portrait Award, National Portrait Gallery, London 2011 Christmas Exhibition, Resipole at the Drey, Suffolk 2011 Spring Fling, Gracefield Art Centre, Dumfries 2011 February Show, Art Exposure, Glasgow 2010 Five Group Show, Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow 2010 Spring Exhibition, Glasgow Art Club 2009 Impressions of Galloway, McGill Duncan Gallery, Castle Douglas 2007 Still Life, Red Barn, Melkinthorpe, Cumbria 2007 Three Men in a Boat, The Whitehouse, Kirkcudbright 2006 Summer Exhibition, The Whitehouse Kirkcudbright 2006 Enchanted Summer, Drumoak, Aberdeenshire 2005 A Galloway Gathering, Red Barn, Melkinthorpe, Cumbria 2003 Face to Face, Gracefield, Dumfries 2001 Dinner Party – The Next Course, Riverside Gallery, Stonehaven 2001 June Exhibition, Galerie du Bois d’Amour, Pont Aven, Brittany 1999/2002 Gray’s Former Students’ Club, Aberdeen Art Gallery 1997 The Three Degrees, Battlehill Lodge, Huntly 1996 Selected Student Show, His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen JURIED 2015 RP Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London 2013 Visual Arts Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh 2013 RSA Open Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh 2010 RSA Open Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh 2009 Royal Glasgow Institute, The Mitchell Library, Glasgow 2009 RSA Spring Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh 2008 Royal Glasgow Institute, The Mitchell Library, Glasgow 2004 Royal Glasgow Institute, Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow 2001 Royal Glasgow Institute, MacLellan Galleries, Glasgow 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2011, 2012

Aberdeen Artists’ Society, Aberdeen Art Gallery

51. Accoutrements, 2016, oil on board, 75 x 60 cm 71

Published by The Scottish Gallery to coincide with the exhibition Ewan McClure GRAVITY AND LIGHT 29 June – 20 July 2019 Exhibition can be viewed online at www.scottish-gallery.co.uk/ewanmcclure ISBN: 978-1-912900-02-2 Designed by Kenneth Gray Printed by J Thomson Colour Printers, Glasgow 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.

right 52. Borrowing the Studio, Broughton House, 2019, oil on board, 61 x 61 cm (detail) 72