Tsg frances macdonald beyond the island of storms

Frances Macdonald Beyond the Island of Storms

Frances Macdonald Beyond the Island of Storms 29 november – 24 december 2014

16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZ Tel 0131 558 1200 Email mail@scottish-gallery.co.uk Web www.scottish-gallery.co.uk

Cover: Dutchman’s Cap, Lunga and Bac Beag from Calbha, July oil on canvas, 61 x 81 cms, 24 x 32 inches (cat 18) Left: ‘MV Sgarbh’ moored off Crinan, looking to Duntrune Castle

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foreword The idea for this exhibition, the artist’s fourth with The Scottish Gallery, was for Frances to do as she always does when faced with a studio empty of everything but stretched, pristine canvases: to go to Iona to make her start. However, rather than a fleeting visit this was a prolonged stay.

Hers is both a sailor’s and a painter’s understanding of the island, looking inward and out and she has added many new locations and aspects. Like Peploe and Cadell before her she demonstrates a profound understanding of how the variation of weather and sea, and of aspect and viewpoint, makes the island an infinite giver of subjects. Nosing around the little bays and coves, amongst the shoals of the West coast of the island in the family fishing boat has lent her new insights. The Island of Storms at the North End is not ignored but now here are Port na Fraig, The Mermaids, Pulpit Rock; vistas towards The Burgh and Ben Mhor, on Mull; Eigg and the Treshnish Isles. Here also are yachts moored at St Ronan’s Bay, a little picture of a beached boat and creels at Martyr’s Bay, a cat on a corrugated roof by the Post Office and the magnificent Bay at the Back of the Ocean.

In 2013 Frances was awarded the Charles Rennie Mackintosh residency at Collioure. These jewel-like, mineral dry canvases of Collioure and its hinterland add a warm counterpoint to the west coast of Scotland. Wherever she is, Frances’s eye is unerring, her technique dazzling and her appetite of hard work undiminished.

Guy Peploe

Left: Frances Macdonald in her Crinan studio. Photograph by Craig Easton 3

1 Cows Rock and the Ross of Mull oil on canvas, 40.5 x 45.5 cms, 16 x 18 inches 4

2 Sandy Cove and Sea Pinks oil on canvas, 40.5 x 45.5 cms, 16 x 18 inches 5

3 Dutchman’s Cap, Lunga and Ulva on the Horizon oil on canvas, 96.5 x 127 cms, 38 x 50 inches 6

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4 Ben Mhor from Rocky Pathway oil on canvas, 40.5 x 45.5 cms, 16 x 18 inches 8

5 Sea Fences, the North Shore at Calbha oil on canvas, 61 x 81 cms, 24 x 32 inches 9

6 Pathway to the North End oil on canvas, 20.5 x 25.5 cms, 8 x 10 inches 10

7 February, Cove in Thorny Ground. White Strand of the Monks oil on canvas, 45.5 x 51 cms, 18 x 20 inches 11

8 Across the Strait of the Storm oil on canvas, 101.5 x 127 cms, 40 x 50 inches 12

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9 Rock Pools and Eddies at the Pulpit oil on canvas, 40.5 x 45.5 cms, 16 x 18 inches 14

10 Pulpit Rock and the Little Pinnacle at the North End oil on canvas, 91.5 x 137 cms, 36 x 54 inches 15

11 Dancing Waves at the North End oil on canvas, 40.5 x 45.5 cms, 16 x 18 inches 16

12 A Break in the Clouds, Camus Cul a Taibh, June oil on canvas, 51 x 45.5 cms, 20 x 18 inches 17

13 Spring Tide, Port Bhan oil on canvas, 15 x 20.5 cms, 6 x 8 inches 18

14 Sea Pinks sheltering, June at the North End oil on canvas, 61 x 81 cms, 24 x 32 inches 19

15 Lobster Creels Fionnphort oil on canvas, 20.5 x 25.5 cms, 8 x 10 inches 20

16 Prawn Boats Fionnphort oil on canvas, 20.5 x 25.5 cms, 8 x 10 inches 21

17 The Island of Eigg in the Distance oil on canvas, 15 x 20.5 cms, 6 x 8 inches 22

18 Dutchman’s Cap, Lunga and Bac Beag from Calbha, July oil on canvas, 61 x 81 cms, 24 x 32 inches 23

19 Ashore at Martyr’s Bay, February oil on canvas, 25.5 x 20.5 cms, 10 x 8 inches 24

20 Tortie on a Hot Tin Roof, Iona oil on canvas, 40.5 x 45.5 cms, 16 x 18 inches 25

21 Cap Vermeille, C么te Catalone, May oil on canvas, 46.5 x 55 cms, 18 x 21.5 inches 26

22 Collioure and the Fort from Bar Maritime oil on canvas, 40.5 x 45.5 cms, 16 x 18 inches 27

23 Boats Ashore, Collioure Plage de Port d’Avall oil on canvas, 15 x 20.5 cms, 6 x 8 inches 28

24 Collioure, Fort St-Elme and the Windmill from the Old Town oil on canvas, 46.5 x 55 cms, 18 x 21.5 inches 29

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25 From the Mermaids, Ben Mhor and the Burgh oil on canvas, 122 x 122 cms, 48 x 48 inches 26 Wintry Machair and Storm Washed Sands, February North End oil on canvas, 40.5 x 45.5 cms, 16 x 18 inches 31

27 Nor’easter, Port na Fraig oil on canvas, 40.5 x 45.5 cms, 16 x 18 inches 32

28 Sands of Storm Island oil on canvas, 15 x 20.5 cms, 6 x 8 inches 33

29 Lovely Sunny Day at the North End oil on canvas, 15 x 20.5 cms, 6 x 8 inches 34

30 Caesar’s Skerry – February oil on canvas, 76 x 101.5 cms, 30 x 40 inches 35

31 Stormy Weather – Strait of the Storms oil on canvas, 40.5 x 45.5 cms, 16 x 18 inches 36

32 Safely Moored in St Ronan’s Bay, June oil on canvas, 61 x 81 cms, 24 x 32 inches 37

33 ‘The Two Brothers Ballantrae’ in the Canal Basin oil on canvas, 30.5 x 30.5 cms, 12 x 12 inches 38

34 Ian’s Boat at Crinan oil on canvas, 30.5 x 30.5 cms, 12 x 12 inches 39

35 Grey Skies over Mull from Sgeir Nam Mart oil on canvas, 76 x 101.5 cms, 30 x 40 inches 40

36 Staffa Beyond Pulpit Rock oil on canvas, 40.5 x 45.5 cms, 16 x 18 inches 41

37 Cap Vermielle, May oil on canvas, 15 x 20.5 cms, 6 x 8 inches 42

38 Le Phare, Port Vendres oil on canvas, 30.5 x 30.5 cms, 12 x 12 inches 43

39 CĂŠret, France oil on canvas, 45.5 x 40.5 cms, 18 x 16 inches 44

40 Alpes Maritimes beyond Plage de Port d’Avall oil on canvas, 51 x 61 cms, 20 x 24 inches 45

41 The Bay at the Back of the Ocean, Camus Cul an Taibh oil on canvas, 101.5 x 127 cms, 40 x 50 inches 46

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42 Low Tide Port Bhan oil on canvas, 45.5 x 40.5 cms, 18 x 16 inches 48

43 ‘Birthe Marie’ moored in St Ronan’s Bay oil on canvas, 81 x 61 cms, 32 x 24 inches 49

44 Emerald Breakers; February at the North End oil on canvas, 40.5 x 45.5 cms, 16 x 18 inches 50

45 Breaking Seas on Finger Rock at the North End oil on canvas, 40.5 x 45.5 cms, 16 x 18 inches 51

46 The Free Kirk and Irises, Iona oil on canvas, 20.5 x 25.5 cms, 8 x 10 inches 52

47 Treshnish Point from Iona oil on canvas, 40.5 x 45.5 cms, 16 x 18 inches 53

48 Fionnphort Across the Sound of Iona from Rocky Cove – February oil on canvas, 40.5 x 45.5 cms, 16 x 18 inches 54

49 Treshnish Point from Cows Rock oil on canvas, 76 x 101.5 cms, 30 x 40 inches 55

50 Choppy Emerald Seas at the East Bay oil on canvas, 45.5 x 51 cms, 18 x 20 inches 56

51 Low Tide February Morning, towards the Broad Skerry oil on canvas, 61 x 81 cms, 24 x 32 inches 57

Frances Macdonald Born Glasgow 1983-1986 Elected Council Member, SSWA 2004-2010 Elected Council Member, RGI 2013 Charles Rennie Mackintosh Residency at Collioure Solo Exhibitions 1975 Gallery Paton, Edinburgh 1977 Shore Gallery, Edinburgh 1988 Macaulay Gallery, Stenton 1989 Sue Rankin Gallery, London 1993 The R.G.I. Kelly Gallery, Glasgow 1994 The R.G.I. Kelly Gallery, Glasgow 1995 The R.G.I. Kelly Gallery, Glasgow 1996 The Scottish Arts Club, Edinburgh 1997 Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh 1998 Cyril Gerber Fine Art, Glasgow 1999 Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh 2000 Portland Gallery, London 2001 Art 2001: The London Contemporary Art Fair 2002 Portland Gallery, London 2003 Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh 2003 Portland Gallery, London 2005 Art 2005: The London Contemporary Art Fair 2005 Portland Gallery, London 2006 Portland Gallery, London 2007 Portland Gallery, London 2008 Portland Gallery, London 2009 The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh 2009 Portland Gallery, London 2010 The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh 2011 Portland Gallery, London 2013 The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh 2013 Portland Gallery, London 2014 The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh

Selected Mixed Exhibitions Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums McLean Museum Greenock The Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts Visual Arts Scotland The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour Collections Adam & Company, Edinburgh Haines Watts Chartered Accountants, Glasgow Drummond Miller Solicitors, Edinburgh First National Bank, USA Fred Olsen Cruise Lines Gleneagles Hotel Halifax I and H Brown Ltd Misys PLC Capital Property Group Royal Bank of Scotland Robert Fleming Holdings Ltd Stenna Shipping Line Aberdeen Asset Management and private collections worldwide

Right: Frances Macdonald in her Crinan studio, October 2014. Photograph by Gordon Thomson 58

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Published by The Scottish Gallery to coincide with the exhibition Frances Macdonald: Beyond the Island of Storms 29 November – 24 December 2014 Exhibition can be viewed online at www.scottish-gallery.co.uk/francesmacdonald ISBN: 978-1-910267-08-0 Designed by www.kennethgray.co.uk Photography by John McKenzie with additional photography by Gordon Thomson Printed by Barr Colour Printers 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.

16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZ Tel 0131 558 1200 Email mail@scottish-gallery.co.uk Web www.scottish-gallery.co.uk

Right: Crinan 60

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