Colin Middleton (1910-1983) Ireland Watercolor

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Colin Middleton (1910 - 1983) Ireland
Watercolor on Paper
Measure 7"in H x 10"in W and 13 1/2"in H x … Read more Colin Middleton (1910 - 1983) Ireland
Watercolor on Paper
Measure 7"in H x 10"in W and 13 1/2"in H x 16 1/2"in W framed

Colin was known for his surreal landscapes and figure painting, teaching, mural, mosaic, poster

His work in the 1970s was dominated by two major groups of paintings, the Wilderness Series and the Westerness Series. These can both, in part, be seen as a summary of his career, bringing together various ideas, themes and symbols, as well as very personal references from across five decades, into a distilled and coherent body of paintings.

Matinée, which relates closely to both groups, was completed towards the end of this period and was exhibited in an exhibition subtitled 'Transmutations, Metamorphoses, Visitations'. These three concepts, which were central to Middleton's early symbolist and surrealist work in the 1930s and 1940s, are skillfully explored in Matinée; the twisted rock-like form in the foreground recalls the remarkable paint surface Middleton achieved in the Westerness series to create elusive and shifting textured shapes which, as here, could suggest either the solidity of rock or else fabric draped across a mysterious and abstracted female form. Around this strange arch takes place a colourful scene that is more reminiscent of the Wilderness series.

Two doll-like female figures seem to be engaged in a performance with two boxes, one solid, the other weightless, with the higher figure also tethered to an invisible object just beyond the view we are permitted. The vast sky and what appears to be a wooden deck-like structure occur in many of the Wilderness paintings and are perhaps a reference to the extensive sea journeys Middleton took earlier in the decade.

These travels to Spain, Australia and South America stimulated his use of colour in the 1970s, as well as providing a new vocabulary of shapes and an expansive sense of scale in his landscapes. While his paintings of this period continue Middleton's symbolic interests, they also marked a re-engagement with Surrealism. In addition, paintings such as Matinée reveal unexpected new influences, such as advertising hoardings placed in the middle of a field or on a mountain, which appealed to him as social comment as well as for the visually striking juxtapositions they suggested. See less