William Scott RA (1913-1989)

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Born in Greenock, Scotland, William Scott moved with his family to Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, in 1924. Scott’s formal art education started at the Belfast School of Art in 1928, and he later attended the Royal Academy Schools in London. Initially, he studied sculpture, but soon shifted his focus to painting and these early works were influenced by European modernism. As a young man, he established an art school with his wife and fellow artist, Mary Lucas, in Brittany, but he returned to England to serve during the Second World War. Despite the disruptions of the conflict, he continued to paint and exhibit his work.

^{▲ William Scott RA (1913-1989), 'Orange Still Life', 1956 (£20,000-30,000)}

Scott’s output evolved significantly in the 1950s as he moved towards abstraction. Influenced by his interactions with American abstract expressionists like Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning, Scott began to explore non-figurative forms. His paintings from this period often feature simplified shapes and a limited colour palette. Despite this shift towards abstraction, Scott’s work retained a strong connection to the everyday objects and scenes that had always inspired him.

His early 1950s series of small-scale gouaches were crucial in marking his first foray into full-scale abstraction. These works, often starting from still-life compositions, gradually distorted and stretched the subject beyond recognition, resulting in pure colour and form. The immediacy of the gouache medium forced a quick spontaneity on to Scott’s thought process, allowing him to rework and alter his compositions as they progressed.

^{▲ William Scott RA (1913-1989), Untitled, c.1953 (£20,000-30,000)}

The ten drawings and paintings on offer were produced during the 1950s and 1960s. Although diverse in appearance, they are united by his strong sense of line, form and colour, which is confident and engaging. Scott draws the viewer into the plane of the picture with the apparent simplicity of line or shape. We see calm, neutral relaxing tones in the gouache paintings of lots 287 and 288, creating a sense of harmony and balance, but a vibrant, arresting bold-coloured gouache in the impressive ‘Orange Still Life’ (lot 278). His untitled black chalk drawings of lots 279 and 280 are dark, stark and almost aggressive in appearance, a contrast to the softer forms in other works.

William Scott has long been considered a pioneer in his field, and in part this was due to his ability to bridge the gap between European modernism and American abstract expressionism. During his lifetime, his work was exhibited widely, both in the UK and internationally, and he became one of the most celebrated British artists of his generation. This was cemented when he was elected as a Royal Academician in 1984. Scott’s paintings are held in major public collections, including the Tate Gallery in London, the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum in New York, and the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris.

Tuesday 15 April | 10am

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