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Artist: Colin Middleton RUA RHA (1910-1983) Title: Indian Red (1944) Signature: signed lower left and dated '44 Medium: oil on canvas Size: 61 x 76½cm (24 x 30.1in) Framed Size: 80.7 x 96cm (31.8 x 37.8in) Provenance: Private Collection a#morebtn { color: #de1d01; } a#morebtn:hover { cursor: pointer;} Many of Colin Middleton's paintings depict women in strange or unusual settings, often imbued with Surrealist and dream-like imagery. His female figures sit, stand, float and dance, often merging with architectural and landscape elements. Dated 1944, this painting incorporates elements of both Surre... Read more Colin Middleton Lot 18 - 'Indian Red (1944)' Estimate: €20,000 - €30,000 Many of Colin Middleton's paintings depict women in strange or unusual settings, often imbued with Surrealist and dream-like imagery. His female figures sit, stand, float and dance, often merging with architectural and landscape elements. Dated 1944, this painting incorporates elements of both Surrealism and Expressionism, with a female figure appearing to merge with the mountains and valleys of a moonlit landscape. The palette used by Middleton is characterised by intense colours, with red and orange in the foreground, green in the middle distance and blue in the background. Suggested rather than represented in a realistic way, the figure of the recumbent woman merges with the green fields and valleys. With face turned towards the viewer and arms extending above her head, she is embracing the hills in the distance. It is a visionary image, successfully realised by an artist who could incorporate different styles in his work. A preparatory sketch for this painting was included in the Colin Middleton exhibition, of works from the McClelland Collection, curated by Catherine Marshall and held at IMMA in 2001. A dedicated painter, as well as poet and musician, Colin Middleton was one of a group of Belfast artists who forged links with Dublin from the 1940's onwards, exhibiting mainly at the Irish Exhibition of Living Art and the Waddington Gallery. Over the course of a long career he explored different styles, including Expressionism and Cubism. During the 1940's and 50's many of his paintings were Surrealist in style. Initially employed as a designer in his family's damask business, Middleton attended night classes at the Belfast College of Art and an interest in pattern and colour remained a characteristic of his art throughout his career. In 1934, he was included in the Ulster Unit Exhibition and nine years later had a one-person exhibition at the Belfast Museum and Art Gallery. This was followed, in 1944, by a solo show at the Grafton Gallery in Dublin, and another in Belfast the following year. By 1947, Middleton was concentrating full time on painting. After a period in England he returned to Northern Ireland, and in 1954 settled in Bangor, Co. Down. That same year he began to teach at the Belfast College of Art, and at Coleraine Technical School, later becoming head of art at the Friends' School in Lisburn. He also designed sets for the Circle Theatre and the Lyric Theatre. Awarded an MBE in 1969, he was elected a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy the following year and in 1972 received an honorary MA from Queens University. Four years later, a retrospective exhibition of his work was held at Ulster Museum and the Hugh Lane Gallery. In later years, Middleton showed at the Tom Caldwell Gallery and the Hendriks Gallery. Peter Murray, June 2023