DUET, 1961 Colin Middleton MBE RHA (1910-1983)
Signature: signed in monogram lower left; inscribed, dated and signed again on reverse Medium: oil on board Dimensions: 24 x 18in. (60.96 x 45.72cm) Provenance: Sotheby's, 11 May 2006, lot 117;Private collection Exhibited: Irish Exhibition of Living Art, Dublin, 1964, catalogue no. 41; Possibly also exhibited at the artist's solo show, Hendriks Gallery, Dublin, December 1965, as Duet: Carnlough, catalogue no. 13 According to a contemporary inscription on reverse, this theme was suggested to the artist after listening to Chris Barber's Band.Both Colin Middleton and his wife Kate had a deep and wide-ranging int... terest in music and it was a theme that he explored in a number of works throughout his career, most notably in the series of paintings and drawings from the 1960s of Kate playing the piano.Jazz was a particular passion and at the time Duet was painted, Middleton was living in Belfast at Camden Street and was part of a circle of jazz enthusiasts. Neil Shawcross recalled an enthusiasm for jazz that was evident at the numerous parties he would throw at Camden Street, and the energy and rhythm of many of his paintings reflect Colin's own jazz-inspired animation." (i)The present painting demonstrates the interest in austerity and extreme simplification of form that Middleton explored in the early 1960s, in contrast to the lush and expressive qualities of many works from the previous decade. His visual language is pared down, ambiguous and witty and the picture space is flattened and spatially uncertain. The seated pianist on the left recalls images of Kate at the piano, but what appears to be a keyboard to the right can also be read as another musician facing us, and the pianist's arms could even metamorphose into the lower right arm of this figure perhaps playing a double bass or a guitar.The small white circle and the suggestion of a row of strings above and below connect this work with the subtle hints of musical instruments in the cubist paintings and collages of Picasso and Braque. Middleton's image shares the invention and energy of the performance it apparently recalls, while also carrying overtones of the landscape with which Middleton so liked to integrate the figure through the suggestions of wood and rocks. Dickon Hall(i) Neil Shawcross foreword to Colin Middleton A Study, Joga Press, 2001" more
DUET, 1961 Colin Middleton MBE RHA (1910-1983)
Signature: signed in monogram lower left; inscribed, dated and signed again on reverse Medium: oil on board Dimensions: 24 x 18in. (60.96 x 45.72cm) Provenance: Sotheby's, 11 May 2006, lot 117;Private collection Exhibited: Irish Exhibition of Living Art, Dublin, 1964, catalogue no. 41; Possibly also exhibited at the artist's solo show, Hendriks Gallery, Dublin, December 1965, as Duet: Carnlough, catalogue no. 13 According to a contemporary inscription on reverse, this theme was suggested to the artist after listening to Chris Barber's Band.Both Colin Middleton and his wife Kate had a deep and wide-ranging int... terest in music and it was a theme that he explored in a number of works throughout his career, most notably in the series of paintings and drawings from the 1960s of Kate playing the piano.Jazz was a particular passion and at the time Duet was painted, Middleton was living in Belfast at Camden Street and was part of a circle of jazz enthusiasts. Neil Shawcross recalled an enthusiasm for jazz that was evident at the numerous parties he would throw at Camden Street, and the energy and rhythm of many of his paintings reflect Colin's own jazz-inspired animation." (i)The present painting demonstrates the interest in austerity and extreme simplification of form that Middleton explored in the early 1960s, in contrast to the lush and expressive qualities of many works from the previous decade. His visual language is pared down, ambiguous and witty and the picture space is flattened and spatially uncertain. The seated pianist on the left recalls images of Kate at the piano, but what appears to be a keyboard to the right can also be read as another musician facing us, and the pianist's arms could even metamorphose into the lower right arm of this figure perhaps playing a double bass or a guitar.The small white circle and the suggestion of a row of strings above and below connect this work with the subtle hints of musical instruments in the cubist paintings and collages of Picasso and Braque. Middleton's image shares the invention and energy of the performance it apparently recalls, while also carrying overtones of the landscape with which Middleton so liked to integrate the figure through the suggestions of wood and rocks. Dickon Hall(i) Neil Shawcross foreword to Colin Middleton A Study, Joga Press, 2001" more
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
