THE WITCH OF MULLAGHDERG (WESTERNESS CYCLE FROM FINNEGAN'S WAKE), 1975 Colin Middleton MBE RHA (1910-1983)
Signature: signed lower right; signed again, dated and inscribed with title on reverse; with David Hendriks framing label also on reverse Medium: oil on board Dimensions: 24¼ x 24¼in. (61.60 x 61.60cm) Provenance: Collection of Paul and Catherine Daly;Adam's, 1 October 2008, lot 41;Private collection Exhibited: ''Colin Middleton Exhibition'', David Hendriks Gallery, March-April 1976, catalogue no. 13 ''Personal Choice Exhibition'', Butler Gallery, Kilkenny, May-June 1982. Art Council of Northern Ireland, catalogue no. 40????? Literature: 'Living with Art:David Hendriks'', edited by Gordon Lambert (1985), full page illustration p.46. The Witch of Mullaghderg was painted in 1975 and formed part of the Westerness Series in which Colin Middleton revisited many of the ideas and themes that had dominated earlier periods of his work. Af... fter the very international vision of the Wilderness Series that preceded it, inspired by Middleton's travels to Spain, Australia and South America, the Westerness paintings found their inspiration in Irish literature, landscape, myth and legend.Within these works Middleton integrated certain elements of the surrealist playfulness of the Wilderness paintings, their combination of creating drama within a shallow area while suggesting a vast empty space behind, and the carefully prepared boards on which he had begun to paint. The conception of the work appears to be quite different, however; the title of the Westerness series is drawn from Finnegan's Wake and throughout the relatively small cycle of paintings, Middleton returns to the female archetype to explore ideas around the duality of human nature, the difficulty of rationalising the co-existence of the material and spiritual within our lives, as well as our own relationship to the landscape we live in, both its physical terrain and its power in myth and memory.In the present painting, the highly abstracted figure of the witch dominates the painting entirely, the highly abstracted folded material of her long train reaches across the picture space as she appears to hover, barely touching the ground, offering a playing card towards the viewer. Although The Witch of Mullaghderg does refer to a specific place, it has less sense of the landscape or the natural world than some of the other Westerness works and its ambiguity and playfulness recalls Middleton's earlier surrealist paintings. Dickon Hall, Belfast, November 2014.Dickon Hall is a Belfast based art dealer and writer. Since completing an MA at the Courtauld Institute of Art he has curated numerous exhibitions in London, Belfast and Dublin. He has published monographs on Colin Middleton and Nevill Johnson and has written extensively on twentieth century and contemporary art more
THE WITCH OF MULLAGHDERG (WESTERNESS CYCLE FROM FINNEGAN'S WAKE), 1975 Colin Middleton MBE RHA (1910-1983)
Signature: signed lower right; signed again, dated and inscribed with title on reverse; with David Hendriks framing label also on reverse Medium: oil on board Dimensions: 24¼ x 24¼in. (61.60 x 61.60cm) Provenance: Collection of Paul and Catherine Daly;Adam's, 1 October 2008, lot 41;Private collection Exhibited: ''Colin Middleton Exhibition'', David Hendriks Gallery, March-April 1976, catalogue no. 13 ''Personal Choice Exhibition'', Butler Gallery, Kilkenny, May-June 1982. Art Council of Northern Ireland, catalogue no. 40????? Literature: 'Living with Art:David Hendriks'', edited by Gordon Lambert (1985), full page illustration p.46. The Witch of Mullaghderg was painted in 1975 and formed part of the Westerness Series in which Colin Middleton revisited many of the ideas and themes that had dominated earlier periods of his work. Af... fter the very international vision of the Wilderness Series that preceded it, inspired by Middleton's travels to Spain, Australia and South America, the Westerness paintings found their inspiration in Irish literature, landscape, myth and legend.Within these works Middleton integrated certain elements of the surrealist playfulness of the Wilderness paintings, their combination of creating drama within a shallow area while suggesting a vast empty space behind, and the carefully prepared boards on which he had begun to paint. The conception of the work appears to be quite different, however; the title of the Westerness series is drawn from Finnegan's Wake and throughout the relatively small cycle of paintings, Middleton returns to the female archetype to explore ideas around the duality of human nature, the difficulty of rationalising the co-existence of the material and spiritual within our lives, as well as our own relationship to the landscape we live in, both its physical terrain and its power in myth and memory.In the present painting, the highly abstracted figure of the witch dominates the painting entirely, the highly abstracted folded material of her long train reaches across the picture space as she appears to hover, barely touching the ground, offering a playing card towards the viewer. Although The Witch of Mullaghderg does refer to a specific place, it has less sense of the landscape or the natural world than some of the other Westerness works and its ambiguity and playfulness recalls Middleton's earlier surrealist paintings. Dickon Hall, Belfast, November 2014.Dickon Hall is a Belfast based art dealer and writer. Since completing an MA at the Courtauld Institute of Art he has curated numerous exhibitions in London, Belfast and Dublin. He has published monographs on Colin Middleton and Nevill Johnson and has written extensively on twentieth century and contemporary art more
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
