National Galleries of Scotland

1981

GMA 2314

This sculpture is cast from a living model. De Andrea's objective was to make his figures as life-like as possible, and this work has been meticulously painted, so that no joins or other clues to its construction are evident. De Andrea's earlier figures had been made to stand on the floor or sit on real chairs. With 'Model in Repose' the artist considered he had attained such a perfect match of realism and beauty that he could place the work, literally, on a pedestal.

• Material: Polyvinyl, painted in oil, and mixed media
• Size: 58.00 x 74.00 x 55.50 cm
• Gallery
• © John de Andrea

1967 - 1968

GMA 2793

This work was made by pouring resin into a flat box, to the depth of about a centimetre, and inserting elements of the cello. Once set, another layer of resin could be poured, and more of the pieces added. The final work is like a cello frozen in space a fraction of a second after it has exploded. The sculpture is a development from the artist's 'Happenings', when he would smash up pianos, cars and even whole rooms. Arman attached the broken remains to panels but, from 1962, he began setting them in clear polyester resin, calling the series 'Colère' (Anger).

• Material: Fragmented cello in polyester resin
• Size: 127.90 x 48.60 x 14.60 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

1962

GMA 1253

Arp began making free-standing sculpture in the early 1930s. His sensuous, 'abstract' works changed little in style from that time to the 1960s. Arp called his sculptures 'human concretions', a term chosen to suggest that they might have grown out of the human body. He did not consider these works as abstract, but rather as organic forms which had occurred naturally. The vertical nature of this sculpture suggests parallels with the human form: Arp made a number of vertical works from the mid-1950s to the 1960s.

• Material: Marble
• Size: 176.50 x 44.50 x 44.50 cm
• Gallery
• © DACS 2004

1936

GMA 3036

This sculpture is the only wood carving by Barlach in a public collection in Britain. Although carved in 1936, it was given its allegorical title the following year in response to Hitler's notorious Degenerate 'Art' exhibition, in which Barlach was included. By the summer of 1937, nearly 400 of his works had been confiscated, through government action, from German museums. This work is typical of the figures Barlach sculpted: large, heavily robed figures alone or in pairs, symbolising an aspect of the human condition.

• Material: Wood (oak)
• Size: 142.00 x 31.00 x 28.50 cm
• Gallery
• © Ernst Barlach Lizenzverwaltung Ratzeburg

1982 - 1984

GMA 3530

This is one of Baselitz's largest and earliest wood carvings. He began making sculptures in 1979 and used chainsaws and axes to make them. The rough finish of the sculpture is reminiscent of tribal art, which Baselitz collects. The raised arm derives from African carvings of figures who raise their arms to signal surrender in battle. A drawing of the same figure has him holding a flag. The sculpture also has associations with the long tradition of German wood carving, which, in the early twentieth century, was revived by expressionist artists such as Kirchner.

• Material: Wood, painted
• Size: 253.00 x 71.00 x 46.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Georg Baselitz

1974

GMA 1318

This work is the record or embodiment of an 'Action' performed by Joseph Beuys in the dilapidated, former Edinburgh poorhouse on 10 June 1974. Beuys used three new cooking pots, painted black, to represent the human attribute of thinking, feeling and will. He walked slowly around the edges of one of the rooms offering up the pots to each of the walls. The pots were then put on the floor and tied to a pair of blackboards on which Beuys drew diagrams and works relating to the 'Action'.

• Material: Two blackboards with chalk, three cast-iron pots, cord
• Size: Boards 117.50 x 119.50 cm, 120.00 x 119.20 cm; pots 13.00 x 28.50 x 21.00 cm each
• Gallery
• © DACS 2004

1919 - 1921

GMA 2

This sculpture is an intermediary model for a six-metre-tall stone carving, which stands on a hill near Niederbruck in Alsace, France. The style of the work reflects Bourdelle's love of French Gothic sculpture. The figure of the Virgin is based on the artist's wife Cléopatre, and the child Jesus is modelled on his daughter Rhodia. Cléopatre was also a sculptor and the head-scarf worn by the Virgin was inspired by one she used when carving, to keep the dust out of her hair.

• Material: Bronze
• Size: 250.20 x 84.00 x 58.50 cm
• Gallery

1966

GMA 2794

This work is made of standardised, repeatable units: glass jars, wooden discs and pictures of an eye from a cosmetics advert. Broodthaers's use of commonly available objects in this work shows the impact of the 1960s, when Pop artists frequently made use of advertising and the replicated image in their work. However, the sculpture also opens up a range of ideas about voyeurism and consumer culture. There is no front or back view of the work: the eyes look out from every angle of the tower; there is no escape from their gaze.

• Material: Glass jars, wood and magazine illustrations
• Size: 88.70 x 49.70 x 49.70 cm
• Gallery
• © DACS 2004

1957 - 1958

GMA 809

After the Second World War, Butler was among a number of British sculptors who felt that sculpture should respond to the nuclear age. As he remarked, 'Belsen, Buchenwald, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, were very much in our minds'. In the early 1950s Butler moved away from forged work to create modelled figures cast in bronze. The architectural stand featured in this sculpture derives from Butler's earlier forged metal pieces. It can also be compared to contemporary works by Francis Bacon and Alberto Giacometti, in which a cage device is used to hold the figure in empty space and accentuate its solitary nature.

• Material: Bronze
• Size: 177.00 x 60.50 x 60.50 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Reg Butler

about 1935 - 1937

GMA 1586

This is among the earliest of Calder's hanging mobiles. Calder made frequent trips to Paris where he was friendly with the Surrealists. The poetic, floating forms of this mobile look like three-dimensional equivalents of Miró's paintings. It has been suggested that they have a source in scientific models of the planetary system. Arp's sculptures were also an influence on Calder. Due to his training as an engineer, Calder was well acquainted with the mechanical principles required to make his mobiles balance and move freely.

• Material: Metal, painted
• Size: 104.00 x 89.00 x 0.70 cm (framed: 121.90 x 118.00 x 2.50 cm)
• Gallery
• © ARS, NY and DACS, London 2004

1977

GMA 2464

Caro began making small 'Table Piece 'sculptures in 1966 and since then has made several hundred. This sculpture is number 388 in the series. While Caro makes his large, floor-placed sculptures in a studio, the Table Pieces are made at home in his garage. Owing to their manageable scale, they have the freedom of drawings, yet they are not models for larger works. Entirely abstract, they balance light and heavy elements and are composed of a remarkable vocabulary of forms: interwoven lines, circles, pauses and full stops.

• Material: Steel, rusted and varnished
• Size: 101.50 x 114.50 x 60.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Sir Anthony Caro

1966

GMA 1107

César became internationally known in the 1960s for his sculptures made by crushing cars. However, he had been making figurative sculpture since the early 1950s by welding together scrap metal. He made a series of female torsos and later moved on to making wing-like structures and imaginary and fantastical animals. In this large bronze sculpture, the bird’s encrusted feet contrast with its polished, if ragged-edged, plumage. The title is taken from a French slang word used in Marseilles, described by the artist’s assistant as meaning ‘something like “a nice girl” or as we could say in a certain vulgar French “une belle poule”.’

• Material: Bronze (6/9)
• Size: 86.40 x 96.50 x 72.00 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2006

1966

GMA 2505

This is one of César's 'Compression' sculptures, the first of which was made in 1960. On a visit to a scrap merchant in search of metal, he saw a hydraulic crushing machine in operation, and decided to experiment with it in his sculpture. The massive stacks of scrap metal made his small-scale, welded sculptures seem insignificant by comparison. César selected particular cars for crushing, mixing elements from differently coloured vehicles. In this way he could control the surface pattern and colour scheme of the piece. A 'Renault' nameplate can be seen on this sculpture.

• Material: Compressed automobile parts
• Size: 162.00 x 68.50 x 66.00 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

1955

GMA 761

This is a maquette (small model) for a much larger work, over two metres tall, now in the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels. The half-human, half-insect figures are typical of Chadwick's work in the early to mid 1950s. Although the figures are bonded at the waist in an overtly sexual manner, they are from a series of pieces inspired by rock-and-roll dancing. There are several similar works by Chadwick called 'Teddy Boy and Girl'. The use of wings on the figures is connected to Chadwick's experience as a pilot during the war.

• Material: Bronze
• Size: 55.90 x 33.50 x 30.50 cm
• Gallery
• © the Artist's Estate / Bridgeman Art Library. All rights reserved.

1957 - 1958

GMA 2764

This is one of several small models, or maquettes, preliminary to the full-size version of the sculpture, which measures five feet in height. Constructed from iron and composition, this maquette is unique contrasting to the others which are cast in bronze. The title comes from a song by the German poet and playwright Berthold Brecht, but the references to the Soviet Sputnik space programme are also evident in its structure. The Russians’ launched the first man-made object into Earth’s orbit on 4 October 1957 as part of the Cold War Space Race with the United States of America. ‘Sputnik 1’ was fifty-eight centimetres in diameter - roughly the same size as this maquette.

• Material: Iron and composition
• Size: 55.60 x 46.50 x 32.00 cm
• Gallery
• © the Artist's Estate / Bridgeman Art Library. All rights reserved.

1970 - 1972

GMA 3450

This disturbing work was first shown in Davies's solo exhibition at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London in 1972. The figures can be placed in an infinite number of positions to suggest various meanings. One formation can give the impression that the crawling figures are threatening the seated figure while another formation can suggest that the three masked figures are controlled by the seated figure. The exact relationship between the characters is enigmatic, but Davies has written that he wanted the group to express feelings of repression and brutality, and the humiliating rituals employed by oppressors.

• Material: Mixed media
• Size: Four figures, maximum height of each 181.00 cm; 137.00 cm; 82.00 cm; 75.00 cm
• Gallery
• © John Davies, Courtesy of Marlborough Fine Art

1933

GMA 13

Albert Einstein came to England in 1933 and stayed at a secluded army camp near Cromer on the Norfolk coast. Epstein modelled this bust in one week - Einstein posing for two hours each morning in a cramped hut. The sculptor recalled that "Einstein appeared dressed very comfortably in a pullover with his wild hair floating in the wind. His glance contained a mixture of the humane, the humorous, and the profound. This was a combination that delighted me. He resembled the ageing Rembrandt”.

• Material: Bronze
• Size: 43.50 x 30.00 x 25.50 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Jacob Epstein

1917 - 1919

GMA 1092

'The Risen Christ' began as a portrait of Epstein's friend, the composer Bernard van Dieren. It was begun in 1917 when van Dieren was ill, and Epstein wanted to make a mask of him looking 'spiritual and worn with suffering.' After making a mask from clay, the piece then developed into the figure of Christ. Work was temporarily put on hold when Epstein was enlisted in 1917 but continued a year later. The artist considered the figure to be an anti-war statement and declared that he would ideally like it to be remodelled and made hundreds of feet high as a 'mighty symbolic warning to all lands.'

• Material: Bronze (unique cast)
• Size: 218.50 x 54.50 x 56.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Jacob Epstein

1936 - 1937

GMA 2304

For years this sculpture belonged to Tussaud's fairground in Blackpool, where it was exhibited as a curiosity, alongside other Epstein carvings. The idea for the sculpture came to the artist while he was listening to Bach's B minor Mass and looking at a large slab of alabaster in his studio. He was suddenly inspired by the idea and saw the sculpture as a whole, in his head. According to St John's Gospel, 'consummatum est' - ('It is finished') were the words Christ uttered from the Cross.

• Material: Alabaster
• Size: 61.00 x 223.50 x 81.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Jacob Epstein

1924 (cast 1971)

GMA 1263

Although best known as a painter, Fergusson also made several sculptures. The title of this bust refers to Eástre the Saxon goddess of spring, and it is believed to be a portrait of the artist’s wife Margaret Morris. As a dancer and leader of a dance school, Morris was involved in a performance called ‘Hymn to the Sun.’ For Fergusson, she represented the sophisticated modern woman who was simultaneously in touch with primeval forces through the rhythms of dance. The hard, highly-polished surface of the sculpture evokes themes of modernity and the machine age, and gives the bust a radiant ‘other worldly’ quality. It shows Fergusson’s awareness of contemporary developments in the avant-garde, particularly of the work of the sculptor Constantin Brancusi.

• Material: Brass
• Size: 41.80 x 22.00 x 22.50 cm
• Gallery
• © The Fergusson Gallery, Perth & Kinross Council

1976

GMA 1583

This carved stone sculpture refers to a famous painting of the same name by the seventeenth-century French painter Nicholas Poussin, which shows a group of shepherds looking at an inscription on a tomb in a pastoral setting. The title is a ‘memento mori’ in Latin which can be translated as ‘I am also in Arcadia’, as if spoken by the personification of Death. Just as Poussin hints that even in an idyll death is present, so Finlay uses the image of modern warfare to remind us of the way we invade the world of nature with our weapons. The hills and trees can be found in the Poussin painting and although the tomb has become a tank made of bricks it is nonetheless a powerful symbol of death.

• Material: Stone
• Size: 28.10 x 28.00 x 7.60 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Ian Hamilton Finlay

1975

GMA 2799

This is one of a series of works dedicated to the Russian constructivist artist Vladimir Tatlin (1885- 1953). Tatlin treated art in engineering terms and embraced industry and technology. Flavin described Tatlin as, 'the great revolutionary, who dreamed of art as science'. By using fluorescent lights which could be bought in any hardware store, Flavin challenged the viewer's idea of art as dependant on an 'original' object. His choice of a banal, mass-produced, 'modern' object has close parallels with the use of material from popular culture by contemporary pop artists.

• Material: Fluorescent lights
• Size: 305.00 x 61.00 x 12.00 cm
• Gallery
• © ARS, NY and DACS, London 2004

1959

GMA 1108

The experience of growing up during the war years strongly affected Frink’s sculpture. This work is one of a number of bronzes, executed in the 1950s, in which animal forms are given a menacing, military appearance. Although only thirty-eight centimetres high, this bird appears simultaneously aggressive, powerful and like a damaged but defiant survivor of a nuclear attack. Typical of the sculptor’s early work, the distressed, textured surface and spindly, striding legs of the bird recall the work of Giacometti, who Frink cited as a great influence.

• Material: Bronze
• Size: 38.00 x 37.20 x 25.30 cm
• Gallery
• © The Estate of Elisabeth Frink, Beaux Arts London

1941

GMA 2978

This is one of four small models which precede two large sculptures. The sculpture is small enough to hold quite comfortably in two hands. Gabo's 'Spiral Theme' works are considered his most successful and were made while the artist was living near St Ives in Cornwall. The plastic materials were provided by a friend who worked for Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI). Using transparent materials in his sculptures allowed Gabo to sculpt with space itself. In keeping with the constructivist ethos, Gabo constructed his sculptures from independent elements rather than by carving or modelling.

• Material: Celluloid on perspex base
• Size: Base 0.20 x 15.90 x 15.60 cm; 6.80 x 16.80 x 11.30 cm
• Gallery
• © Nina Williams

1914 (posthumous cast)

GMA 2150

Gaudier-Brzeska had a personal and recognisable way of working, in which shapes were radically simplified. Both the bird and the fish have been reduced to their essential elements. The artist fused the mechanical and the organic in his sculptures. In this piece, the aggressive subject and the torpedo-like shape of the fish seem to anticipate the First World War, which already looked inevitable by spring 1914 and which broke out in July. This sculpture was modelled and carved in plaster before being cast in metal and is one of the last pieces Gaudier-Brzeska made.

• Material: Bronze
• Size: 32.00 x 60.50 x 29.50 cm
• Gallery

1932

GMA 1109

This is the most macabre of Giacometti's surrealist sculptures. Although the figure appears to be dying, the shape of the body resembles a mantrap or the jaws of a fly-eating plant. The right leg folds under the abdomen to form an aggressive spiky rib cage. A tiny nick can be seen in the throat, as the figure gasps for breath. The sculpture may have been inspired by a short story about the serial killer Jack the Ripper, written by one of the artist's friends. Such a gruesome subject is often considered taboo in art, which is perhaps why the artist chose it.

• Material: Bronze (5/5) (cast 1949)
• Size: 22.00 x 87.50 x 53.50 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

1913

GMA 14

Gill's first crucifix (now in the Tate Gallery, London) dates from 1909-1910. In the years that followed, the sculptor moved closer to Catholicism, before converting in 1913. Gill carved a large number of crucifixions in that year, for both public commissions and personal contemplation. This is one of the latter. Sex and religion were the main themes of Gill's sculpture, as he believed in the co-dependence of sexuality and spirituality. In August 1913 Gill was invited to carve a series of 'Stations of the Cross' for Westminster Cathedral in London, a commission which took several years to complete.

• Material: Hoptonwood stone, partly painted
• Size: 31.20 x 14.00 x 3.50 cm
• Gallery
• © the Artist's Estate / Bridgeman Art Library. All rights reserved.

about 1929 - 1930 (posthumous cast)

GMA 1259

'Harlequin' was one of González's earliest welded iron sculptures. After collaborating with Picasso in making a number of welded sculptures, González decided to make his own works. The head and the harlequin's patterned costume are re-created, but the sculpture works principally in sculptural terms, as an assembly of solids and voids, volumes and flat planes. González is regarded as the pioneer of welding, which challenges traditional sculpture techniques such as modelling in clay or carving in stone. The original iron version of 'Harlequin' is in the Kunsthaus in Zurich; this version is a posthumous bronze cast.

• Material: Bronze
• Size: 40.80 x 27.50 x 29.50 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

1970

GMA 2132

Hanson cast his sculptures from real people. The male and female figures seen here were cast one after the other in the artist's studio and the models never even met. Hanson preferred to make sculptures of people who would not normally be represented in a gallery but are instantly familiar, such as the overweight, unattractive or badly dressed. His figures exude a normality with which we can all identify. The 'Tourists' are caricatures of the stereotypical American tourists: comical and full of pathos at the same time. Like most of Hanson's figures, they are caught off guard and are therefore unaware of the gaze of the viewer.

• Material: Polyester resin and fibreglass, painted in oil, and mixed media
• Size: Man 152.00 x 80.50 x 31.00 cm; Woman 160.00 x 44.00 x 37.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Duane Hanson/VAGA, New York/DACS, London 2004

1949

GMA 854

'Dyad' is one of Hepworth's most overtly figurative sculptures. On one side there is the incised profile of a man's head and on the other there is a smaller, female profile. The form suggests that the two figures are embracing. There is no front or back view: both sides are equal. 'Dyad' is a mathematical term meaning 'two'. Hepworth wrote that she 'used it in this sense of the two forms and the two entities,' combined in one figure. Hepworth made her first pierced sculpture in 1931. Here, she uses holes as a way of uniting the two sides of the work.

• Material: Himalayan rosewood
• Size: 118.00 x 40.50 x 22.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Bowness, Hepworth Estate

1973

GMA 2000

This is one of several multi-part sculptures Hepworth made on the theme of social interaction. She called the three vertical elements 'figures' and the three other elements 'magic stones'. The number three recurs frequently in the artist's work, as she gave birth to triplets in 1934. The magic stones are identical eight-sided polyhedrons, although it is difficult to tell this as they each sit on different sides. Each stone has unique decorations, such as incised circles or textured areas. Hepworth lived in St Ives, Cornwall, and the prehistoric standing stones in the area may have inspired this work.

• Material: Bronze
• Size: 282.00 cm; 274.00 cm; 269.00 cm; 93.00 cm; 86.00 cm; 80.00 cm; Six parts, maximum height of each
• Gallery
• © Bowness, Hepworth Estate

1978

GMA 2504

Judd based his work on simple mathematical formulae, in order to avoid subjective, 'expressive' qualities. 'Reading' this sculpture from left to right, the steel blocks decrease by just under half their size, while the spaces between them do the same, but in reverse. The smallest space and the smallest solid have the same dimensions. Judd deliberately made his art to look as if it had been made by machine. Much of his work, including this one, was fabricated by the firm of Bernstein Bros., on Long Island. The contrast in the colours of the materials is a key element.

• Material: Chartreuse anodised aluminium and galvanised steel
• Size: 13.00 x 190.50 x 12.70 cm
• Gallery
• © Judd Foundation. Licensed by VAGA, New York/DACS, London 2004

1971

GMA 1503

After moving to the Scottish Highlands in 1969, Gerald Laing began to produce sculptures inspired by the wild and spacious landscape and by ancient features such as standing stones. He admired the "quiet authority" of standing stones and tried to replicate this quality in his own sculpture. The pyramid occurs frequently in Laing’s work of the early 1970s - here its solidity is pierced by a doorway-like shape. Having previously lived in New York for several years, the use of polished steel for this work suggests the influence of industrialisation on Laing’s sculpture.

• Material: Polished mild steel (two parts)
• Size: 62.40 x 62.20 x 26.60 cm
• Gallery
• © Gerald Laing / Bridgeman Art Library

1972

GMA 1308

Many of LeWitt's works explore the variations possible within the basic structure of a cube. In this work, each of the five structures occupies the same ground plan. They rise in single steps to a height of five units; the fifth structure is uniformly five units tall. The permutations are simple, clear and logical, and the viewer is invited to follow the mental process and imagine other variations or orders. The apparently straightforward structure of a cube can thus engage the viewer in very close attention and provoke imaginative responses.

• Material: White enamel paint on wood
• Size: Each structure 62.00 x 98.00 x 62.00 cm
• Gallery
• © ARS, NY and DACS, London 2004

1916

GMA 1091

In this work the small eye identifies the sculpture as that of a human figure. From this starting point we can detect the curves of the shoulder, arms and legs. The complex and dramatic three-dimensional construction of curved and linear forms encourages the viewer to walk around the sculpture rather than observe it from a fixed point. On close inspection, it is possible to see the work is 'signed' at the back of the base with the artist's thumbprint and signature. Lipchitz's cubist sculptures were usually made in clay or plaster. This bronze was probably cast in the 1960s and is numbered as one of seven, although it is believed to be the only cast made.

• Material: Bronze (1/7)
• Size: 78.00 x 29.20 x 29.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Jacques Lipchitz, courtesy, Marlborough Gallery, New York

1980

GMA 2196

This was one of Long's first works made of slate, which came from Delabole in Cornwall. The sculpture is an example of the artist bringing objects connected with his walks into a gallery. Unlike many of his works which are made outdoors and exist only in photographs, this piece is permanent. The line is a central image in Long's work. It recalls a path or a journey. It echoes the walks that Long has made all over the world.

• Material: Slate
• Size: 10.00 x 183.00 x 1067.00 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist

1989

GMA 3469

David Mach is renowned for his large-scale sculptures made of everyday materials. This work uses glass bottles filled with coloured water to create the shape of a woman lying on her back with her legs spread. It also echoes the shape of the Scottish flag. Mach made his first bottle piece in 1979. As a student he had worked in a bottling plant during his summer holidays and, impressed by the large production plant, he wanted to create works which were on the same imposing scale. This sculpture was commissioned by the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art for the collection.

• Material: Glass bottles, water, dye and emulsion paint
• Size: 22.50 x 300.00 x 207.00 cm (excluding base)
• Gallery
• © David Mach

1986

GMA 3468

David Mach made his first matchhead sculpture in 1982 after reading a review of his work in which the critic compared one of the artist's installations to hobbyist's matchstick models of the Eiffel Tower. Mach was intrigued that the reviewer wrote about matches with so much contempt and immediately decided to experiment with this 'underdog' of materials. His first head, using live matches, was set on fire by mistake. The blue and red matches burned down to shades of grey. Since then Mach has made dozens of these heads, which come in all colours but, once burned, change their character completely.

• Material: Burnt matches, glue
• Size: 45.50 x 20.50 x 15.00 cm
• Gallery
• © David Mach

1989

GMA 3461

Constructed from copper, tin and zinc, each of these objects has been carefully crafted and bound tightly with rubber bands to create a mysterious and self-contained sculpture. The objects are intended for display on the wall. Mackenna’s work of the 1980s is influenced by the generation of British sculptors that includes Richard Deacon, Richard Wentworth and Antony Gormley. Their sculptures explored the possibilities of using everyday materials and manufactured objects, making their work ‘object based’ rather than carved or modelled. Mackenna’s use of mundane and scrap materials reflects this sculptural interest in creating enigmatic objects whose shapes and materials inspire curiosity, but ultimately remain closed to the viewer.

• Material: Copper, zinc, tin, rubber bands and rivets
• Size: 10.00 x 10.00 x 5.00 cm; 8.70 x 12.60 x 4.00 cm; 11.70 x 9.00 x 2.50 cm
• Gallery
• © Tracy Mackenna

1904

GMA 3447

This revolving bookcase was made for Hous'hill, a large nineteenth-century house at Nitshill in Glasgow. The house belonged to Miss Catherine Cranston, who had earlier commissioned Mackintosh to design a series of tea rooms in Glasgow, including the famous Willow Tea Rooms which opened in 1904. This is Mackintosh's only revolving bookcase and was destined for the drawing room at Hous'hill. The design is based on an organic principle, with the vertical divisions representing the boughs and branches of a tree which multiply at each shelf, ending in little painted squares which suggest blossom or leaves.

• Material: Wood, painted
• Size: 122.00 x 46.00 x 46.00 cm
• Gallery

1984

GMA 2973

This is one of the first of Maclean's works in which he explores the bardic poetry of Gaelic culture. Like many of his works it has a strong narrative element. The piece is inspired by an eighteenth-century poem called 'The Ship of Women', by The Bard MacIntyre, which refers to the magical ships of folk tradition. On the deck of the ship are three strange and grotesque women; on close inspection it is possible to see their faces and the shapes of their bodies. In the black water below, fish swim ominously like circling sharks.

• Material: Mixed-media assemblage
• Size: (framed: 60.00 x 45.80 x 7.30 cm)
• Gallery
• © Will Maclean

1899

GMA 2941

This is among Maillol's earliest sculptures, showing Eve holding an apple and turning as if to offer it to Adam. Nearly all Maillol's sculptures are of female nudes, simply standing, sitting or kneeling. The dominant force in European sculpture at the turn of the century was the work of Auguste Rodin. However, Maillol rejected the movement and expression of Rodin's sculpture for a style of balance, harmony and quiet restraint. It was the calm classicism of Maillol's work, which made his work distinct from most nineteenth-century sculptors.

• Material: Bronze
• Size: 58.40 x 20.70 x 12.00 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

1949

GMA 2027

Pomona is the Roman goddess of fruit who watched over the orchards. Normally her attribute is an apple carried in the hand, but this sculpture has been given a modern twist, and here she wears a watch, a ring and a bracelet. The outline of a swimsuit is suggested in places and she may be wearing a bathing-cap, which would explain her bald head. Marini was influenced by the work of Aristide Maillol, who made several versions of a Pomona sculpture. Marini's Pomona may be seen as a light-hearted response to the solemn gravity of Maillol's figures.

• Material: Bronze
• Size: 170.00 x 80.50 x 58.00 cm
• Gallery
• © DACS 2004

1959

GMA 1590

Kenneth Martin’s series of ‘Screw Mobile’ works, developed from 1953, incorporate a vertical rod with bars attached to it at regular intervals. The distance between the bars was determined by a system called the Fibonacci sequence. This is a pattern found in nature, where each number is the sum of the previous two. It has been used by artists for many years to determine proportions, and was of particular interest to Constructivist artists. Martin wrote that a mobile ‘can enliven our consciousness of environment, moving as it does in our space and casting its moving shadow.’ As the mobile rotates, the optical movements which occur as a result of flickering shadows and light reflecting off the polished surface, are similar to those achieved by Kinetic Artists such as Bridget Riley.

• Material: Phosphor bronze
• Size: 62.50 x 56.00 x 56.00 cm
• Gallery
• © The Estate of Kenneth Martin

1910

GMA 1995

Matisse's sculptural method was indebted to Auguste Rodin. Like Rodin, Matisse modelled the skin with a rough texture that caught the light unevenly and gave his figures a lively, animated appearance. 'Jeanette II' is one of a series of five busts of a young woman, Jeannette Vaderin, who was convalescing near Matisse's home in 1910. The first two busts were executed in front of the model and are quite naturalistic, while the three later versions are progressively more stylized. In this work, the hair is transformed into a sculptural wave, and the nose has been pushed sideways to give the woman a quizzical look.

• Material: Bronze
• Size: 26.50 x 22.50 x 24.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Succession H Matisse/DACS 2004

1941

GMA 2745

Mellis was encouraged to experiment with collages and constructions by her friend, the artist Ben Nicholson, whose family lived with Mellis and her husband in St Ives at the start of the Second World War. These new works forced Mellis to 'think in a different way, not in colour which was natural for me.' This relief is somewhere between a painting and a sculpture, as it is put together, or 'constructed', using wood of different colours and textures. Mellis has used both geometric and natural shapes: for example, the egg shape in the centre, which is divided by a triangle.

• Material: Wood relief, pencil
• Size: 36.40 x 37.30 cm
• Gallery
• © Telfer Stokes

1960

GMA 757

Moore’s reclining figures are probably his best-known works, and are often displayed in public spaces. This sculpture is currently situated in the grounds behind the Gallery of Modern Art. Dating from the later part of Moore’s career, it shows the development of his figures into a combination of figurative and landscape forms. The rough, gouged surface is textured like rock, while the body is split into two sections with the lower body resembling the shapes of cliffs and sea caves – Moore cited Monet’s paintings of cliffs as an inspiration. The human form is thus made monumental and dignified, as if weathered by natural forces but stubbornly surviving. This sculpture is the second of seven casts – another version is owned by Tate, London.

• Material: Bronze (2/7)
• Size: 128.00 x 256.00 x 104.00 cm
• Gallery
• © The Henry Moore Foundation. This image must not be reproduced or altered without prior consent from the Henry Moore Foundation.

1951

GMA 1098

This sculpture was commissioned by the Arts Council of Great Britain for the Festival of Britain exhibition in 1951. Moore was asked to make a carving of a family group symbolising 'Discovery', but he chose instead to make a large reclining figure in bronze. The Gallery's bronze is this original cast. Moore explained his liking for reclining figures in typically rational terms, observing that large standing figures have a weak point at the ankles. He began making reclining figures in the late 1920s, and in the late 1930s produced several small, bronze reclining figures: these established the long, sinewy form which culminated in this sculpture.

• Material: Bronze
• Size: 106.00 x 228.60 x 73.70 cm (including base: 116.20 x 244.50 x 88.00 cm)
• Gallery
• © The Henry Moore Foundation. Image must not be reproduced or altered without prior consent from the Henry Moore Foundation.

1957 - 1964

GMA 2194

Nevelson's celebrated wall assemblages date from the late-1950s. In her exhibitions these became total environments which enveloped the viewer. The elements of each work were potentially variable, since they were made up of the same basic grammar of boxed wooden units. Units from one wall could be dismantled and incorporated into another, which is the reason for the seven-year date span of this work, finished in 1964 but incorporating parts dating back to the 1950s. Most of Nevelson's works were painted black but there are others in white and gold. Her assemblages reflect the experience of city life in New York.

• Material: Painted wood and formica assemblage
• Size: 258.50 x 347.00 x 42.00 cm
• Gallery
• © ARS, NY and DACS, London 2004

1962

GMA 978

The 1960s brought a new approach to sculpture for Eduardo Paolozzi. Abandoning the rough and coarse appearance of the surfaces of his earlier bronzes, he started to use prefabricated parts made from aluminium. Here, Paolozzi draws on the modernist tradition of “ready-made” parts in sculpture as well as on the ideal of the artist as an engineer: He distances himself from the notion of the artist's personality being expressed by his work.

• Material: Aluminium, enamel paint
• Size: 203.20 x 77.50 x 78.40 cm
• Gallery
• © Eduardo Paolozzi 2005. All Rights Reserved, DACS

1967 - 1968

GMA 2826

Paolozzi used collage throughout his oeuvre. In the 1960s, he extended this concept into actual interchangability in his sculpture. Each of the nine aluminium elements in this work is movable, so that it can be displayed in a variety of ways. The inspiration for the sculpture came partly from a model the artist had made of a design for a children's playground. This consisted of building blocks that could be moved and climbed on. Paolozzi was always fascinated by children's toy kits, which are also an influence here.

• Material: Aluminium
• Size: 9 elements in variable arrangement. Maximum length of each; 310.00 cm; 217.00 cm; 163.00 cm; 135.00 cm; 127.00 cm; 102.00 cm; ; 94.00 cm; 69.00 cm; 69.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Eduardo Paolozzi 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS

1948 - 1949

GMA 3398

Influenced by Alberto Giacometti and surrealist sculpture from the late 1920s and early 1930s, Paolozzi here experiments with shape and volume. Two similar forms pierced by the supporting rod, face each other. While alike in shape, they oppose each other in alignment and direction, leaving room for interpretations of a balanced dialogue as well as a potential conflict.

• Material: Bronze
• Size: 51.00 x 65.00 x 32.50 cm
• Gallery
• © The Estate of Eduardo Paolozzi  2005. All Rights Reserved, DACS

1949

GMA 3399

This sculpture was first made in plaster while the artist was living in Paris, and was cast in bronze in England at a later date. While in Paris, Paolozzi met the sculptor Giacometti and visited his studio. This strange object is similar to sculptures Giacometti made while working with the surrealist group. It has been suggested that this sculpture may derive in some way from the bone structure of a fish, with the central 'table' being the backbone while smaller bones spring away from it. Cut-away botanical models in science museums may also have helped suggest the motif.

• Material: Bronze
• Size: 83.00 x 60.50 x 39.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Eduardo Paolozzi 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS

1948

GMA 1996

Although Picasso is best known for his work as a painter, he also experimented extensively with sculpture. This bronze cast of a clay model almost certainly depicts the artist’s own right hand. Similarities can be drawn to an earlier self-portrait, painted in 1906, in which he holds a palette with his left hand and loosely clenches his right. Intriguingly, in preparatory drawings Picasso depicted a paintbrush in his right hand. By excluding it in the final painting, the artist gives testament to his belief that his skill as an artist went beyond his tools. Picasso encourages the viewer to contemplate his sculpture, ‘La Main’, it in a similar way by representing his hand with the distinct marks of the maker’s fingers.

• Material: Bronze (3/10)
• Size: 6.70 x 24.00 x 9.50 cm
• Gallery
• © Succession Picasso/DACS

1936

GMA 1517

Richards began making relief constructions in 1934. This is an early example of one of those pieces. During the 1930s Richards's work was influenced by Surrealism; the abstract nature of this work shows the influence of both Surrealism and Cubism. Some critics have commented on the erotic subtext of the piece, interpreting the aggressively jagged 'beast' as female and the wide-eyed bird as male. Even without reading sexual references into the relief, the construction is both comic and sinister.

• Material: Wood construction, raffia, plaster and oil
• Size: board 60.30 x 78.10 cm; Relief 42.80 x 60.30 cm;
• Gallery
• © Estate of Ceri Richards 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS

1955

GMA 1315

This sculpture was originally conceived as a monument for a French sports stadium; there is also a much larger version. The scarring and pitting on the sculpture suggests decay and anxiety, sentiments which are also evident in the post-war work of sculptors such as Alberto Giacometti, Lynn Chadwick and Reg Butler. The emphasis on decomposition and on the solitary, anguished figure was shared with many other artists and writers working in post-war Paris. This distinctive, emaciated figure contrasts sharply with the full, ripe forms of Maillol's work, which typifies French sculpture of the 1920s and 1930s.

• Material: Bronze
• Size: 120.00 x 59.00 x 47.00 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

1977

GMA 2844

The two long rods of this sculpture can pivot and move 360 degrees in the wind, although they have been carefully designed not to touch each other. Rickey was interested in the movement of straight lines through the air and in how they cut through the surrounding space. As a child, Rickey considered becoming an engineer andwas fascinated by the machinery in the engine-room of the steamers on the river Clyde. This childhood interest influenced his kinetic sculptures, such as this.

• Material: Stainless steel (3/3)
• Size: Height: 670.50 cm
• Gallery
• © George Rickey/VAGA, New York/DACS, London 2004

1906

GMA 1274

'Ecce Puer' (Behold the Boy!) is a portrait of Alfred William Mond, produced after a commission from the boy's father, Emil. Legend has it that Rosso experienced great difficulty with the work. Then, one evening, he was struck by the appearance of the boy as he peered through some curtains. Rosso chose to depict that fleeting moment and apparently finished the bust in a single sitting. When it was first exhibited in Paris in 1906, the sculpture was entitled 'Impression of a Child'.

• Material: Plaster, gesso and varnish
• Size: 46.20 x 43.00 x 32.00 cm
• Gallery

1943

GMA 1216

This is one of several stylised wood carvings Schotz produced during the 1940s, different in style from the roughly-finished bronzes with which he is normally associated. Although the sculpture is modernist in style, Schotz worked in the classical tradition of modelling and carving a nude without the support of drapery. ‘The Lament’ was made in response to the Second World War. As an influential figure in the Glasgow Jewish community, Schotz organised exhibitions of Jewish art and helped war refugees. He described the sculpture as ‘an expression of my feelings for my fellow Jews of Europe.’ Carved as if curving away from the viewer and with her hands raised to her face, the figure appears to be withdrawing in horror.

• Material: Wood (lignum vitae)
• Size: 91.50 x 30.50 x 21.50 cm
• Gallery
• © By permission of the Trustees of the late Benno Schotz RSA

about 1927 - 1930

GMA 2077

This relief is thought to have been inspired by the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, an event which had a major and immediate impact in the art world. A pyramid can be seen in the background and the tall figures mimic the stylized profiles found in Egyptian art. Schwitters is also using the composition to explore the relationship between real and pictorial space. The red line at the top links the real and painted curved forms and the tall figure on the right has a painted shadow to give the illusion of depth.

• Material: Oil on wood relief on plywood
• Size: 60.00 x 50.20 cm (framed: 79.00 x 68.00 x 10.00 cm - glazed)
• Gallery
• © DACS 2004

1979

GMA 2152

This work is one if a series of ‘book’ sculptures made by Scobie in the late 1970s - early 1980s. They explore the sculptural possibilities of the book as a visual object. As Scobie described: “they all express in different ways, nature, the erotic, and I hope, some kind of abstract spiritual reality, the recognition of which I can only leave to the viewer”. ‘Wittgenstein’s Dream’ is the amalgamation of a still life and a book and was made at a time when the artist was beginning to experiment with methods of casting. The title refers to a dream that the Austrian philosopher, Wittgenstein, had and alludes to the border between reality and the dream-world.

• Material: Bronze
• Size: Open 5.00 x 51.70 x 83.80 cm; closed 6.20 x 43.20 x 51.70 cm
• Gallery
• © Gavin Scobie

Dated 1974

GMA 2950

‘Step’, made in spring 1974, is one of Scobie’s first large-scale, welded aluminium sculptures, made simultaneously with a related work, ‘Turn’, but preceded by a much larger work, ‘Iris’. While his work was indebted to Donald Judd and Sol LeWitt, being unyielding and abstract, these three works marked a move towards a more personal, almost figurative mode. ‘Step’ was partly inspired by Auguste Rodin’s ‘Walking Man’ from 1877-8, in the sense of a figure having a strong forward movement, yet being balanced on two scissor-like legs; ‘Step’ carries a related sense of movement and precarious balance. This idea is cemented in the title.

• Material: Aluminium
• Size: 204.50 x 110.50 x 32.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Gavin Scobie

1961

GMA 2832

The title of this sculpture is an untranslatable pun on the French word 'jalousie', which means both 'jealousy' and a 'blind or bead curtain'. The work is powered by an electric motor, which makes the bead curtain shake when a button is pressed. The bead curtain moves furiously but also sensuously, much like the grass skirt of an exotic dancer. However, the movement of the curtain can be interpreted differently: it also evokes the idea of a person trembling with jealousy.

• Material: Painted bead curtain, metal rod and electric motor
• Size: 217.50 x 91.50 x 35.50 cm
• Gallery
• © DACS 2005

1972

GMA 1310

The form of the gate was one which Turnbull first explored in the early 1960s. While travelling in Asia he was struck by the formal gates through which visitors to religious sites had to pass, and the effects of these gates on the surrounding space. Accordingly, Turnbull’s gate sculptures can also be read as altars. He was also influenced by Matisse’s use of open windows in his paintings, which creates a tension between interior and exterior space. ‘Gate’ has multiple roles - inviting entry but also discouraging it, enclosing space and acting as a frame. This sculpture can be found in the grounds of the Dean Gallery. Made of polished steel, it reflects changes in its environment.

• Material: Stainless steel
• Size: 217.20 x 292.00 x 91.40 cm
• Gallery
• © William Turnbull 2005. All Rights Reserved, DACS

1962 - 1963

GMA 2831

This piece was made after Turnbull bought some rosewood logs at a timber merchant's yard. He had not previously done any carving, but produced a series of works in which several elements, often different materials, are stacked on top of each other. The shape of this sculpture suggests a primitive idol, something which might be a focus of worship in another culture. The sliced ovoid form, which sits delicately on the horizontal bar, developed from Turnbull's fascination with opening flowers, and was partly inspired by Monet's late water-lily paintings. The form can also read as a head gazing upward.

• Material: Bronze and rosewood
• Size: 161.40 x 124.50 x 43.00 cm
• Gallery
• © William Turnbull 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS

1986

GMA 3007

In this sculpture, a section of ventilation ducting is topped by a snake/branch, which is grasped by a golden fist and a transistor radio; this in turn is held together by a G-shaped clamp. This curious assortment of objects has been made from the metal cut out of the ventilation duct. The sculpture is typical of Woodrow's work of the 1980s, when found or discarded objects were ingeniously reused and enhanced. In an era of consumerism, Woodrow's sculptures are a positive symbol of recycling and regeneration.

• Material: Metal ventilation ducting, enamel paint
• Size: 248.50 x 67.00 x 51.00 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist

1927

GMA 769

Zadkine was a music-lover and made a series of sculptures of musicians. However this sculpture shows instead the effects of music, with the enraptured expressions on the faces of the two dancers suggesting that they have been transported into the world of music. The arms and draperies of the figures are rhythmically curved and the mirroring of their poses suggests harmony and balance. Curves appeared in Zadkine’s sculptures as he moved away from earlier Cubist influences. However he has used some Cubist-like planes here and has also employed the Cubist device of inverting negative and positive spaces. For example, the arm of the male figure is a scooped out and the tips of his fingers are drawn into the neck of his partner.

• Material: Bronze (2/3)
• Size: 57.80 x 19.00 x 19.30 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2006

1943

GMA 2965

Like Léger, Mondrian, Chagall and many other European artists, Zadkine took refuge in the United States during World War II, where this work was made. Zadkine later wrote that the stone was among the hardest he had carved, hence the lack of detail and the rough surface. ‘Torse de femme’ resembles a sculpture from antiquity, damaged and fragmented, yet mounted heroically on a base. Whilst in America, Zadkine could not forget the destruction that was being felt in Europe and this work perhaps denotes the terrible human toll of the war.

• Material: Stone (dolerite)
• Size: 45.00 x 28.50 x 15.00 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2006

Dated 1946

GMA 1710

Naum Gabo was a Russian sculptor who, like the artist of this painting, lived in Britain for several years due to the effects of the Second World War on mainland Europe. Working mainly in the artists’ community of St Ives, Gabo was interested in scientific developments in the understanding of space and materials. Jankel Adler was particularly influenced by Gabo’s use of space, and in this painting pays homage to one of his artistic influences. Gabo is depicted as a semi-realistic figure holding one of his abstract sculptures, exemplifying the pull between realism and abstraction in post-war British art. The Gallery of Modern Art has two sculptures by Naum Gabo in its collection.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 112.50 x 86.80 cm
• Gallery
• © DACS 2006

1970

GMA 1514

This large painting was inspired by the Throne of Ludovisi, a Roman marble panel which shows Aphrodite bring raised from the sea by two women. Although the painting is very different in style from the classical sculpture, Agar was interested in exploring the upward movement of the women’s arms, and the overall circular movement created in the sculpture. The painting contains sweeping, interlinking motions throughout. It also suggests a Spanish fan dancer, with arms raised in the air, wearing a dress decorated with spots or stripes. The use of blue recalls an element of the painting’s main inspiration - the sea, and also echoes Agar’s interest in taking inspiration from nature. In this painting, natural and fantastical forms are combined.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 151.20 x 151.20 cm
• Gallery
• © Eileen Agar Estate

1974

GMA 1501

This is among Aitchison’s first paintings of the lily, one of the artist’s favourite flowers due to its simple and elegant shape. The painting is primarily a still life, dominated by the single flower in a vase, yet it also contains both landscape and religious elements. The lily takes on a religious significance, due to the presence of the small Crucifixion in the background. Yet the composition remains simple and balanced, with echoes of shapes and tones throughout the painting. The pink triangular cloth on which the vase sits reflects the shape of the hill in the background and the coloured line beneath, and the artist has balanced the intense red with a patterned vase and a landscape view, without any one element dominating.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 76.20 x 63.50 cm
• Gallery
• © the Artist / Bridgeman Art Library. All rights reserved.

1966

GMA 2030

This painting is from Albers's 'Homage to the Square' series, which he began in 1950, when he was sixty-two, and continued until his death in 1976. These works explore the effects colours have on each other, reducing painting to its most basic constituents - colour and form. All of the paintings in the series are similar in composition to this work, consisting of three or four squares placed inside each other. Albers chose the square as he felt it was the shape that most emphasised the man-made quality of painting, thus distinguishing art from nature.

• Material: Oil on masonite
• Size: 122.00 x 122.00 cm
• Gallery
• © The Joseph and Anni Albers Foundation/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn and DACS, London 2006

1959

GMA 815

This painting was made shortly after Appel had seen the work of the abstract expressionist artist (and fellow Dutchman) Willem de Kooning, while on a trip to America. Appel's painting suggests spontaneity and directness. Some of the paint has been squeezed onto the canvas directly from the tube and other areas have been smudged with his hands. The painting is an explosion of colour and movement, with an ominous black mass at either end of the canvas suggesting the threatening storm.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 129.50 x 161.90 cm
• Gallery
• © Karel Appel Foundation/DACS, London, 2004.

Dated 1953

GMA 3481

Symbolism was of great interest to Armstrong, and, in the early 1950s, he began to develop his own symbolist vocabulary. This encompassed many of his views and beliefs - relating to mythology, religion, theatre, architecture and politics. These are visible in his series of large ‘battle’ paintings, such as ‘The Battle of Religion’, for which this is a study. An echo of surrealism is also apparent with Armstrong playing on the incongruity of the rocking horse on the battlefield and the figures blindly waving their wooden swords yet failing to clash. In its subject and composition this work is clearly inspired by Uccello’s ‘Battle of San Romano’ in the National Gallery, London.

• Material: Tempera on paper laid on board
• Size: 31.50 x 41.20 cm
• Gallery
• © SODART/DACS 2006

1959

GMA 1302

Auerbach’s landscapes are predominantly of the area of north London which includes Primrose Hill, Mornington Crescent and Camden Town, the location of his studio. This painting is one of the earliest in a series of works which depict Primrose Hill. It was painted during a long, hot summer - the bright colours and shadows in the foreground suggest the effects of dazzling sunlight. After making drawings on location, Auerbach works up the paintings in his studio. A lengthy process of painting, and then scraping off layers of paint to enable him to start again, meant that Auerbach would complete on average only two or three of these large paintings per year.

• Material: Oil on board
• Size: 91.50 x 122.00 cm (framed: 96.60 x 127.60 x 4.60 cm)
• Gallery
• © Frank Auerbach, Courtesy of Marlborough Fine Art

1961

GMA 1537

Auerbach made a series of portraits of E.O.W. (his companion Estella West) from the 1950s to the 1970s. He painted her regularly in her home, three evenings a week and always by electric light. The lighting is part of the reason he has used these colours. Also, the monochrome paints were cheaper. Auerbach has commented on these portraits: ‘"She was the most important person in my life at the time... The intensity of life with somebody and the sense of its passing has its own pathos and poignancy. There was a sense of futility about it all disappearing into the void and I just wanted to pin something down that would defy time, so it wouldn’t all just go off into thin air." The very thick paint, which is typical of Auerbach’s work, comes from this desire to fix and ‘pin down’.

• Material: Oil on plywood
• Size: 59.80 x 56.80 cm
• Gallery
• © Frank Auerbach, Courtesy Marlborough Fine Art

1961 - 1962 / 1964

GMA 2847

The park at Primrose Hill, near Auerbach’s studio in Camden Town, is one of the artist’s favourite motifs. This work was painted in 1961-62 in a range of brown tones; it was then put aside and completely re-worked in 1964 in brighter colours. The practice of painting, scraping off paint, and repainting is integral to the artist’s working process, resulting in works which are thickly encrusted with paint. Auerbach’s subjects, whether people or places, come from his immediate surroundings as he prefers to be familiar with what he paints in order to capture the essence of his subject. Auerbach has depicted Primrose Hill in all seasons and weathers.

• Material: Oil on board
• Size: 112.50 x 140.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Frank Auerbach, courtesy Marlborough Fine Art

1940

GMA 3535

Baird’s paintings are characterised by an obsessive attention to detail, and this meticulously painted still life is no different. Painted during the war years when fruit was scarce, the apples and pears had been brought from abroad by the artist's brother. However, as Baird was a perfectionist, by the time he had finished the painting the apples and pears were completely rotten – an extravagance, friends said, given the scarcity of fruit during the war years. The blue and white jug is known as a ‘Glasgow Jug’.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 45.90 x 61.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Graham Stephen/The Artist's Estate

1955

GMA 2311

The model in this painting is Balthus's niece by marriage, Frédérique Tison. Seventeen years old at the time this work was painted, Frédérique became the artist's favourite model and muse. Her pose is both vulnerable and confrontational, suggesting sexual awakening. It derives from paintings by Caravaggio and Corregio. The work was painted in the artist's château near Nevers, in central France, where Balthus moved in 1953.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 161.00 x 130.40 cm (framed: 188.00 x 155.5 cm)
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

1957

GMA 2778

This work was painted while Barns-Graham was living in Leeds and teaching at the School of Art there. The colours are influenced by the colours she saw in the city: glimpses of brightly-coloured clothing which contrasted with the dark, wintery skies. 'Starbotton' is the name of a pot-hole she visited in Yorkshire. Like most of Barns-Graham's abstract paintings, the origins of this work are from nature and the artist's own experience. Barns-Graham had a long working life, and continued to paint until her death in 2004.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 63.50 x 76.50 cm
• Gallery
• © Barns-Graham Charitable Trust

1987

GMA 3372

This painting shows the expressive brushstrokes for which Baselitz became famous. He is an exponent of Neo-Expressionism, a movement that revived the spirit of German Expressionism. Baselitz felt strongly about the political problems in Germany and was deeply distrustful of political ideologies. In his use of grotesque and dismembered images of the body, Baselitz is setting himself firmly apart from the images of heroic workers, endorsed under the 'Socialist Realism' of East Germany. The style and lurid red in this painting suggest violence. Also, the head appears to be dislocated from the rest of the body.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 200.00 x 162.20 cm (framed: 213.86 x 175.89 x 7.62 cm)
• Gallery
• © Georg Baselitz

1983

GMA 2803

Paintings of the sea and fishing boats are central to Bellany’s oeuvre. This picture is a development from earlier paintings of fishermen holding up skate, with the features of the fish giving voice to the men’s emotions. However, this image is more sinister due to the presence of the skeletal figure, transforming the skate into mouthpieces of the dead in general, and of those who have died at sea. Bellany’s paintings are intimately connected with the human figure, and particularly with his own life. However, he often uses animals to reflect different aspects of human nature. Bellany underwent several personal crises during the 1980s, which are reflected in the choice of harrowing subject matter and the agitated, expressive brushwork found in his paintings at this time.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 173.00 x 153.00 cm
• Gallery
• © the Artist / Bridgeman Art Library. All rights reserved.

1966

GMA 2987

In this portrait,Bellany has paid close attention to the weather-beaten quality of his father's head and hands. These tell most about the character of the sitter and his life. The tattoo on his left arm says 'True love Nancy'. His wife Nancy (the artist's mother) was extremely important to him, to the extent that he gave up being a fisherman in 1951, to alleviate her anxiety, when he was at sea. The sitter rests against what appears to be one of the artist's own paintings, showing fishermen, a reference to the sitter's profession.

• Material: Oil on hardboard
• Size: 122.00 x 91.20 cm
• Gallery
• © the Artist / Bridgeman Art Library. All rights reserved.

1966

GMA 2988

Kinlochbervie is a small fishing village in the north-west of Scotland. As in many of Bellany’s early paintings, this work combines sea and religious imagery. The fish gutters in the foreground are in a ‘Last Supper’ arrangement and a figure at the top right carries a yoke which gives him the appearance of being crucified. It is one of the first paintings in which Bellany shows a single boat with fishermen outlined against a clear sky. The boat is used symbolically to represent a conveyor of human fate like the mythical boat used to ferry the dead across the river Styx to Hades.

• Material: Oil on hardboard (two sheets joined)
• Size: 243.50 x 320.00 cm
• Gallery
• © the Artist / Bridgeman Art Library. All rights reserved.

1968

GMA 2989

The theme of death recurs in Bellany’s paintings of the 1960s-70s, and it forms the background to this painting of his maternal grandmother, Mrs Maltman, who had been recently widowed. Depicted sitting up in bed with the Bible open before her and confronting the viewer with an intense gaze, she is dignified and serene - in every sense the matriarch of the family. Bellany is very close to his family and has represented various members of it in paintings and drawings since childhood. He used variations of this image in a series of paintings in the period 1969-72.

• Material: Oil on hardboard
• Size: 91.50 x 91.40 cm
• Gallery
• © the Artist / Bridgeman Art Library. All rights reserved.

about 1973

GMA 2990

This painting explores themes of carnal desire, death and religion, using animals in a symbolic manner. The central female figure is blinded by the sheep mask she wears - the sheep representing self-sacrifice in the Christian tradition. Normally a symbol of marital fidelity, a dog sits in a provocative and phallic position on her lap. Displaying herself openly, the woman is watched by a male figure on the left, who is a thinly-veiled portrait of the artist. The ghostly figure is dressed in deathly black and white and is accompanied by a phallic-looking monkey, the symbol of both lust and art. The relationship between the male and female figures is set against the religious imagery of the ladder and fish-head in the top right of the picture.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 184.90 x 164.90 cm
• Gallery
• © the Artist / Bridgeman Art Library. All rights reserved.

1964

GMA 3359

This triptych was exhibited at Bellany's postgraduate exhibition in 1965, when the artist was twenty-three years old. The layout of 'Allegory' derives from Grünewald's 'Isenheim' Altarpiece, but the subject matter is autobiographical. As a student, Bellany had a Saturday job gutting fish in Port Seton, a small fishing village south of Edinburgh. The setting of 'Allegory' is a mixture of Port Seton and Eyemouth (another fishing port), where Bellany's grandparents lived. The gutted haddock, displayed in the manner of the Crucifixion, become metaphors for suffering humanity; the passive fishermen replace Christ's family and the Roman soldiers. Bellany has given religious monumentality to a real-life scene.

• Material: Oil on hardboard (triptych)
• Size: 212.40 x 121.80 cm; 213.30 x 160.00 cm; 212.50 x 121.80 cm
• Gallery
• © the Artist / Bridgeman Art Library. All rights reserved.

1964

GMA 1106

This is one of Bissier's late works. It is painted in tempera on a cloth prepared by the artist, which is the reason for its uneven edge. Bissier mixed his own pigments to produce rich, transparent colours. Influenced by oriental paintings, Bissier applied paint delicately, with a similar importance placed on line. The delicate, abstract qualities of this painting are balanced by the use of strong areas of colour. Bissier's works tend not to be either fully abstract or figurative but the shapes in his paintings often suggest everyday objects.

• Material: Tempera on batiste
• Size: 44.50 x 58.80 cm
• Gallery
• © DACS 2005

1965

GMA 1026

Blackadder has become well-known for her paintings of flowers, which began to appear in her drawings and paintings from the 1960s. After acquiring several Persian rugs in 1964, Blackadder began a series of paintings inspired by their rich colours and patterns. At that stage in her work, as with 'Flowers on an Indian Cloth', flowers were generally incorporated to form an overall decorative composition. The 1960s were an era of optimism, which is reflected in the artist's use of bright colours.

• Material: Oil crayon on paper
• Size: 102.00 x 77.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Elizabeth Blackadder

1937

GMA 994

This dark, brooding self-portrait was painted in Hampstead in 1937. It is one of a series of introspective works painted that year, which reflect the artist's depression following a number of setbacks. The Tate Gallery had declined to acquire any of his works for their collection; the situation in Nazi Germany was becoming increasingly black, with Jewish artists forbidden to exhibit; and the Civil War in Bomberg's beloved Spain continued. Bomberg, who was Jewish, became actively involved in anti-fascist activities.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 77.20 x 56.50 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist's Family

1923

GMA 2931

This painting shows a view close to Bonnard's home in Vernonnet in northern France. The river Seine can be seen through the trees and bushes, while on the right there are three figures walking through the undergrowth. A fallen tree or branch is reduced to a slashed diagonal line which serves to unite the foreground and distance. As in many of Bonnard's mature landscapes, the rich colour and sensuous handling of paint create a feeling of warmth and luxuriance.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 48.30 x 45.70 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

about 1912 - 1914

GMA 2932

In 1912 Bonnard bought a house in Vernonnet a village on the Seine, north west of Paris. He became good friends with fellow artist Claude Monet who lived in the nearby town of Giverny. When Bonnard moved to Vernonnet he abandoned the dark colours he had used in his early work for a palette of glowing purples, pinks, greens and yellows, as seen in this painting. Like many other artists, Bonnard found that the bright light led him to paint in more vibrant tones.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 76.00 x 65.20 cm (framed: 94.00 x 83.00 x 10.50 cm)
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

1965

GMA 1539

Boshier became well-known for his Pop Art paintings in the early 1960s, but by 1965 had progressed to painting in the geometric style which is associated with Op Art. This shift in style came after the artist had spent a year in India and had become increasingly politically aware. ‘Plaza’ is one of a series of paintings which explore the mechanics of perception by using bright and repeated geometric patterns. The painting uses two shaped canvases with the smaller attached to the front of the larger one with metal struts. The sculptural element of the work prefigured the artist’s move into sculpture shortly after this piece was made.

• Material: Oil on two shaped canvases, attached by metal struts
• Size: 205.20 x 205.20 cm; 106.00 x 106.00 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist

1969

GMA 1304

This is part of the 'London Series' group of works by Boyle Family. It is an exact, three-dimensional replica of a kerb from Addison Crescent in West London. The artists chose this area to replicate by throwing darts, at random, at a map. The work was made by spreading a plastic substance called Epikote on the ground, which lifts up all the surface debris when removed. This was then given a fibreglass support and painted. Working in this way and recording whatever is within the chosen area, removes the aspect of subjective choice and reduces the conscious, decision-making process.

• Material: Painted fibreglass and mixed media
• Size: 247.00 x 244.00 x 19.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Boyle Family

1973

GMA 1305

Boyle Family are perhaps best known for a series of works called ‘Journey to the Surface of the Earth’, in which they make exact replicas of randomly-selected portions of the earth’s surface. The ‘Skin Series’ is based on the same principal, mapping surfaces but on a microscopic scale. ‘Skin Series No.8’ is an image of a minute section of skin taken from the inside of Mark Boyle’s right elbow. Fourteen such works were made, each area being randomly chosen by throwing darts at a body chart. Each skin section was then frozen & removed. A negative image was taken, then enlarged and recorded on light sensitive paper. ‘Skin Series’ also relates to Boyle Family’s works of the 1960s which used bodily fluids.

• Material: Black and white photograph (Cytogram) on hardboard (two sheets joined)
• Size: 183.00 x 183.40 cm
• Gallery
• © Boyle Family

1986

GMA 3016

The works of Boyle Family replicate the world with the minimum of artistic intervention and as objectively as possible. They aim to make us look at reality with the same attention we would devote to a film or to the visual arts. Chance also plays an important role in determining what they will reproduce. This is one of a series of random studies of broken black and white paths, showing the process of disintegration and change. It is one of their ‘Earth Works’, in which they reproduce a section of ground, whether it be pavement, sand or soil.

• Material: Painted fibreglass and mixed media
• Size: 182.70 x 305.00 x 12.50 cm
• Gallery
• © Boyle Family

1911

GMA 1561

This is a very early example of one of Braque's paintings that includes lettering. The purpose of this lettering was to question the relationship between words, pictures and the objects they represent. Here, the lettering identifies the French-Catalan newspaper L'Indépendant, while the numbers refer to its price. Towards the top of the picture is a candle, which helps identify the shape below as a candlestick. A simple clay pipe- the kind Braque smoked - lies to the centre right, and below it are a bobbin and a pair of scissors.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 46.20 x 38.20 cm (framed: 70.00 x 62.00 x 7.00 cm)
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

1965

GMA 3054

This work documents a 'Self-painting', in which Brus covered his whole body in white paint, and then painted black lines over himself to suggest cracks. The collaged pins, razor blades and pen-knife take on the ritual significance of tools of torture, making Brus's body like that of a secular saint. By using his body in this way, Brus reintroduced raw human emotion into art. The collage is typical of the counter-culture which operated throughout Europe and the USA during the 1960s, but also refers to the tortured self-portraits of the Viennese Expressionists, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka.

• Material: Mixed media on board mounted on wood
• Size: 77.00 x 77.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Gunter Brus

about 1925 - 1930

GMA 1893

Cadell first visited the island of Iona, off the west coast of Scotland, in 1912. Thereafter he returned frequently, often in the company of Peploe. Cadell’s paintings show everyday life on the island such as the brightly-roofed building seen here, and he felt the light was of the same quality as that in the south of France. Like Peploe, Cadell found the tranquillity of the island a welcome break from his life in Edinburgh. His canvases of island scenes, painted in bold colours with block-like brushstrokes, were easy to sell when he returned to the city.

• Material: Oil on canvas-board
• Size: 37.70 x 45.00 cm (framed: 49.60 x 57.00 x 5.00 cm)
• Gallery

about 1912

GMA 3

This is one of Cadell's largest paintings. The style is influenced by the broad brushstrokes of the Impressionists. The use of the mirror was a common artistic device, enabling an artist to show both the front and back views of a model in a single picture. Until the creation of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in 1959, the National Gallery of Scotland would not purchase work by living artists or even those who had been dead for less than ten years. This painting was bought immediately after Cadell's ten-year period in 'purgatory' had elapsed.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 127.20 x 101.60 cm (framed: 144.00 x 119.50 x 5.50 cm)
• Gallery

about 1921

GMA 3350

The sitter in this painting is Bertha Hamilton Don-Wauchope (1864 - 1944), an Edinburgh model who posed regularly for Cadell from about 1911 to 1926. The distinctive mauve-coloured walls indicate that the portrait was painted in the artist's studio in Ainslie Place, Edinburgh, where the artist lived from 1920. After the First World War, Cadell abandoned his feathery impressionistic manner for this style, using bold colours and scarcely-visible brushstrokes. Cadell often included the names of colours in the titles of his paintings. This practice had been made popular by Whistler and became fashionable during the Edwardian period.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 76.30 x 63.50 cm (framed: 97.00 x 84.50 x 9.00 cm)
• Gallery

about 1930

GMA 3351

This painting is from the later part of Cadell's career. From the First World War onwards he used increasingly bright colours and strong shapes in his work. Cadell frequently painted interiors and still lifes. The red chair in the background of this painting was from the artist's studio and can be seen in other still lives painted during the 1920s and 1930s. Although this still life contains few objects, the simple composition of the image is tied together by the use of red and pink tones throughout the painting.

• Material: Oil on canvas laid on board
• Size: 76.20 x 60.90 cm (framed: 89.00 x 73.50 x 6.50 cm)
• Gallery

1985

GMA 3049

In this painting, the bubble-like capsule encompassing the man’s head is, as the title suggests, a flea’s impression of a head seen through its multi-faceted eye. But why the man wears only one shoe and why another head appears at his waist is not clear, nor is it intended to be. Campbell was influenced by the spirit of Surrealism – the idea of a picture reflecting mental space, rather than real, physical, space. Yet, while his work is complex and absurd, it is also humorous. As in this picture, Campbell’s paintings often suggest a narrative, but this cannot be ‘read’ in a straightforward manner. Many of his paintings contain strong theatrical elements, showing the influence of contemporary performance art.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 272.00 x 242.00 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist

1986

GMA 3296

In this painting, a suited figure (perhaps the artist himself) wedges himself between St Christopher and the infant Christ, and seems intent on guiding the latter to a watery end. The sheep, the hilly landscape and the presence of the Union Jack may refer to the Falklands War of 1982. Campbell was influenced by the stories of P.G. Wodehouse, murder mystery magazines and children's book illustrations. Like many of Campbell's paintings, this work has a surreal quality and features male characters involved in bizarre, apparently nonsensical activities.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 262.00 x 238.40 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist

1967

GMA 1536

This painting is derived from an illustration which Caulfield found in a book on churches. The title of the particular chapter was 'The Parish Church'. Caulfield chose to depict a church, partly because it was an unusual subject to find in art in the 1960s, a time when Pop Art was the dominant style. The artist also had in mind a cardboard church that he had made when he was a child. The model had stained-glass windows, which glowed brightly, when the building was lit from the inside.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 152.30 x 274.40 cm
• Gallery
• © Patrick Caulfield 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS

1981

GMA 2503

The figures in this painting are typical of the large muscular young men portrayed by Chia. The subject of this painting is effectively autobiographical, as the figures are painters. Commenting on the work, Chia wrote (with tongue in cheek): 'I would like to say that those two courageous boys are painters at work because courageous boys are either firemen or painters'. Chia was part of the 'transavanguardia' movement. He painted large, heroic figures, influenced by the masters of the Italian Renaissance, who seem to belong to some new, twentieth-century mythology.

• Material: Oil and oil pastel on canvas
• Size: 168.20 x 158.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Sandro Chia/VAGA, New York/DACS, London 2004

1960

GMA 1535

Clough’s paintings of the late 1950s to early 1960s record the simplified forms of industrial scenes, reflecting the growing urbanisation and industrialisation of Britain at that time. She visited gasworks, cooling towers and chemical and electrical works, taking inspiration from the shapes and colours of the scenes. Clough’s work was becoming increasingly abstract, as seen in this painting, but it still retained a figurative basis. Although she has employed a limited range of colours, as is characteristic of her early work, the artist has created texture by scraping areas of the paint. The faint oval shapes in the vertical band at the centre of the painting recall electricity pylons.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 162.00 x 152.80 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Prunella Clough 2006. All Rights Reserved DACS

1946

GMA 842

This work belongs to a series of figure paintings the artist made in Ireland late in 1946. The motif of two figures, usually women, occurs frequently in Colquhoun’s paintings of the mid-1940s. Some critics have seen this as reflecting the painter’s intense relationship with his partner Robert MacBryde. In the year this work was painted, the artist was also in contact with the Polish artist Jankel Adler. Adler influenced Colquhoun’s expressive treatment of the human figure. Many of Colquhoun’s paintings of this period also have tragic and poignant undertones which were in keeping with the mood of society after the Second World War.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 76.20 x 61.00 cm
• Gallery
• © the Artist's Estate / Bridgeman Art Library. All rights reserved.

1953

GMA 1306

This is probably Colquhoun's largest work. It was painted while he was living in a cottage close to a farm, near Dunmow in Essex. The figures represent the farmer and his wife. The cubist-inspired style of angular forms and contours is typical of Colquhoun's work of the period. In the same year that this work was painted, Colquhoun desiged costumes for a new production of King Lear; the flattened, stage-set forms in this painting may owe something to that project.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 185.40 x 143.50 cm
• Gallery
• © the Artist's Estate / Bridgeman Art Library. All rights reserved.

1986

GMA 3039

Despite the fact that the men in this painting all share the same small space, they seem completely isolated from each other. This gives the painting a sense of unease and claustrophobia which is central to Conroy’s work of the 1980s. Moreover, as the narrative behind the picture is unclear, the viewer is led to question the identity and purpose of the men. The scene is dramatically lit, as if the figures are on stage, creating shadows which add to the air of mystery. Open-mouthed figures appear frequently in Conroy’s paintings of the mid to late 1980s, as do men with blank glasses. Unable to see their eyes and thus read their expression, the viewer feels further distanced from the scene.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 122.00 x 91.40 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist c/o Marlborough Fine Art

1933 / about 1940

GMA 1325

'A Portrait Group' was originally painted in 1933 and featured four pupils of Bellshill Academy near Glasgow, where Cowie taught until 1935. Cowie dramatically reworked the painting in about 1940 and changed almost every detail. Most notably, Cowie had portrayed a young girl in the foreground of the first version, but later changed her into a mature woman. The painting shows the linear form of realism that Cowie practised. There seems to be no psychological relationship between the sitters, as the artist often assembled large compositions from separate studies. He always began his portraits by painting an eye, believing that the eyes were the most intense and compelling part of the sitter.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 101.60 x 127.30 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of James Cowie

1947

GMA 1167

This is one of a series of still-life paintings made by Cowie in the 1940s in which he imitates effects found in collage. Painted in glowing colours, the work is built up of layers which recall the photographic technique of double exposure and the multiple viewpoints of Cubism. It is thought to have been made by combining sheets of glass with postcards and reproductions of paintings sandwiched in between, with three-dimensional objects. Cowie was interested in the way a reflective surface could create an illusion of reality. He has included references to several famous classical paintings, most notably the generalised but recognisable nude of Ingres’ ‘Odalisque’. Small plaster casts appear in a number of the artist’s still lifes, recalling the Surrealist paintings of Giorgio de Chirico.

• Material: Oil on wood
• Size: 46.30 x 45.50 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist's Estate

1943

GMA 1257

Accompanied by the artist Graham Sutherland, John Craxton visited Pembrokeshire in 1943. On his return, he painted this picture on a sheet of burlap that a friend had wrapped around some books. Craxton said, "I pinned it to a wall and worked on it and it became a synthesis of ideas, objects and forms gathered during my visits to Pembrokeshire". The shape of the shoreline can be seen in the picture, while the eye-like form on the shore is a kind of cuttlefish, partly inspired by a painting of a weeping woman by Picasso.

• Material: Oil on burlap
• Size: 112.30 x 180.30 cm
• Gallery
• © John Craxton

1934

GMA 1714

'Heart Knife' is an early example of a Scottish artist working in a semi-abstract style derived from Cubism. It was painted during Crosbie's final year at Glasgow School of Art. However, despite the use of abstract shapes in the picture, the shading on the vertical shape shows Crosbie's use of depth. The work also shows the influence of Surrealism. Crosbie later recalled that the painting referred to his problematic and unhappy relationship with his father and to: 'damaging, acute disappointments.'

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 60.30 x 43.00 cm
• Gallery
• © By kind permission of the Estate of the late William Crosbie

about 1927

GMA 7

This is one of a number of paintings by Crozier which show views of Edinburgh. The work shows strong affinities with Cubism, in the way the buildings are reduced to simple cubic blocks. The use of light, with the sunlit fronts of the buildings contrasting with the deeply-shaded sides, is influenced by the strong sunlight found in Italy, where the artist had travelled several years previously on a travelling scholarship. During this same trip, Crozier had also studied with the painter André Lhote in Paris, who taught him how to break down a subject geometrically, as in this painting.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 71.10 x 91.50 cm
• Gallery

about 1928

GMA 8

Crozier won the Guthrie Prize for the most promising young artist when he exhibited this painting at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1928. The view shows Princes Street Gardens looking to the west from the Mound towards the instantly identifiable castle, silhouetted in the background. In contrast to Crozier’s cubist-inspired painting, ‘Edinburgh from Salisbury Crags’, which also depicts Edinburgh Castle silhouetted in the background, here he looks more to the northern Netherlandish tradition. On initial inspection the scene appears still and quiet. However, it slowly comes to life with the lively lines of the bare trees against the snow and the footprints leading the eye down into the composition.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 69.80 x 90.50 cm
• Gallery

1913

GMA 3034

This is one of seven paintings Cursiter produced in a style inspired by the Italian Futurists, whose work he had probably seen in London the previous year. In Cursiter's variant of Futurism, the forms are not overly fragmented and are therefore still recognisable. The impact of the picture is due primarily to the sails, which take up three quarters of the painting. For the sky, Cursiter has used dabs of different-coloured paint placed closely together, recalling post-impressionist techniques. Cursiter's flirtation with Futurism was brief, and by 1914 he had returned to a more traditional type of painting.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 50.40 x 60.80 cm (framed: 74.40 x 84.50 x 6.00 cm)
• Gallery
• © Estate of Stanley Cursiter 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS

Dated 1956

GMA 3309

1956 was a pivotal year for both Davie’s career and the development of his work. He began to gain widespread critical acclaim and travelled to New York for his first solo exhibition in America. While there he met Jackson Pollock and other influential Abstract Expressionists. Following a practice developed in his brush drawings of the early 1950s, Davie began making paintings in series, notably ‘Image of the Fish God’ and ‘Woman Bewitched by the Moon’. This work, No.2 from a series of five, shows the influence of Abstract Expressionism in the bold, physical brush strokes suggesting an anthropomorphic central figure. However, Davie recalls that "the figurative reference was not done consciously, it just came out that way".

• Material: Oil on masonite
• Size: 152.80 x 122.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Alan Davie

Dated 1955

GMA 1084

Davie elaborated on the beginnings of ‘Seascape Erotica’ shortly after it entered the Gallery of Modern Art’s collection in 1968 - "of course there was (as ever) no premeditated intention or idea– the title being as usual a poetic interpretation of the image added later… Seascape Erotica is one of these (for me) rare pictures where the paint becomes transformed as if by magic… even the white splashes taking [on] a tangible quality of 'something else'" Davie’s method of working evolved in the 1950s when he began working on several paintings at once, incorporating similar motifs and symbols into each. He was also now painting horizontally on the floor, which allowed his work to develop freely in any direction.

• Material: Oil on masonite
• Size: 160.00 x 241.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Alan Davie

1922 - 1923

GMA 2942

In 1912 Delaunay began the first of several versions of 'The Cardiff Team'. The motif derived from a newspaper photograph of a Cardiff-Paris rugby match, which showed players jumping for the ball. Delaunay added Paris's famous Ferris wheel and an 'Astra' billboard, which advertises an aircraft construction company. The letters on the hoarding to the right derive from the artist's own name. The Eiffel Tower features in many of Delaunay's paintings, as the artist regarded it as the archetypal symbol of modernity. It is here seen emerging above the fragment of his name.

• Material: Oil and tempera on canvas
• Size: 146.80 x 114.20 cm
• Gallery

1905

GMA 1280

Collioure is the name of the fishing village in the south of France where Derain spent the summer of 1905 with fellow artist Henri Matisse. He was very much influenced by the strong light in the south, which casts few shadows and eradicates contrasts in tone. He painted in pure bright colours straight from the tube to capture the effects of the sunlight, using broad, confident brushstrokes to create a flat, decorative and expressive pattern. This use of vibrant colours was associated with the fauvist style.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 60.20 x 73.50 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

Dated 1979

GMA 2135

As the artist commented, ‘Grey Surface’ was part of a series of paintings which “at this time endeavoured to make a dense or thin monochrome grey field active through the build up and handling of the paint surface. These paintings were made in a period when a marriage ended and my father died. Whether they succeed or not the paintings were intended as a metaphor for the ravages of the time. The painting was an act of building up layers of paint to hide, or protect, covering over what was there before, developing a protective skin through repetitive paint motions, in a camouflage grey, trying to find an order out of very little.”

• Material: Acrylic on canvas
• Size: 160.00 x 213.50 cm
• Gallery
• © Kenneth Dingwall

1932

GMA 2195

Dix was never afraid to paint his subjects in unflinching detail, often altering what he saw in order to heighten the sense of unglamourised reality. Here, the girl's left leg is twisted in an awkward manner so that her genitals are displayed at the centre of the painting. The style and composition of this work is influenced by German Renaissance artists, such as Lucas Cranach the Elder and Albrecht Dürer. Dix also employed a similar painting technique to the Old Masters, notable for its linearity and his use of glazes.

• Material: Tempera and oil on canvas mounted on wood
• Size: 98.50 x 142.80 cm (framed: 112.00 x 157.00 x 4.50 cm)
• Gallery
• © DACS 2004

Dated 1976

GMA 1645

This work is part of a cycle based on the life of the pioneering aviatrix, Amy Johnson. The artist stated: “This series…stemmed from a visual reaction to seeing myself in the mirror…my immediate reaction was ‘heavens that’s Amy Johnson’”. Full of movement and energy, this painting portrays Douthwaite’s desire to “free the figure from its claustrophobic ambience”. Depicting Johnson’s final flight, when her plane crashed into the Thames Estuary in 1941, Douthwaite has captured the feeling of a foggy January day. The funnel of H.M.S. Haslemere, from where Captain Fletcher dived in to try and rescue Johnson, but in turn lost his own life, reaches above the inky black water. It is an immensely sombre work that epitomises feelings of isolation and tragedy, sentiments close to Douthwaite’s heart.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 152.50 x 152.50 cm
• Gallery
• © Toby Hogarth

1957

GMA 830

Dubuffet was fascinated by graffiti and art created by people without formal artistic training, such as children and the mentally ill. As a way of going against traditional art practices, the artist would paint in thick layers, then scratch into the surface to produce a kind of graffiti, as seen in this painting. This work is one of twenty-four paintings that Dubuffet produced in Vence, in the south of France, in 1957. The deliberately primitive style was shocking to the art world at the time.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 81.30 x 100.30 cm (framed: 99.50 x 118.80 x 7.50 cm)
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

Dated 1965

GMA 2151

Between 1962 and 1974 Dubuffet worked on an important series he called ‘l’Hourloupe’, to which this work belongs. ‘Hourloupe’ is an invented word which Dubuffet said, “calls to mind some object or personage of fairytale-like and grotesque state”. Verging on abstraction - a figure can just be made out on the left side, holding a brush and facing a bottle – ‘Dishwasher’ is composed of interlocking, jigsaw-like shapes. The series began as ball-point pen doodles and display what Dubuffet described as his “meandering, uninterrupted and resolutely uniform line, which brings all planes to the surface”. The ‘l’Hourloupe' series greatly influenced Dubuffet’s painted sculptures and culminated in ‘Coucou Bazar (Bal de l’Hourloupe)’ - a performance piece first staged in 1973.

• Material: Vinyl on paper laid on canvas
• Size: 99.50 x 69.00 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2009

1935 - 1941

GMA 3472

This leather case contains sixty-nine miniature reproductions of Duchamp's works. This is number two of twenty-four de-luxe versions of the case. Each of these features a different, hand-coloured 'original' fixed to the inside of the lid. The box 'unpacks' in such a way that some sections slide out, with other folders and black-mounted prints inside. For Duchamp there was no clear distinction between the original and the reproduction, a concept cleverly embodied in this piece. The case is also reminiscent of a travelling salesman's display case, containing a selection of Duchamp's pre-1935 work like a portable museum, made for his move to New York in 1942.

• Material: Leather-covered case containing miniature replicas and photographs of Duchamp's works (De-luxe edition no. 2/20)
• Size: 10.00 x 38.00 x 40.50 cm (closed)
• Gallery
• © Succession Marcel Duchamp/ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

1961

GMA 791

This work was painted in Catterline, a village on the East Coast of Scotland where Eardley owned a cottage. It suggests something of the power of the sea, with the wave approaching the shore like a wall of water. The artist has described the circumstances of the painting: ‘It was painted during February 1961 – entirely outside – as is the case with all my sea paintings. It was one of four paintings which I had in progress during a stormy period of weather. I worked on all four together – or rather from one to the other according to the tide’.

• Material: Oil and grit on hardboard
• Size: 121.90 x 188.00 cm
• Gallery
• © The Eardley Estate

1962 - 1963

GMA 853

The two children depicted in this painting are from the Samson family, who lived near Eardley's studio in the Townhead area of Glasgow. They feature in many of her paintings. The stencilled lettering and fragments of collaged newspaper imitate graffiti; the silver and gold papers are probably sweet wrappers. Eardley has depicted the children in a child-like manner, set against the debris of their everyday life.

• Material: Oil, newspaper and metal foil on canvas
• Size: 61.00 x 68.60 cm
• Gallery
• © The Eardley Estate

about 1949 - 1951

GMA 887

Eardley repeatedly depicted the children who lived near her Townhead studio in Glasgow. Adult figures rarely appear in her work. Eardley loved the friendliness and community spirit of the area. She took photographs of street life and of children playing, but also worked from life drawings. The children would visit her studio as friends, to play with a box of toys she had, and she was then able to make sketches of them. Eardley's paintings were praised for their honest portrayal of working-class life in Glasgow.

• Material: Oil on canvas, laid on board
• Size: 102.90 x 73.70 cm (framed: 117.70 x 82.50 x 6.70 cm)
• Gallery
• © The Eardley Estate

1963

GMA 888

After buying a cottage in the small fishing village of Catterline in 1954, Eardley divided her time between there and Glasgow. Her cottage can be seen at the far left of the painting, though by the time this work was painted she was using it as a studio and lived in a more comfortable house at the other end of the row. Perched on top of the hill and at the mercy of the elements, the cottages seem to be bracing themselves for a hard winter.

• Material: Oil on hardboard
• Size: 120.70 x 130.80 cm (framed dimensions: 128.20 x 193.20 x 7.00 cm)
• Gallery
• © The Eardley Estate

1960

GMA 889

Like all of Eardley’s landscapes and seascapes, this work was painted outdoors. Eardley liked to immerse herself in her subject, and in this work it appears as if the viewer is buried in the grass and looking upwards. The direct connection with the landscape is increased by the inclusion of real grass and seedheads with the paint. These were probably picked from where the artist’s easel was standing and they give the painting a varied texture, combining real and painted imagery. Eardley used collage in many of her later works to heighten their immediacy.

• Material: Oil, grass stalks and seedheads on hardboard
• Size: 121.90 x 133.30 cm
• Gallery
• © The Eardley Estate

1955

GMA 897

Eardley frequently painted clothed figures, but this starkly painted nude is unique in her work. The figure is painted in confident, block-like brushstrokes in the manner of Nicolas de Staël. The model was Eardley’s friend Angus Neil, who posed for her on a number of occasions in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The painting aroused controversy when it was exhibited in Edinburgh in 1955 since it was considered daring for a woman to paint a naked man. After receiving such unfavourable press, Eardley did not complete any similar subjects.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 76.00 x 155.20 cm
• Gallery
• © The Eardley Estate

about 1960

GMA 3322

This is a lively depiction of a small but sturdy-looking fishing boat, confidently painted in block-like brushstrokes. The boat is not French, as the title might imply, but is a type of fishing boat once common on the east coast of Scotland. Eardley lived and worked in the village of Catterline, south of Aberdeen, in the later years of her life. The ‘Seine’ of the title is taken from a type of fishing net which was suspended vertically in the water, with floats at the top and weights on the bottom. The painting is believed to date from about 1960.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 61.50 x 51.00 cm (framed dimensions: 64.60 x 54.20 x 3.30 cm)
• Gallery
• © The Eardley Estate

Dated 1925

GMA 1119

Like many Surrealist artists, Ernst was interested in the use of chance and automatism to try and produce new images from his unconscious mind. He often used techniques which created unusual and unplanned paint effects. Here, Ernst has created textured lines on the surface of the painting by dragging a comb through wet paint. The cloud-covered sun is reflected in the sea, which is suggested by combed waves in the lower half of the painting. Ernst painted many seascapes, and this painting is one of a number of works which feature a large circle floating above the horizon. The work was also influenced by alchemical illustrations.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 54.00 x 37.00 cm (framed: 67.50 x 50.20 x 5.80 cm)
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2005

1926

GMA 2134

The precise meanings of many of Ernst’s paintings are intentionally obscure. He was far more interested in poetic suggestion, mystery and ambiguity than in literal interpretations. This painting relates to another work called ‘The Inquisitor: at 7.07am Justice Shall be Done’. A comparison between the two paintings shows that the bowler-hatted man is holding a female figure, whose breasts are clearly visible, but whose head has developed into a curved shape. While the man emerges out of an imposing block-like structure, the small female shape he gently holds resembles a metronome. On the left of the painting, Ernst has used the technique of grattage to create texture.

• Material: Oil and black crayon on canvas
• Size: 100.30 x 81.20 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2007

about 1928

GMA 2217

The dark, mysterious forest is a common subject in German Romantic art and was one of Ernst’s own favourite themes. The forest held a personal significance for the artist, as he never forgot the childhood feelings of enchantment and terror induced by his first sight of the forests south of Cologne when aged just three. Ernst painted a series of ‘forest’ works towards the end of the 1920s, drawing on his fear and fascination to produce paintings in which the forest appears as a forbidding and impenetrable wall, hemming in the viewer and shutting out the world beyond.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 54.20 x 65.50 cm (framed: 69.50 x 80.70 x 5.20 cm)
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2007

1913

GMA 2951

Feininger first drew the church at Gelmeroda, a small village near Weimar, in 1906. It became a recurrent motif in his work, featuring in numerous drawings and prints and in thirteen oil paintings ranging in date from 1913 to 1936. Although the church carried a symbolic meaning in Feininger's work, its architectural form also provided the ideal motif for the artist's interest in geometric compositions. This is the third of three Gelmeroda paintings, also dating from 1913. It is a more balanced composition than the first two paintings, which feature a leaning spire cut by sharp Cubist planes.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 100.50 x 80.00 cm
• Gallery
• © DACS 2004

1908

GMA 1247

Anne Estelle Rice (1879 - 1959) was an American artist who moved to Paris in 1906. She worked as an illustrator for a Philadelphia magazine but was also a distinguished painter. Fergusson met her in the summer of 1906, before moving to Paris, and subsequently contributed illustrations to the same magazine. The two became close friends. The contrast between the bright colours and bold outlines of this painting and the Whistlerian tones of 'Dieppe, 14 July 1905: Night' (also in the Gallery's collection) shows just how much Fergusson's work had developed in three years. This was due to his contact with French avant-garde artists.

• Material: Oil on board
• Size: 66.50 x 57.50 cm (framed: 87.30 x 77.50 x 7.00 cm)
• Gallery
• © The Fergusson Gallery, Perth and Kinross Council

1905

GMA 1713

This painting was one of Fergusson's largest and most ambitious of the period. It is much indebted to Whistler's Firework Nocturne paintings, not only for its subject, but also in the reliance on tonal harmonies. A memorial exhibition of Whistler's work was held in Paris and London in 1905, which Fergusson may well have seen. The man dressed in grey with his back to us, standing on the left, is the artist S.J. Peploe. Peploe and Fergusson met at the turn of the century and often went on painting trips together, particularly to France.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 76.80 x 76.80 cm (framed: 109.80 x 109.80 x 9.20 cm)
• Gallery
• © The Fergusson Gallery, Perth and Kinross Council

1910

GMA 1897

This work was painted in the summer of 1910 when Fergusson and fellow colourist S.J. Peploe stayed at Royan on the west coast of France. Peploe had moved to Paris with his family in the same year, while Fergusson had lived in Paris since 1907. The two artists often worked together and this was the first summer they spent together in France. The years Fergusson spent in France had a great impact on his style. He mixed with other avant-garde artists and was able to see the latest paintings by Picasso, Matisse and Derain. As a result his palette had become fresher and brighter and in this painting he has emphasised geometric shapes, such as the sails and outlines of the boats.

• Material: Oil on board
• Size: 27.00 x 34.90 cm
• Gallery
• © The Fergusson Gallery, Perth & Kinross Council

1925

GMA 3352

This is a portrait of the artist's wife Margaret Morris (1891-1980), an influential innovator in modern dance and an accomplished artist in her own right. She studied dance in Paris and by 1910 was established in London with her own dance school, becoming London’s youngest theatre manager two years later. Morris met Fergusson in Paris in 1913 and they moved to Glasgow in 1939. Together they collaborated on many dance projects and Morris helped to lay the foundations for modern dance practice. Fergusson's paintings often have erotic overtones - here the shapes of the fruit echo the forms of the breasts. He has used a reduced palette of colours and created harmony within the composition through the repeated use of arcs, on the head, still-life elements and arches in the background.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 71.20 x 61.10 cm
• Gallery
• © The Fergusson Gallery, Perth and Kinross Council , Scotland

1922

GMA 2846

Following the outbreak of World War I, Morris moved from France to London with her partner, the artist J. D. Fergusson. In 1917 they decided to open a summer school of dance in Devon incorporating their talents as dance director and art director. With the dancers encouraged to practice ‘en plein air’, this was the beginning of annual summer schools in both England and the South of France. In 1922 they travelled to Ourville, near Dieppe, where this work was painted. It shows the influence of the Scottish Colourists, with whom Fergusson was associated, with bold colours and strong, angular planes.

• Material: Oil on board
• Size: 35.50 x 27.30 cm
• Gallery
• © The Fergusson Gallery, Perth and Kinross Council, Scotland

1979 - 1980

GMA 2293

This work consists of eleven black and white photographs, each in halves, mounted separately in a hinged frame and accompanied by recorded flute music. The photographs depict the artist’s garden, Little Sparta, in the Pentland Hills outside Edinburgh. The title of the work refers to Cézanne’s desire to ‘paint Poussin over again after nature’ but Finlay has turned the concept of painting nature upside down by creating photographs of real landscapes as if ‘signed’ by famous artists. Representations of the signatures of artists including Corot, Guercino, Salvator Rosa and Poussin appear, each carved in stone. Finlay intended the work to question the status of the garden, which he felt should be an extension of the home.

• Material: Eleven black and white photographs, each in halves mounted separately on perspex; recorded flute music
• Size: Each half print 49.50 x 29.20 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Ian Hamilton Finlay

1987 - 1988

GMA 3410

Freud began this painting while working on a full-length double portrait of the same two men in which the naked figure is standing. He became so absorbed in this work that he temporarily put aside the larger painting. As in many of Freud's paintings, the scene at first seems peaceful but is fraught with underlying tension. The pose of the clothed man who gently rests his hand on the other's calf looks casual, yet is slightly provocative.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 106.70 x 75.00 cm (framed: 122.00 x 90.40 x 10.00 cm)
• Gallery
• © Lucian Freud

1951 / 1952

GMA 1299

This painting was inspired by the sight of boats moored in St Ives harbour. Although the work is moving towards abstraction, the original subject can still be determined. The first version of this painting is in the Tate Gallery in London; this is a second, slightly different version. Commenting on the first painting, Frost said that he was struck by the movement of the boats on the water, stating; 'I was not portraying subject matter but concentrating on the emotion engendered by what I saw.' The title underlines the independence of the painting from the initial subject.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 111.80 x 86.30 cm
• Gallery
• © The Estate of Terry Frost

March 1949

GMA 1300

Although apparently abstract, Gear's works are normally based on landscape or interior motifs, as the title of this painting suggests. The plant-like forms emerging out of a web of black lines imply organic growth. The use of warm oranges and reds and the irregular black grid are typical of Gear's work of the period. The lines are reminiscent of calligraphy or stained glass. Gear himself stated that they were influenced by the structure of the Forth Bridge and the pitheads from the mining town in which he grew up.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 73.50 x 92.50 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist's Estate

Dated September 1950

GMA 1301

This is one of several paintings Gear completed in the autumn of 1950. A similar but larger work also titled ‘Autumn Landscape’ was painted for the Festival of Britain show ‘Sixty Painters for ‘51’ in 1951. Although awarded the Arts Council purchase prize, it was denounced by the president of the Royal Academy, Sir Alfred Munnings, who deemed it as a “scheming, self-conscious, anglicised, fifty-year old repetition of the École de Paris”. This earlier version was one of the last paintings Gear completed before leaving Paris and returning to England. It shows the distillation of a biomorphic tree-like form in jagged shapes, with seasonal colouring and tonality of landscape. The colours and black, web-like lines are typical of Gear’s work from this period.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 100.30 x 73.00 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist’s Estate

1980

GMA 2507

This is one of Gilbert &George's multi-part photographic works. It consists of self-portraits of the artists, with Gilbert above and George below. The child-like drawings are purposefully clumsy, a feature that is exaggerated by their huge magnification and adds to their irony since they are clearly not the work of a child. The photographs are printed on yellow-tinted paper which tends to distance the viewer and emphasises the artificial and contrived procedure with which the piece is made, each photograph being enlarged, printed and framed individually.

• Material: Sixteen-part photographic work (each part dyed and framed)
• Size: 242.00 x 202.00 cm (assembled)
• Gallery
• © The Artists

about 1954

GMA 1040

Gillies lived and worked in a cottage in the village of Temple in Midlothian, south of Edinburgh. The village did not have electricity until the 1950s, and as Gillies often painted after dark he used a paraffin lamp to light his still-life compositions. Without natural daylight, this had the effect of producing strong contrasts of colour, and encouraged the artist to simplify shapes. This painting depicts an enclosed world, with no hint of anything beyond the boundaries of the canvas. The perspective is ‘tipped-up’ towards the viewer and the composition is structured in a linear manner, being divided into three sections. Within these sections, Gillies has suggested harmony through the echoing of rhythmic, curved shapes, as seen on the flowers, vase, bowls and seashell.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 59.60 x 130.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Royal Scottish Academy

about 1932

GMA 1747

Although Gillies taught at Edinburgh College of Art for forty years, he frequently travelled around the Scottish countryside to paint the landscapes which form the bulk of his artistic output. This painting shows an area near Durisdeer, a small village at the foot of the Lowther Hills in Dumfries and Galloway. Gillies’s work of the early 1930s owes much to the moody Expressionism of the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. Gillies had visited the Munch exhibition in Edinburgh in 1931 and was deeply affected by the artist’s ability to convey emotion.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 63.40 x 76.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Royal Scottish Academy

about 1934 - 1937

GMA 1766

This work depicts the harbour at Anstruther, on the Fife coast. Gillies saw an exhibition of Paul Klee's work in Edinburgh in 1934 and this work seems to reflect the childlike characteristics of Klee's art, as well as his practice of dividing the space into a flat, grid-like composition. Gillies has used contrasting blocks of colour to emphasise the horizontal and vertical lines of the buildings. The ships in the harbour merge with the houses to form a surface pattern, with the masts of the ships forming the verticals that balance the rippled horizontal brushstrokes.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 76.50 x 91.50 cm
• Gallery
• © Royal Scottish Academy

about 1950

GMA 1811

Gillies painted the Scottish landscape in all seasons, travelling around the countryside on his motorcycle. From 1939 he lived in the village of Temple in Midlothian, south of Edinburgh. This painting shows the train to the nearby town of Peebles emerging from behind the hills. Gillies has depicted the train as only a small part of the wider scene, and it almost blends into the background suggesting that the landscape at large is of greater interest to the artist. Gillies explained: ‘I have always enjoyed weather, always seen landscape pictorially, and I’ve got immense satisfaction in recording swiftly in line and colour the fugitive, the subtle and the grand in nature.’

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 46.00 x 56.50 cm
• Gallery
• © Royal Scottish Academy

about 1912

GMA 796

For many years this painting was known as 'Monk with Cat', though the figure is in fact a Rabbi. The two men carrying sacks in the background are Jews fleeing a pogrom. The Hand of God can be seen in the top-left corner, blessing the Rabbi, who may be stroking the cat for the last time before he too departs. The picture is indebted to Russian icons. We can read an analogy between the Rabbi and cat and the Virgin and Child. The painting delivers a poignant message about compassion, suffering and religious intolerance.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 100.20 x 92.00 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

about 1913

GMA 1674

This work was painted at a time when Goncharova was experimenting with a style derived from Cubism and Futurism, which became known as Rayism or Rayonism. Yet the planes in this picture suggest its Cubist influences most strongly, as opposed to the lines or rays which characterise Rayism. The painting also retains strong figurative elements, in the shapes suggesting trees. The subject of the forest appears several times in the artist's work in 1912 and 1913, which was a particularly productive period for Goncharova. She designed both sets and costumes for a Moscow theatre, and this painting may have been made with a future theatre set design in mind.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 53.80 x 81.00 cm (framed: 69.00 x 96.00 x 6.50 cm)
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2005

1915 (incorrectly dated 1913)

GMA 900

British painter and designer Vanessa Bell was the older sister of Virginia Woolf and a member of the so-called Bloomsbury Group as was Duncan Grant. This work, which shows Vanessa Bell painting a still life of kitchen utensils, was executed in a boat-house on the Sussex coast in the early summer of 1915 (the date inscribed on the canvas, 1913, is incorrect). Grant painted many pictures of Vanessa Bell from 1912 to 1960. The bright colours of this painting are typical of his pre-war work. Bell lived with Grant from 1916 and gave birth to their daughter in 1918 .

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 76.20 x 55.90 cm
• Gallery
• © 1961 Estate of Vanessa Bell, Courtesy Henrietta Garnett

1964

GMA 2155

This work is based on a publicity photograph for a 1948 B-movie called 'Shockproof'. The photograph shows a woman who has just killed a man. In the original he lies hidden behind the desk. Hamilton has adapted the source material by covering some elements, such as the murderer, but retaining others, like the blood on the floor. He has confused reality and illusion by using a photographic reproduction of a real wood veneer on the side of the desk drawer and a painted wood-graining effect on the front. The bright panels of colour in the background are reminiscent of the geometric art of Mondrian. Hamilton has deliberately combined conflicting styles and meanings.

• Material: Oil and collage on photograph on panel
• Size: 62.50 x 89.00 cm (framed: 99.10 x 72.40 x 2.50 cm)
• Gallery
• © Richard Hamilton 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS

Dated 1986

GMA 3038

‘Fist I’ is part of a series of large paintings Hardie produced based on her own body, applying the paint with a sponge in order to achieve bold surface and colour effects. She produced these shortly after studying with the German artist Georg Baselitz who had a profound effect on her work. Describing the works in this series as “inching the way forward”, Hardie continues to produce large scale, close-up paintings of the face and body today. In them she “want[s] to create the sense of being so close-up to the subject, that the subject becomes both immediate as a real presence and at the same time mysterious and elusive”.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 158.00 x 220.50 cm
• Gallery
• © Gwen Hardie

1963

GMA 1675

Heron's work was strongly influenced by French artists such as Pierre Bonnard and Henri Matisse, with their sensuous feeling for colour. The vibrant shades of red in this painting are typical of Heron's work. In 1962, the year before this work was painted, Heron stated that: 'For a very long time now I have realised that my overriding interest is colour. Colour is both the subject and the means; the form and the content; the image and the meaning in my painting today.'

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 121.90 x 152.40 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Patrick Heron 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS

about 1931

GMA 3487

This work shows the strong influence of André Lhote who taught Hillier in Paris. It displays a tipped-up perspective and decorative treatment of form and pattern, which was typical of Cubist artists, such as Georges Braque, earlier in the century. Still-life as a subject matter was also a favourite of the Cubists, allowing ample opportunity to analyze objects and manipulate surface planes.

• Material: Oil on plywood
• Size: 57.20 x 57.20 cm
• Gallery
•  © The Artist's Estate / Bridgeman Art Library. All rights reserved.

1933

GMA 3488

'Pylons' was exhibited at the first and only exhibition of the modernist 'Unit One' group in London in 1934, where it aroused much interest. It was purchased from the exhibition by Elizabeth Watt, who bequeathed it to the Gallery more than fifty years later. In this painting the three tall pylons carry no wires and their location on the beach is deliberately enigmatic. The attention to detail and relocation of objects from their usual surroundings draw parallels with the work of Dalí and Tanguy. However, unlike those artists, Hillier does not use unlikely objects and improbable landscapes.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 92.00 x 60.30 cm
• Gallery
• © Mrs L.M. Hillier

Dated 1946

GMA 3489

Hillier was strongly influenced by surrealism and particularly the work of Max Ernst and de Chirico. In this work, the illusionistic representation of space and the strong shadows recall the landscapes of Salvador Dalí, an artist Hillier knew personally from his time as a student in Paris. In 1945, following the end of World War II, Hillier settled in Somerset and this work depicts Quantoxhead beach close to his home.

• Material: Oil on wood
• Size: 15.10 x 25.40 cm
• Gallery
•  © The Artist's Estate / Bridgeman Art Library. All rights reserved.

1959

GMA 1312

From 1956 Hilton made frequent painting trips to Cornwall, and at the same time began to reintroduce figurative and landscape motifs into his abstract paintings. This is evident in this painting, where the flat, vertically arranged areas of colour are suggestive of a fence of wooden poles. The artist also began to use titles in his work again in the late 1950s, after a period of simply labelling them with the month and year of their production. Many of them make reference to Cornwall and the sea.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 152.40 x 137.50 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Roger Hilton/DACS 2006

1963

GMA 2463

This exuberant painting was inspired by an incident which took place in the summer of 1963, when the artist and his family were holidaying in France. The artist's wife, Rose, had returned to their isolated village from shopping at a nearby town, and recalled "in rebellion, after returning hot and dusty, with the food and drink supplies for a week, I drank some rum, undressed and danced nude on the balcony, not noticing that the firemen and locals were busy putting out a fire in a hayrick in the fields opposite. Nor did I notice that they had transferred their attention to the balcony." Typically, however, Hilton removes the subject from a specific incident to encompass primal human energy in general.

• Material: Oil and black chalk on canvas
• Size: 152.50 x 127.00 cm (framed: 157.50 x 132.10 x 6.40 cm)
• Gallery
• © Estate of Roger Hilton 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS

1946

GMA 975

This is the last in a series of ten paintings, created directly from nature at the artist’s West Sussex home. Although the fluid, sweeping brushwork suggests a spontaneous approach, the painting was not a work of chance but is the conclusive, final development in the series. Hitchens saw himself as creating a ‘visual music’ in his work. He aimed to harmoniously combine the physical qualities of paint and his response to the sensations of being in nature, with structure. Hitchens was influenced by the Japanese concept of notan. Literally meaning ‘dark, light,’ this is the harmony created by the combination of dark and light spaces within the painting.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 53.50 x 84.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Ivon Hitchens

1943

GMA 3491

In 1940 Ivon Hitchens moved to Sussex with his wife and young son, following the bombing of their London home. This painting fuses together interior and exterior views of the artist’s studio, ‘Greenleaves’. The artist’s son John is shown playing in a sandpit outside. Hitchens’ paintings are characterised by the use of flat areas of colour and the creation of depth through the modulation of colour. Here he has used the technique of incising into the paint, probably with the end of a paintbrush. This adds detail to the work, as well as creating a sense of linear perspective which is unusual in Hitchens’ work.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 41.40 x 75.10 cm
• Gallery
• © Jonathan Clark Fine Art, Representatives of the Estate of the Artist

1965

GMA 1538

This was painted at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where the campus is on the edge of the Rocky Mountains. However Hockney's studio had no windows, so he painted this imaginary picture instead. It is inspired entirely by pictures in magazines and romantic ideas of the 'Wild West'. The nearest 'Indians' are in fact at least three hundred miles from Boulder. The chair was included for compositional purposes, and to explain its being there Hockney called the Indians 'tired'. The striped mountains in the background were a light-hearted response to contemporary striped, abstract paintings by American artists. They may also be influenced by pictures of rock layers from geographical magazines.

• Material: Acrylic on canvas
• Size: 170.40 x 252.80 cm
• Gallery
• © David Hockney

1910

GMA 1523

This is one of Hodler's late landscapes, painted near Berne in Switzerland. It is thought to be the only work by Hodler in a British public collection. The painting is dominated by the horizontal line, which the artist saw as symbolic of death. He made a remarkable series of paintings of his dying wife and later of his dying lover, stretched out horizontally across the centre of the canvas. Hodler even wrote about the central mountain peaks in those landscapes as representing the soul of his beloved. Nature, life, love and death are thus unified in this majestic landscape.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 83.00 x 105.40 cm (framed: 103.00 x 125.50 x 9.10 cm)
• Gallery

1987

GMA 3041

The 'bloody' of the title of this painting refers to the football violence, which became all too common in the 1980s. The painting also recalls the famous rivalry between Glasgow Rangers and Celtic, the battle on the pitch mirroring the territorial struggle taking place in the terraces. The football supporters form a screaming and gesticulating frieze around two sides of the painting, threatening to spill over onto the pitch. Many of Howson's paintings are male-dominated and depict scenes in Glasgow, as is the case here.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 211.00 x 274.70 cm
• Gallery
• © the artist, courtesy Flowers East

1987

GMA 3460

Working-class male figures are central to Howson’s work, and this painting elevates its subject to that of hero. Dramatically lit, the large canvas is dominated by the huge, solid figure of the Dosser, who firmly grasps the railing as if to steady himself against what appears to be a surrounding mass of water. Although isolated, he is proud, strong and defiant. Behind him, a forbidding-looking building looms ominously – it appears to rest on his shoulders, perhaps suggesting that he carries a burden with him. At the time this work was painted, the artist had a studio in the Gallowgate area of Glasgow, near to a hostel for the homeless. Howson made the painting from memory, based on a man he saw nearby. It is the first of a series of pictures of ‘dossers,’ made in different media.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 197.80 x 213.80 cm
• Gallery
• © Peter Howson, courtesy Flowers East, London

about 1929 - 1930

GMA 18

In 1929 Hunter embarked upon a series of paintings of Loch Lomond, north-west of Glasgow, and the village of Balloch which lies at the southern end of the loch. After spending time on the continent, Hunter had lightened his palette in response to the strong Mediterranean light, and his handling of paint had become bolder and more fluent. He had painted in the same area in 1924 but his later works are clear and unfussy in composition. In this painting, the sparkle of light and reflections on the surface of the loch are the main focus.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 63.50 x 76.20 cm (framed: 87.20 x 99.70 x 10.6 0 cm)
• Gallery

about 1930

GMA 20

Landscape and still lifes form the bulk of Hunter’s artistic output. The dark and restrained tones of this late still life recall Hunter’s painting from earlier in his career when, like fellow Scottish Colourist S.J. Peploe, he was influenced by seventeenth-century Dutch art. The composition is a medley of rich colours, with the vivid white of the tablecloth forming a dramatic contrast to the dark green background. The scene suggests a table set for an alfresco meal. Hunter’s work is distinguished from much of the output of the Scottish Colourists by his energetic and expressive handling of paint, as demonstrated in this work.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 51.00 x 61.20 cm (framed: 75.70 x 86.00 x 7.50 cm)
• Gallery

about 1930

GMA 1910

When Hunter returned to Glasgow in 1929 after living in France, he was encouraged by his friend and art dealer Tom Honeyman to concentrate on still-life painting. This was an ideal situation, as Hunter loved to paint flowers in particular, and his still lifes sold consistently to give him a steady income. This painting is unsigned, and the thin, sketchy brushwork shows that it is probably unfinished. Hunter excelled as a watercolour artist and parallels may be seen with the technique used here.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 56.00 x 45.80 cm
• Gallery

about 1911

GMA 896

The violent colours and broad brushstrokes seen in 'Head of a Woman' can be compared with paintings by Derain. Jawlensky's painting achieved maturity in 1911. He felt that his most powerful works were produced in the period up to 1914, when he was painting in strong colours with a 'tremendous inner ecstasy'. The majority of Jawlensky's works are portraits and heads of women, and, in a sense, he was continuing the great tradition of Russian icon painting. His later work became increasingly stylized, with the female head being reduced to a few schematic forms and lines.

• Material: Oil on millboard laid on plywood
• Size: 52.20 x 50.20 cm (framed: 73.70 x 71.20 x 6.50 cm)
• Gallery

about 1915 - 1920

GMA 1116

The subject of this portrait is an unknown nun from the convent of the Dominican Sisters of Charity at Meudon, near Paris. Around 1913, John received a commission from the convent to paint a portrait of the nun who founded the order in 1696. The commission took several years to complete, partly because a number of the nuns requested copies to hang in their own rooms. The artist then worked for about twelve years on a series of portraits of nuns, of which this painting is one. The narrow tonal range, delicately textured surface and quiet sensitivity are typical of Gwen John's work.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 65.10 x 49.00 cm (framed 75.30 x 58.90 x 8.00 cm)
• Gallery

about 1927 / about 1938 / about 1951 (Dated 1927)

GMA 1100

Johnstone’s work of the late 1920s was unique in Scottish art in its combination of Surrealism and abstraction. This painting was begun around 1927 and was later reworked, like many of the artist’s early paintings. The underlying curvilinear structure remains from the original version but the drawn lines were added at a later date. Despite the title of the painting, it does not depict Selkirk but only indicates where the work was completed. Johnstone preferred not to paint from nature but rather to combine his experience of nature with his knowledge of art history to ‘produce landscapes of greater intensity and depth. I used my native landscape as a basis of a free development of movement and direction.’

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 101.60 x 101.60 cm
• Gallery
• © William Johnstone

about 1929 / 1937

GMA 1254

Johnstone began this painting in 1929, when he was living in Selkirk after his return from America. It is his largest painting of this period and the artist later emphasised its importance by taking the title for his autobiography. He stated that this painting and two other works ‘grew out of my horror of the disease of war, of the anticipation of future tragedy - they were never intended for drawing rooms.’ The shapes in the painting are reminiscent of natural forms, highlighted with coloured light and including mysterious, cavernous spaces. Although abstract, it has been suggested that the shapes are influenced by the landscapes of the Scottish Borders. Johnstone reworked many of his paintings of the 1920s and this painting was probably altered prior to its first exhibition in 1938.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 137.20 x 243.80 cm (framed: 143.50 x 250.00 x 3.00 cm)
• Gallery
• © Estate of William Johnstone

Dated 1974

GMA 1313

This work was painted in the spring of 1974, during a burst of creativity in which the artist stated that he worked ‘with tremendous speed, almost unconsciously’. Inspired by the spirit of springtime growth and renewal, Johnstone made the work by pouring paint onto the canvas, radiating from a circular shape at the centre of the canvas. The work exudes energy and life due to the combination of rich, vibrant colours used to represent the elements, and the dynamic method of painting. Such was the effort it took, the artist explained, ‘I was completely drained, emptied of all emotion and what further painting I did that year was dull, without life.’ On its completion, the painting was immediately purchased by the Gallery of Modern Art.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 137.20 x 242.00 cm
• Gallery
• © William Johnstone

1909

GMA 911

This is one of Kirchner's first paintings to depict a stage scene. It shows actors from a Japanese theatre company performing at Dresden's Albert Theatre. Theatre and cabaret scenes were extremely popular among the Brücke expressionist group. The artist's unusual viewpoint, looking down on the actors from a side angle, suggests that he may have seen the play from a theatre box. Kirchner saw an exhibition of Matisse paintings in December 1908, and this painting shows the influence of Matisse's flat areas of anti-naturalistic colour.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 113.70 x 113.70 cm (framed: 133.20 x 133.20 x 5.80 cm)
• Gallery
• © Ingeborg and Dr. Wolfgang Henze-Ketterer, Wichtrach/Bern

1975 - 1976

GMA 1585

This is probably Kitaj's best-known and most complex work. The artist stated that the painting related to T S Eliot's poem 'The Waste Land'; the poet is depicted at the bottom left, wearing a hearing aid. The building in the top left corner is the gatehouse to Auschwitz. Below it lies a scene of cultural disintegration and moral collapse. The stagnant water, the dead and blackened trees, and the books scattered about the landscape, speak of death and destruction. A Matisse bust (coincidentally a variant of the one owned by the gallery) lies broken in the centre foreground. The small figure of the man in bed, holding a baby, is a self-portrait.

• Material: Oil and black chalk on canvas
• Size: 152.40 x 152.40 cm (framed: 170.90 x 170.50 x 9.60 cm)
• Gallery
• © R.B. Kitaj

1982

GMA 3009

The title of this large canvas refers to the long-distance footpath, which opened in 1980 and runs from Milngavie to the north of Glasgow to Fort William in the Highlands. It was painted shortly after Knox moved back to the west of Scotland in 1981 on his appointment as Head of Drawing and Painting at Glasgow School of Art. Knox uses contrasting colours to create a vibrant image of the autumnal Scottish landscape, with rolling orange hills and bright blue sky. There is a hint of humour in his depiction of a quail in the foreground, drinking from a stream directly in front of a spiky evergreen bush. The quail’s feathers, normally the perfect tone for hiding on the hillside during the hunting season, no longer offer camouflage - it is now a prime target.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 152.50 x 182.50 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist

1968

GMA 3010

This painting was included in the artist’s solo show at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1971. The exhibition featured a number of large white canvases covered with strange hieroglyphic symbols. The paintings were inspired by Paolo Ucello’s ‘Rout of San Romano’, which had surprised Knox with its active composition when seen at close quarters. Knox’s painting features a variety of images and signs, using repeated colours and shapes in order to replicate the sense of movement he had so admired in Ucello’s painting. This encourages the viewer’s eye to move across the canvas, spotting differences and similarities. Some of the mysterious shapes are silhouettes of objects that Knox picked up on the beach near his home in Carnoustie.

• Material: P.V.A., oil, pastel and black chalk on canvas
• Size: 152.00 x 152.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Jack Knox

1938 - 1940

GMA 21

When Kokoschka left Czechoslovakia for London in 1938, he was only able to bring £5 in cash, a small suitcase and one painting, called 'Girls Bathing.' 'Zrání' is the same picture, although it underwent a complete reworking in 1940. The landscape combines elements from the Cornish coast, where the artist lived for nearly a year from 1939, with memories of his homeland. The painting offers an idyllic vision of leisure and contentment, in stark contrast to the turmoil in central Europe at that time. The Czech title has no exact translation, but approximates to 'maturity', 'ripening' and 'summer'.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 68.30 x 89.20 cm (framed: 94.10 x 114.80 x 10.2 0 cm)
• Gallery
• © DACS 2004

1978

GMA 2105

Portraits of family and friends make up a large part of Leon Kossoff's artistic output. The artist painted numerous portraits of his parents, individually and together, as well as his brother. This portrait is a meditation on its subject, carefully but expressively worked in the thickly applied paint which is a common feature of the artist's work. Kossoff's father looks composed but self-aware - fully conscious that his portrait is being painted. His rounded figure fills the frame of the painting and is depicted in muted colours, drawing attention to the handling of the paint.

• Material: Oil on board
• Size: 123.00 x 97.50 cm (framed: 135.50 x 110.00 x 10.00 cm)
• Gallery
• © The Artist

Dated 1961

GMA 2290

Lanyon stated that his “paintings…are not abstract, nor are they landscape. They use abstraction as a method and landscape experience as a source”. Viewed in this context, ‘Ginger Hill’ displays the sensuality and openness that emerged in Lanyon’s work following his experiences in a glider. The strong, deliberate black line is suggestive of a glider’s path across an autumnal aerial landform. It also shows the influence of Abstract Expressionism, with parallels visible to the work of American artist Franz Kline. Lanyon was extremely interested in the concept of ‘place’ and the relationship between the body and landscape. In this vein, it has been suggested that ‘Ginger Hill’ is the male counterpart to a similar painting by Lanyon called ‘Eastern Shore’.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 123.00 x 76.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Sheila Lanyon

1960

GMA 2742

'Solo Flight' was one of the first paintings completed after Lanyon had learned to fly over the Cornish coast in his glider, a favourite hobby. Talking about this picture, he explained that "The red is the track of something moving over the surface of the painting, and, at the same time, the track of the aircraft moving over the ground below. Blue air merges with the land. I wanted to get the sense of something far away and down below inside the red track". After exhibiting in New York in 1957, Lanyon began employing the expressive, gestural brushstrokes used by the American Abstract Expressionists.

• Material: Oil on masonite
• Size: 121.50 x 183.00 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist's Estate

about 1911

GMA 799

This painting was discovered in a locked attic in Larionov's Paris flat in about 1960, and was purchased directly from the artist in 1962. It was probably painted around 1911 when Larionov was doing his military service, hence the subject matter. The painting combines elements from both fauvist art and traditional Russian folk art, in the flattened, simplified design, bold brushwork and deliberately naïve manner of representation. In particular, the way in which the horse is painted and the use of black outlines around the figure are derived from popular woodblock prints known as 'lubok.'

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 84.50 x 91.40 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

Dated 1982 - 1983

GMA 2833

In Le Brun’s work there are several recurring motifs, such as the tower, horsemen and chivalry, which are rooted in mythical and dreamlike imagery. In this heavily worked canvas Le Brun draws on the story of one of the most legendry of mythical figures – King Arthur. Here, Sir Bedivere, the last of Arthur’s knights left alive following the Battle of Camlann, is depicted on horseback with head bowed, beside a lake which appears covered in lilies. According to the legend Bedivere is supposed to return King Arthur’s sword, Excalibur, to the Lady of the Lake but cannot bring himself to throw it in the water. Through his technique of reworking the entire surface, Le Brun’s scenes lose their three-dimensionality but instead become more dreamlike and translucent.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 221.70 x 244.00 cm
• Gallery
• © DACS 2009

1921

GMA 962

This is one of a series of paintings, made between 1920 and 1921, to show a reclining nude woman and a still life. Some versions also feature a standing woman or a tall lamp. In our painting these elements have been transformed into a disk which connects the still life to the foreground. The clarity of the composition reflects Léger's interest in mechanical elements. The grid-like structures in the background are reminiscent of the geometrical abstractions of Mondrian, whose work Léger first saw in 1920.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 65.50 x 92.00 cm (framed: 94.70 x 121.40 x 8.50 cm)
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

1945

GMA 2310

As an artist who was inspired by modernity, Léger loved America. When on his way to an exhibition of his work in Montreal, Léger chanced upon an abandoned farm near the Canadian border. Broken machinery and junk were piled up in the fields. In this painting we can see wire-netting in the bottom left corner. The circular shape on the left is an old wheel with broken spokes which stands next to a broken 'SLOW' road sign. One of the wheel's spokes (along with the shape of the tree on the right) has transformed the sign into what can be read as 'US LOVE.'

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 112.50 x 127.00 cm (framed: 155.90 x 140.70 x 8.90 cm)
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

1950

GMA 2845

In 1950 Léger made a series of paintings depicting construction workers. Although he had been interested in depicting modernity for some time, he was particularly inspired by the post-war process of reconstruction in France. He saw a group of electricians working on pylons and was struck by the contrast between the natural surroundings and the metallic girders. After joining the French Communist Party in 1945, Léger concentrated on the human figure, as he wanted to make his work accessible to everyone. Eager that his art should be seen by ordinary workers, he exhibited the series of 'Constructors' paintings in the canteen of the Renault car factory in Paris.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 162.00 x 129.50 cm (framed: 183.00 x 152.20 x 9.00 cm)
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

1922 - 1923

GMA 1079

Edwin Evans (1874-1945) was a celebrated music critic. A group of his friends commissioned this portrait to honour his role in promoting modern music in Britain, and presented it to Evans at a dinner in January 1923. The painting was still unfinished since the subscribers had failed to raise the full amount promised to Lewis. Lewis continued to work on the painting after the presentation, but Evans, satisfied with its unfinished state, soon claimed it back. The squared pattern reveals Lewis’s method of work: he would make a pencil study, draw a grid over it, and then draw a similar grid onto the canvas. He could then transfer the composition with great precision by copying the individual squares.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 149.00 x 107.80 cm
• Gallery
• © By kind permission of the Wyndham Lewis Memorial Trust

1920 - 1921

GMA 1685

This is the largest and most important of Lewis's satirical 'Tyros' paintings. 'Tyro' means a novice or beginner, but Lewis expanded on this definition, calling him 'a new type of human animal like Harlequin or Punchinello...The Tyro is raw and underdeveloped; his vitality is immense, but purposeless, and hence sometimes malignant.' Lewis was often critical of his artistic contemporaries. He described the 'Tyros' series of paintings as a challenge to the 'Arts-for-Arts-sake dilettantism' that he saw in French painting and in the work of the English Bloomsbury group, such as Duncan Grant.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 165.20 x 90.20 cm (framed: 181.30 x 106.70 x 6.40 cm)
• Gallery
• © Wyndham Lewis and the estate of the late Mrs G A Wyndham Lewis by kind permission of the Wyndham Lewis Memorial trust (a registered charity)

about 1921

GMA 3428

The painting was exhibited in 1921 with the title ‘Seated Figure’. The identity of the sitter has not been satisfactorily established, though she may well be the poet Edith Sitwell or Iris Barry, film critic and founder of the London Film Society. Barry was Lewis’s mistress from 1918-21 and is the subject of one of Lewis’s most famous paintings, ‘Praxitella’. Sitwell also features in a seated portrait by Lewis. The artist produced a series of drawings and paintings of seated women in the early 1920s, including a portrait of Virginia Woolf.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 75.70 x 63.00 cm (framed: 85.00 x 72.50 x 5.00 cm)
• Gallery
• © By kind permission of the Wyndham Lewis Memorial Trust (a registered charity)

1963

GMA 2133

This painting is one of a series from the early 1960s in which Lichtenstein deals with the theme of romance. He would paint his works on a monumental scale, much enlarged from his original source material of comic-strip illustrations. This work is based on an image from the comic Girls' Romances. The original illustration included a thought bubble which read, 'I vowed to myself I would not miss my appointment – That I would not go riding with him – Yet before I knew it…' His paintings present archetypal images of contemporary America, simultaneously glamorous, mundane, dramatic and impersonal. Lichtenstein conveys the essence of the time, depicting recognisable 'types', such as the beautiful blonde woman and handsome, square-jawed man seen in this painting.

• Material: Oil and magna on canvas
• Size: 172.00 x 203.50 cm (framed: 180.60 x 212.50 x 6.20 cm)
• Gallery
• © The Estate of Roy Lichtenstein/DACS 2004

1955

GMA 1349

The scene depicted in this painting is based on cityscapes from Runcorn and Widnes, on the river Mersey. Although Lowry's paintings may at first seem naïve, they are rigorously composed and intricately patterned. For example, the two chimneys on the building in the foreground echo the two industrial chimneys behind. The arched roof of the church rhymes wittily with both the lamppost beside it and the domed roof on the horizon. Lowry's famous 'matchstick' people populate the scene, while the narrow range of tones evokes what Lowry called the 'apocalypse of grime.'

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 61.00 x 76.30 cm (framed: 79.70 x 95.80 x 5.50 cm)
• Gallery
• © Estate of L.S. Lowry

about 1948

GMA 1588

This painting of two women engrossed in sewing is probably MacBryde's largest painting. The rich, bright colours of the painting are typical of MacBryde’s work, and he has used the woodgrain of the table to decorative effect. Shadows play an integral role in many of MacBryde’s paintings. Here, the women are framed by their shadows on the wall behind them, and are further balanced by two mysterious shadowy shapes which appear at the bottom of the painting. The painting has a contemporary source, being loosely based on a painting by the Italian artist Renato Guttuso, illustrated in a Penguin book of 'New Writing' in 1948.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 100.30 x 143.50 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Robert MacBryde

1925

GMA 3446

Joseph Brewer was secretary to the editor of The Spectator magazine, for which the artist worked as art critic from 1923 to 1926. The vivid colours, metallic sheen and sculptural, robotic forms are typical of McCance's work of this period. In the early 1920s he began to schematize the human body, stripping it of detail, until it acquired a machine-like appearance. Many of McCance's paintings and drawings show figures reading, which may reflect his own work as a writer, his keen intellectual spirit and his interest in book design.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: (Framed 84 x 69 cm)
• Gallery
• © Estate of William McCance

1988

GMA 3476

This work was painted at Saskatoon in Saskatchewan, Canada, during the summer of 1988. McLean uses a particularly fluid paint to make his large paintings, allowing him to work quickly and spontaneously. In 'Escalator' he has used large bands of colour arranged in a balanced and harmonious sequence. McLean's paintings typically contain these distinctive lozenges and strokes of brightly coloured paint. The translucence of the paint in 'Escalator' gives the painting a lightness, which combines with the lyrical use of colour to suggest a spiritual dimension to the painting.

• Material: Acrylic on canvas
• Size: 185.70 x 89.00 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist

1987

GMA 3474

McNairn’s paintings often contain a combination of interior and cityscape images. Here, the recognisable shape of a pot plant in the foreground is set against the familiar outline of the Scott monument, trees, a modern tower block, and a bridge similar to the Forth road bridge in the background. Other shapes are more mysterious. The title suggests that the artist was ‘looking outside’ through a window, but she presents us with a variety of images from different places, instead of a straightforward view. McNairn’s bold paintings are dominated by a palette of soft but cool colours – blues, greys, purples and pinks.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 182.90 x 182.90 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist

about 1962

GMA 1046

William MacTaggart enjoyed a long career as an artist, exhibiting regularly from 1920. In the 1950s he began painting a series of still lifes framed by windows. These have been compared to the work of the French painter Edouard Vuillard in their evocation of a privileged, enclosed space. In this painting from around 1962 a vase of poppies is framed by a window, through which can be seen a row of houses in Edinburgh’s New Town, opposite MacTaggart’s studio. The painting is not only a still life but a study in mood and tone, the rich, deep blues of the night sky balancing the colourful and exuberantly painted flowers.

• Material: Oil on hardboard
• Size: 76.20 x 63.50 cm
• Gallery
• © The Family of the Estate

about 1928

GMA 1087

This early painting by MacTaggart depicts the road from Edinburgh to Lasswade, looking south. The artist took this road daily from his home near Lasswade, to teach at Edinburgh College of Art. The painting shows a looseness of handling which the artist was beginning to introduce into his paintings. The scene is formed with confident, rhythmic brushstrokes. At the time this piece was painted, MacTaggart was particularly interested in the work of Chaïm Soutine, whose paintings are distinguished by their energetic brushwork.

• Material: Oil on wood
• Size: 50.50 x 60.70 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist's Estate

1968

GMA 2740

This painting is a coastal view of the county of Wigtownshire in the south-west of Scotland. MacTaggart’s distinctive use of colour is seen in this work, as he used both colour and an expressive handling of paint to convey emotion. This work was painted in 1968, the same year the artist was made Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur by the French Government. It is one of MacTaggart’s largest paintings.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 86.20 x 111.50 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Sir William MacTaggart

1937

GMA 1261

'The Black Flag' may refer to the German bombing of the small Spanish town of Guernica in April 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. Magritte later wrote that the picture 'gave a foretaste of the terror which would come from flying machines, and I am not proud of it.' In contrast to artists who praised technology, Magritte was showing that machines have their darker side. Looking closely at the planes, one can see that they are made of a variety of strange shapes. The plane on the bottom right has a long, curtained window where its wings should be.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 54.20 x 73.70 cm (framed: 65.00 x 84.50 x 6.50 cm)
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

1919

GMA 929

This is one of thirty paintings made by Matisse in a hotel room in Nice. The velvety black background highlights the mirror and gives an unusual, almost inverted sense of inside and outside space. The 'real' space of the room is dark and flattened while the flat mirror is alive with the reflection of flowers, a tree and the sea outside the window. The artist depicted to the left is presumably Matisse himself, painting the scene on his canvas. The young woman absorbed in her book is his eighteen-year-old model, Antoinette Arnoux.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 73.40 x 92.20 cm (framed: 95.10 x 114.50 x 8.90 cm)
• Gallery
• © Succession H Matisse/DACS 2004

1933

GMA 977

'View from a Tent' was painted during a trip Maxwell made to the Highlands with William Gillies, a fellow teacher at Edinburgh College of Art. Maxwell has depicted the sands of Morar, on the west coast of Scotland, glimpsed from the inside of the tent. Maxwell later said that trips with Gillies were a mixed blessing, for although he enjoyed the latter's company, he was intimidated by the speed at which his colleague worked. Gillies could finish half a dozen watercolours before he had even selected a motif.

• Material: Oil on plywood
• Size: 76.20 x 91.50 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist's Estate

1934

GMA 3342

Maxwell was influenced by primitive art and the work of Paul Klee. The artist helped to organise a Klee exhibition in Edinburgh in the same year as this work was painted. In common with these influences, Maxwell's own art shows a disregard for perspective, a directness, and a selective approach to detail. Maxwell’s painting of this time shares many similarities with the work of William Gillies. They went on painting excursions together and often depicted similar subjects. This painting depicts a Fife fishing village and shows Maxwell’s skilful and playful draughtsmanship.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 71.30 x 87.70 cm
• Gallery
• © By permission of the Maxwell Family.

about 1921

GMA 1111

Metzinger was a traditional artist in the sense that he painted primarily landscapes, still life and figure compositions. He experimented with painting in a cubist style but always retained a strong naturalistic element. This painting was made when Metzinger was returning to a more naturalistic style and shedding the cubist planes and geometric patterning from his work. This poetic landscape is formed from flat planes of luminous colour, like a collage. The lyrical use of colour is typical of the artist's work of this period.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 60.00 x 81.30 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

1964

GMA 1047

Known as a skilful colourist, Alastair Michie produced powerful abstract paintings which are influenced by the natural world. This work is typical of his oeuvre in being richly coloured and textured. His use of matt and scraped paint suggests wind-blown nature. Michie worked in the Edinburgh tradition of producing works which are sensuously coloured with a bold handling of paint. However he was also greatly inspired by American artists of the 1960s and began to produce paintings in his signature style after this time.

• Material: Acrylic on board
• Size: 43.20 x 58.00 cm (framed: 61.80 x 75.20 x 3.00 cm)
• Gallery
• © The Artist

1961

GMA 1928

This work depicts the centre of Ceres near St. Andrews, where the houses curve around the village green. For the majority of the scene Michie adopts a relatively subdued palette which he contrasts with the vibrant luminosity of the sky. This creates a frosty atmosphere, which, together with the bare trees, suggests the village is in the depths of winter. Typical of Michie’s style, he has adopted a semi-abstract approach with the flat curve of the lawn drawing the focus around the painting. The unexpected blocks of red and green in the background act as an abstract focal point in comparison to the relatively traditional, representational style of the houses.

• Material: Oil on board
• Size: 51.00 x 61.00 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist’s Family

1925

GMA 2078

From 1925 to 1927, Miró produced a series of 'automatic paintings.' Greatly celebrated by the Surrealists, the paintings were inspired by images from Miró's unconscious. These pictures featured forms that had been reduced to lines and suspended in empty space, as if floating in front of the background. Legend has it that the artist would sometimes paint in a state of hallucination owing to extreme hunger, staring at a blank surface until images began to suggest themselves. However, many of the 'automatic paintings' had preliminary sketches and are not as random as they may at first seem.

• Material: Oil and black chalk on canvas
• Size: 140.00 x 113.50 cm (framed: 170.00 x 138.20 x 8.00 cm)
• Gallery
• © Succession Miro, DACS, 2004

1987

GMA 3454

During the 1980s Sandy Moffat made a number of paintings of young Scottish artists, including Ken Currie, Peter Howson and Gwen Hardie. Each sitter was depicted alongside their own work and all the paintings were painted directly onto the canvas with little or no preparatory sketches. This is the second of two portraits Moffat made of Gwen Hardie and as a result, Moffat explained, ‘I could be more ambitious, more certain about things. Gwen was able to find a more natural pose, one which she felt very positive about.’ Hardie’s painting ‘Venus with Spikes’ is shown in the background - its confrontational imagery of a female body decorated with internal spikes reflects the artist’s own relaxed but defiant posture. Hardie is from the town of Newport-on-Tay in Fife.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 152.50 x 122.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Alexander Moffat

1933

GMA 1663

This is the first of three works painted on a new type of aluminium called silberit, hence the title. From the mid-1920s, Moholy-Nagy abandoned traditional easel painting in favour of experimentation with new industrial materials, such as aluminium, plastic and celluloid. Aluminium had associations with new technology and also satisfied Moholy-Nagy's desire to, as he put it, 'paint with light', since the material was reflective. Painting on a highly reflective surface gave the impression that the colour was floating in front of the material to which it is applied.

• Material: Oil and incised lines on silberit
• Size: 50.00 x 20.00 cm (framed: 71.50 x 42.00 x 8.50 cm)
• Gallery
• © DACS 2004

1932

GMA 2502

This is one of the earliest of Mondrian's so-called 'tram-line' paintings. Before 1932 he had used single lines but he began pairing them in order to achieve a sense of optical movement. He also began to extend the coloured areas over the edge of the canvas. In this painting, Mondrian created a perfect balance between the colour and the horizontal and vertical lines, so that no one element dominated. He painted with great precision, although he did so intuitively by trial and error, not through mathematical calculation. This painting formerly belonged to the artist Winifred Nicholson, who acquired it directly from Mondrian.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 45.30 x 45.30 cm (framed: 59.70 x 59.70 x 8.40 cm)
• Gallery
• © 2006 Mondrian/Holtzman Trust c/o HCR International Warrenton VA USA

1962

GMA 906

In Morandi's still-life paintings, the artist used the same objects repeatedly; the subject was secondary to the manner of representation. After 1950 his style became increasingly abstract. In this painting, the objects are grouped together in the centre of the composition, as if in self-protection, and are painted with a nervous, quivering line. Morandi is dealing primarily with shape, space and colour, and seems to avoid all hint of symbolism or narrative. However, his choice of subject matter and manner of presentation suggest qualities of modesty, reflection and silence.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 30.50 x 30.60 cm (framed: 47.00 x 47.00 x 6.00 cm)
• Gallery
• © DACS 2004

1944

GMA 774

This painting depicts Wittenham Clumps, an ancient British camp in Berkshire. The Clumps can be seen in the background; they are two dome-shaped hills with a thick clump of trees on top. Nash had been familiar with the area for many years, since spending family holidays nearby from 1909. He painted the Clumps in a series of dream-like works, three of which present the vernal (or spring) equinox, with the sun and moon depicted simultaneously in the sky. These paintings were intended as poetic metaphors, referring to the mystery and magic of the perpetual cycles of nature.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 63.50 x 76.20 cm (framed: 93.30 x 80.60 x 7.00 cm)
• Gallery
• © Estate of Paul Nash/Tate Gallery

about 1929 - 1930 [verso about 1927 - 1928]

GMA 2984

Nash was primarily a landscape painter until the late 1920s when he began to adopt certain characteristics of Surrealism into his works. This change in his art was undoubtedly provoked by an exhibition of Giorgio de Chirico's paintings, which he saw in London in 1928. Nash admired the enigmatic nature of de Chirico’s work, a quality he adopted for this painting. The work is a geometrical composition in which the lines of the easel are set off against the angle of the painting in the background and the corner of the room. The antique gold frame seen in this painting was later used by Nash to frame another painting.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 51.40 x 61.20 cm
• Gallery
• © Tate, London 2006

1922

GMA 3502

Many of Nash's paintings, even those executed when he was an Official War Artist, have trees and landscapes as their main theme. He regarded trees as symbols of Nature's permanence in a changing world. In this painting, Nash has enlivened the typical greens and browns of the landscape with the application of a vivid orange in the foreground. The work is also notable for the use of space and distance. In the early 1920s, Nash made several painting expeditions to Whiteleaf in Berkshire. He was often accompanied by his brother John, an accomplished landscape painter who worked in a traditional style.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 76.00 x 55.50 cm
• Gallery
• © Tate, London 2006

1943

GMA 3425

The landscape depicted in this painting is that of Boar’s Hill near Oxford. Nash spent much time in the area during his later years, staying at Sandlands, the house of his friend Hilda Harrison. The tree-topped hills of Wittenham Clumps can be seen in the background of the painting. A reminder of the landscape in ancient times, Wittenham Clumps are two Iron Age hill forts. They had great personal significance for Nash as he had visited the area throughout his life, and they also feature in another painting owned by the Gallery, ‘Landscape of the Vernal Equinox (III)’. Nash painted several works featuring different types of fungus against a landscape backdrop. In this painting, the shape of the fungus echoes that of the trees on top of the hills.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 50.80 x 76.40 cm (framed: 91.40 x 66.00 x 8.90 cm)
• Gallery
• © Tate, London 2005

1961

GMA 812

This is one of the first works Nicholson made after moving to Switzerland. The light and brightness of his works of this period is often associated with the magnificent natural setting of his new home. Nicholson wrote: "I hold the idea that paintings do not stop as paintings but their ideas project into actual life". With this in mind, he often mounted them onto boards of complementary colour, so that the edge of the picture would not be clear-cut. Texture was important to Nicholson and in this work the surface looks rough and worn, deliberately contrasting with the clear colours and simple lines.

• Material: Oil and pencil on board
• Size: 78.00 x 78.00 cm (interior board: 61.50 x 61.70 cm)
• Gallery
• © Angela Verren Taunt 2006. All rights reserved, DACS

1940

GMA 931

Ben Nicholson and his family moved from London to St Ives in 1939, taking refuge from the threat of wartime bombing. This relocation to the Cornish countryside renewed the artist’s interest in landscape painting. For several years Nicholson’s reliefs had been predominantly white, but he now began to reintroduce colour. His reliefs show the influence of the colours, shapes, textures and light of Cornwall with their hints of grey, warm red and silvery blue. In this work, Nicholson has also carved into the surface of the board to create several different planes. The treatment of space by its division into planes was central to the artist’s work.

• Material: Oil on carved board
• Size: 47.50 x 48.00 cm (interior board: 30.50 x 32.00 cm; framed: 49.40 x 49.70 x 5.00 cm)
• Gallery
• © Angela Verren Taunt 2006 All rights reserved, DACS

1962

GMA 813

Ben Nicholson first visited the Greek island of Paros in 1959, and returned several times in the years that followed. The overlapping parts of this relief suggest the effect of dazzling sunlight reflecting off the whitewashed walls of buildings on the Greek island. For the artist, the whiteness and light of Paros reminded him of the early white reliefs he first created just over twenty years earlier. In this work, the colour is not used symbolically, as in Nicholson’s first white reliefs, but instead serves to evoke the essence of a place. The composition is less severe than the strictly horizontal and vertical lines and circles which dominated Nicholson’s early reliefs.

• Material: Oil on carved board
• Size: 62.60 x 64.00 cm (interior board: 44.20 x 44.20 cm)
• Gallery
• © Angela Verren Taunt 2006 All rights reserved, DACS

1928

GMA 930

This painting is the first of two works by Ben Nicholson showing a cottage at Walton Wood near Bankshead in Cumbria. Even in this, an early work, Nicholson's interest in space, clarity and natural materials is evident. The underlying green colour seems to have been wiped on with a sponge or rag rather than applied with a brush, and suggests the circulation of cool air. The use of flat blocks of colour to structure the surface of the picture shows the influence of Cubism. Nicholson has adopted a deliberately naïve approach but there are also parallels with the simple compositions favoured by his artist father, William.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 56.00 x 61.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Angela Verren-Taunt 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS

1935

GMA 2149

Nicholson's first relief painting was made on a trip to Paris in 1933. While working on a painting, part of the thick white ground chipped off, leaving two distinct layers. He exploited this accident in a series of white reliefs made in the mid-to-late 1930s, and continued to produce reliefs throughout his career. Nicholson was influenced by the purity of the works of Mondrian, whose studio he had visited in 1933. His friendships with Barbara Hepworth (they were married in 1938) and Henry Moore may also have prompted this move into three-dimensional art.

• Material: Oil on carved board
• Size: 54.00 x 64.30 cm (interior board: 33.30 x 43.80 cm; framed: 66.50 x 56.40 x 4.70 cm)
• Gallery
• © Angela Verren-Taunt 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS

1931

GMA 2964

After her separation from her artist husband Ben Nicholson, Winifred Nicholson rented a house on the Isle of Wight in the winter of 1931 to 1932. This painting shows two of her three children, Jake and Kate, in the conservatory of the house. The ship seen in the distance was until recently thought to be the luxury French liner, the Normandie. However, that vessel was only launched in 1935 and it may instead be either a German ship or an invented element. The delicate, fresh colours and appealing naïvety are typical of Winifred Nicholson's work.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 68.50 x 89.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Trustees of Winifred Nicholson

1913

GMA 1082

Nolde's interest in the art of primitive peoples is evident in this painting. The shape of the head and facial features resemble a tribal wooden carving. The artist was a frequent visitor to the Ethnographic Museum in Berlin, and also made a trip to New Guinea where he spent a year. It was originally thought that this picture was painted during his trip. However it is more likely that it was done before his departure, in preparation for the type of painting he expected to make on the trip.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 77.50 x 67.30 cm (framed: 94.00 x 83.50 x 7.20 cm)
• Gallery
• © Nolde-Stiftung Seebüll

Dated 1987

GMA 3046 A

This work, commissioned by the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, was hung in ‘The Vigorous Imagination’ in 1987, a landmark exhibition examining the state of Scottish art during the 1980s. O’Donnell’s exuberant installation sought to explore growing class divisions during the Thatcher years, expressed particularly in the North-South divide. At a time when easel painting was reasserting itself in Scotland, his bold use of mixed media seemed particularly radical. In an attempt to break with documentary conventions that had dominated the twentieth century, O’Donnell’s practice suggested that constructed imagery provided the best possibility of self-criticism and renewal.

• Material: Colour photograph
• Size: 183.00 x 305.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Ron O'Donnell

1977

GMA 2114

'The Recovery of Dissolved Substances' is an installation comprising sketches, photographs and a wooden structure. It explores the chemistry, natural history and 'life cycle' of salt. An underground salt room was also made by the artist, and although part of the work, it has only been seen by one or two people and was constructed in an undisclosed location. 'Salt Room/Crystal' consists of three salt-encrusted wooden panels . The lines drawn on the two outer panels refer to the corners of the unseen salt room, and are also reminiscent of the regular, cubic shape of a salt crystal.

• Material: Salt and wood strips on zinc sheet mounted on board (three panels)
• Size: Each panel 191.80 x 91.30 cm
• Gallery
• © Glen Onwin

1907

GMA 881

'A Bloomsbury Family' depicts the artist William Nicholson and his family. Nicholson's wife, the painter Mabel Pryde, is standing by the door. Sitting at the table from left to right are the Nicholson children: Nancy, who married the writer Robert Graves; Tony, who died during the war in 1918; and Ben, who would become Britain's foremost abstract artist. Standing in the foreground is Christopher or 'Kit', wearing a type of frock often worn by young boys at this date. He became an architect. Orpen himself is reflected in the convex mirror.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 86.50 x 91.50 cm
• Gallery

1979 / 1985

GMA 3017

'Silent Blood' was painted in 1979 but reworked by the artist several years later, when the wooden head was added. Paladino began making sculptures in 1982 and from that date incorporated sculptural elements into his canvases. In the late-1970s and early-1980s Paladino produced a series of monochromatic paintings in primary colours, such as the rich red of this work. His paintings seem to concern mysterious religious and pagan rituals and the world of the dead, but they escape specific interpretations.

• Material: Oil, wax and wood on canvas
• Size: 213.50 x 140.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Courtesy of the Artist

1951

GMA 833

Pasmore's art of the 1930s and 1940s was ardently figurative but in 1948 he suddenly began painting abstract works. This work is one of a series of about six paintings made between 1950 and 1952 that Pasmore based on a spiral motif. Composed of organic swirls suggesting natural forms, Pasmore described them as landscapes of the mind: “What I have done is not the result of a process of abstraction in front of nature, but a method of construction emanating from within”. He made a vast ceramic mural of similar design for the 1951 Festival of Britain Exhibition, held in London.

• Material: Oil on wood
• Size: 80.60 x 22.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Victor Pasmore Estate

1938

GMA 3534

This painting is one of several executed in the late-1930s, which show large Scottish houses or castles. It depicts Traquair House, which is situated near Peebles, south of Edinburgh. The work is painted in the precise and detailed style, for which the artist is renowned. The house dates substantially from the seventeenth century, though it has much earlier parts. The artist and his family regularly spent their holidays in the Peebles area in the 1930s. According to his usual practice, McIntosh Patrick made direct sketches and watercolours at Traquair House and used these as the basis for the oil painting, which was executed in his Dundee studio.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 35.50 x 45.50 cm
• Gallery
• © the Artist's Estate / Bridgeman Art Library. All rights reserved.

about 1905

GMA 26

Peploe's most characteristic subject was still life. The layout of the items on this table suggests it has been set up for a casual lunch or dinner. This work was painted before the artist began to experiment with bright colours in his work, but it shows the influence of French painting, such as the work of Manet. Peploe painted this picture using broad, painterly brushstrokes and set the items against a dark background. The scene is tightly composed - the dish of grapes to the right hand side balances the black bottle, and the orange flower on the printed bowl echoes the colour of the apple.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 50.80 x 61.00 cm (framed: 71.50 x 81.80 x 7.00 cm)
• Gallery

about 1920 - 1925 [verso about 1908]

GMA 27

Peploe never tired of painting still-lifes, striving for many years to produce a ‘perfect’ still life. The small range of objects he used allowed him to experiment with colour, form and composition. He explained, ‘flowers, leaves, jugs, what not – colours, form, relation – I can never see the mystery coming to an end.’ Dominated by the bright yellow table cloth, this painting shows Peploe’s skilful use of colour to structure the composition of a painting. The flowers in his pictures changed according to the season – tulips in spring and roses in summer.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 50.80 x 61.00 cm
• Gallery

about 1904

GMA 28

This is a portrait of Jeannie Blyth, a gypsy flower seller who posed for Peploe on many occasions from the age of fifteen or sixteen. Her dark colouring and lack of self-consciousness made her one of his favourite models. The artist’s use of dark colours and loose brushwork in this painting shows the influence of Dutch art. Peploe had visited Holland in 1895 and returned with reproductions of paintings by Rembrandt and Frans Hals. He would also have been able to see their work at the National Gallery of Scotland.

• Material: Oil on wood
• Size: 50.80 x 50.20 cm
• Gallery

about 1913

GMA 32

After moving to Paris in 1910, Peploe concentrated almost exclusively on painting still lifes and landscapes. This painting shows a strong influence of cubist art through the use of structured brushstrokes and the faceted background. However while he does flatten the perspective in the painting, Peploe does not show any of the objects on the table from different angles, as the Cubists tended to do. Instead, the painting remains quite clearly focused on the reality of what is in front of the artist, without becoming too abstract.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 55.00 x 46.00 cm (framed: 74.90 x 66.40 x 11.50 cm)
• Gallery

1924

GMA 866

In the summer of 1924 Peploe’s work was exhibited in Paris along with paintings by the other Scottish Colourists. Whilst in France Peploe also travelled to Cassis with the artist FCB Cadell, and it was during this trip that this work was painted. Peploe’s use of rich, bright colours suggests the baking heat and strong sunlight of the South of France. The composition echoes the work of Cézanne. The elements of the painting are meshed together like a tapestry using short, even brushstrokes. The balance of colours and repetition of the spiky, succulent plants is used to great decorative effect. Peploe was so enamoured with Cassis that he returned on a painting trip four years later.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 55.40 x 45.70 cm
• Gallery

about 1910 - 1911

GMA 909

Veules-les-Roses is a pretty seaside town on the northern coast of France where Peploe and fellow Scottish Colourist, John Duncan Fergusson, went to swim and to draw holidaymakers on the beach. This rapidly painted oil sketch shows the influence of Fauvism, which Peploe had encountered for the first time in Paris, where he and Fergusson were now living. The bold palette, together with the loose handling of the paint, give a sense of the organic structure of the scene, and highlights in particular the influence of Fauve artist Othon Friesz. In 1906 Friesz travelled with Georges Braque to paint in La Havre, Braque’s hometown, near Veules-les-Roses. Peploe would almost certainly have been aware of the work they created during this trip.

• Material: Oil on board
• Size: 35.60 x 27.00 cm
• Gallery

1910

GMA 1949

Peploe spent the summer of 1910 in Royan on the west coast of France, painting with the artist J.D. Fergusson. The Gallery also owns a painting by Fergusson from the same time. Peploe moved to France in 1910 with his wife, and their son was born in Royan that summer. Like Fergusson, Peploe’s exposure to avant-garde painting had led to his work developing in a more expressionistic manner, as seen by the brushwork in this painting. This small panel would have been painted out of doors, the bright light also encouraging a brightening of the palette.

• Material: Oil on board
• Size: 27.00 x 34.90 cm
• Gallery

about 1916 - 1920

GMA 1947

This work was painted during a time when Peploe was experimenting with using areas of bright colour in his still life paintings. Peploe had spent time studying in Paris and was influenced by contemporary French painting. He felt that every plane was to be represented by a change of colour and selected material for his still lifes which could be treated in flat areas of strong colour: lemons, oranges, roses, tulips, blue and white china, bowls and drapes were his main subjects. In this work the outlines are bold - some are blue or dark red - to emphasise the objects and their relation to one another.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 45.70 x 41.00 cm
• Gallery

about 1906

GMA 1944

Peploe made regular visits to France from 1904, painting on the Channel coast and in Paris, often in the company of J.D. Fergusson. This painting of a sun-dappled game of doubles tennis shows Peploe moving away from the Impressionist technique, which he had previously favoured, towards a more hard-edged style based on flatter blocks of colour and a cropped composition. This was undoubtedly due to the influence of leading artists including Henri Matisse and André Derain then breaking ground in the French art world.

• Material: Oil on wood
• Size: 16.10 x 23.80 cm
• Gallery

about 1925 - 1927

GMA 1942

Peploe first painted on the island of Iona in 1920 with fellow Scottish Colourist F.C.B. Cadell, and the two artists returned together most summers. Peploe was particularly fond of the rocky northern end of the island and its views towards Mull. Fascinated by the artistic possibilities of the island’s light and dramatic, changeable weather, Iona became a favourite motif for Peploe, as he painted it in all weathers and abandoned the warm colours of his still-lifes for a palette of cool greens and blues. While the island became a sanctuary for him, a world away from life in Edinburgh, its picture-postcard scenery also meant that his paintings were readily saleable.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 40.90 x 46.00 cm
• Gallery

1903

GMA 1933

Peploe's early landscape painting was always small in scale, painted directly in front of his subject on small wooden panels, as in this painting. He first visited the island of Barra, in the Outer Hebrides, in 1894, returning there in 1902 and 1903, the year in which this work was made. It is a quiet, free painting which shows The Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea on the slopes above Castlebay. The painting was made spontaneously without preparatory sketches. Peploe has applied thickly-loaded brush strokes directly to the surface of the wood. Smearing colours on top of each other without waiting for the paint to dry has resulted in large areas of creamy impasto.

• Material: Oil on wood
• Size: 15.50 x 23.90 cm
• Gallery

about 1961

GMA 788

While serving in India during the Second World War, Philipson made several sketches of people watching a cock fight. Ten years later, in 1952, he returned to the subject, changing the focus from the crowds to the birds themselves. He continued to explore the theme throughout the 1960s, and even visited a poultry research laboratory to study the birds at close quarters. The free, gestural style which Philipson was exploring at that time was ideal for expressing the violent, frenetic movement of the fighting cocks.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 63.00 x 75.80 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist's Estate

1982 - 1983

GMA 2802

This grand painting shows the influence of Oskar Kokoschka, whose work influenced Philipson throughout his life, with the Expressionistic style suggesting a turbulent sea. The sea was one of the main themes which dominated Philipson’s artistic output in the 1980s. In contrast with the vivid colours Philipson normally chose, this painting sees the reduction of his palette to monochrome. First exhibited at the Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh, Philipson wrote that the painting ‘held the major place in my working year in preparing the Scottish Gallery’s show and at the end it was for me the most satisfying, albeit often a struggle, of the larger works in that group.’

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 183.00 x 213.50 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist's Estate

1902

GMA 967

This work was painted during what is commonly known as Picasso's 'Blue Period'. The artist was greatly affected by the suicide of a close friend in 1901, and subsequently produced a series of paintings in melancholy blue tones. The painting was also influenced by Picasso's regular visits to a women's prison-hospital in Paris. The misery of those women, many of whom had babies or young children, seems to have struck a chord with the artist. The pose of the figure in this painting, with her face turned away from the viewer, suggests her suffering and shame. This was the first painting by Picasso to enter the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland.

• Material: Oil on paper laid on canvas
• Size: 40.50 x 33.00 cm (framed: 58.90 x 51.20 x 8.20 cm)
• Gallery
• © Succession Picasso/DACS 2004

1940

GMA 1070

'The Soles' was painted in Paris in March 1940, but was inspired by the town of Royan, on the Atlantic coast. Picasso was based in Royan at the time and became homesick for the town, with its bustling marketplace, during a three-month trip to Paris. The painting has traditionally been called 'The Soles' but the fish in the scales on the left is not a sole and the crab is perhaps the most dominant element in the composition. It has been composed so that the claws of the crab balance the shape of the scales. The crab also represents Picasso himself, weighing up the qualities of his two very different mistresses, Marie-Thérèse Walter (the rounded fish in the centre) and Dora Maar, who appears as the aggressive, sharp-faced fish. Both women were in Royan in 1940.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 60.00 x 92.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Succession Picasso/DACS 2004

1913

GMA 2501

In 1912 Picasso and his friend Georges Braque began experimenting with sticking pieces of paper onto their drawings. This technique, known as 'papier collé' (stuck paper), in turn affected the way they painted. In this painting, Picasso has used a range of media and techniques. The gas-jet at the back is drawn in charcoal, while the stylized glass at the bottom is scraped into thick white paint. Picasso has used varnish to paint the vertical strip in the middle of the painting, and mixed grit with his paint to paint the bottle and surrounding area, on the right of the picture.

• Material: Oil, charcoal, tinted varnish and grit on canvas
• Size: 70.40 x 55.30 cm
• Gallery
• © Succession Picasso/DACS 2004

1938

GMA 1998

This one of the last paintings Piper made in an abstract style, and is also one of his largest works. The painting clearly refers to the cubist compositions of Braque and Picasso, and is closely related to a mural Piper did for a friend's flat in Highgate, London, in 1938. The abstracted motifs represented in this picture are a bottle and a stringed instrument. The reference to the sea in the painting's title suggests that it may have originated as a seascape.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 121.60 x 182.80 cm (framed: 188.30 x 127.30 x 14.00 cm)
• Gallery
• © The John Piper Estate

1916

GMA 2080

This is one in a series of abstract paintings Popova produced in 1916, called 'Painterly Architectonics'. These works are characterized by dynamic, overlapping planes which seem to float in space. In creating these paintings, Popova was influenced by the work of the Russian artist Kasimir Malevich, who had reduced the cubist style to a basic language of squares and rectangles. The coloured diagonal shapes in this painting suggest movement but also a sense of balance. The modelling of the shapes suggests a light source from outside the frame.

• Material: Oil on board
• Size: 59.40 x 39.40 cm (framed: 75.50 x 55.50 x 8.50 cm)
• Gallery

1906

GMA 37

This painting is among Pringle's largest works. It was painted during the year he lived in the country, to the east of Glasgow. His technique of painting in small brushstrokes is indebted to the French Neo-impressionists. Pringle would probably have seen paintings by followers of the group on exhibition in Glasgow. His training as an optician and familiarity with painstaking, detailed work may have influenced his preference for painting in a detailed manner; his rendering of the wire in this painting is a perfect example of this. The artist's delicate touch and fresh handling of paint are evident in this painting.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 63.70 x 76.40 cm
• Gallery

1904 [?]

GMA 2028

Pringle trained as an optician in 1874 and ran his own business as optician and electrician from 1896 to 1923. He used his shop as a studio after hours painting predominantly small canvases, like this painting. From around 1895 he developed an interest in French Impressionism, which influenced this work. This is one of three portraits Pringle made of an elderly man who frequented the Saltmarket area of Glasgow and visited the artist in his shop. The sitter was nicknamed ‘Kruger’ due to his supposed likeness to Paul Kruger, the Boer resistance leader and president of the Transvaal republic in South Africa. The painting is thought to date from 1904 – it is signed and dated but Pringle’s style makes it difficult to read.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 31.00 x 25.80 cm
• Gallery

about 1921

GMA 1521

This painting is from a series begun in 1909, called 'The Human Comedy'. The paintings were inspired by a four-poster bed, reputed to have been slept in by Mary, Queen of Scots, from the palace of Holyrood House in Edinburgh. The theatricality of the paintings, with the melodramatic lighting effects and enormous bed dwarfing the human figures, owes much to Pryde's interest in the theatre. In this particular painting, a brooding figure stands beside the tattered bed, with odd bits of furniture - the 'lumber' indicated in the title - scattered about.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 151.80 x 131.10 cm
• Gallery

1917

GMA 2064

Man Ray turned to making collages as a way of de-personalising art. This work was made during the early stages of New York Dada. The title means 'intricate' and 'curled', and the collage is composed of spiralling forms. The letters 'INV' and the 'O' beneath, combined with the cut-out metal lute, spell out the title in a visual pun. The long screw form on the left is echoed by the actual screw which holds the metal plate in place. The threads in a transparent wallet, tacked on to the picture, refer to the strings of the lute.

• Material: Mixed-media collage on card laid on laminated board
• Size: 61.50 x 46.50 cm
• Gallery
• © Man Ray Trust/ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

about 1958 - 1960

GMA 814

This landscape was painted from sketches Redpath made during a family holiday to the Isle of Skye in 1946. Kyleakin is a village that was only accessible by ferry until the Skye Bridge was built in 1995. In this painting of a huddle of houses clinging to the bleak landscape, surrounded by stormy water, Redpath evokes the community’s remoteness and dependence on the land and sea. As with many of her still lifes, the scene is somewhat distorted with the picture plane tilted forward. The use of a palette knife reinforces the quality of the harsh landscape and highlights her increasing interest in the developments of abstract painting; she was influenced by artists such as Tàpies and Riopelle with their bold, expressionistic handling of paint.

• Material: Oil on board
• Size: 71.20 x 91.50 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist's Estate / Bridgeman Art Library. All rights reserved.

about 1942

GMA 932

The vivid colours and flat patterning of this painting owe much to Matisse, while the 'tipped-up' perspective reflects Redpath's admiration for early Italian painting. Redpath was fascinated by colour and texture. In this painting, the pattern of the rug meshes with the shapes of the slippers and chair to such a degree that it is difficult to separate flat from three-dimensional form. Redpath's father designed tweed fabrics and her work has the sense of patterning sometimes found in textiles. She remarked: 'I do with a spot of red or yellow in a harmony of grey what my father did with his tweed.'

• Material: Oil on plywood
• Size: 73.90 x 96.10 cm (framed: 91.50 x 113.50 x 6.20 cm)
• Gallery
• © the Artist's Estate / Bridgeman Art Library. All rights reserved.

about 1955

GMA 1059

This is one of several paintings Redpath completed after travelling in Corsica in 1955. It shows her increasing use of the palette knife and layering of bright colours in an expressive response to the character of the town. While in Corsica her palette expanded to include the violets and scarlets she found on the island’s hillsides. It also demonstrates her developing interest in the forces of nature and how they affected the landscape and its inhabitants. She contrasts the wind-swept trees on the battered shoreline with the strength and permanence suggested by the houses. Redpath commented that she "would exaggerate the buttress quality of the building… then therefore it looked as if it was growing out of the hill".

• Material: Oil on hardboard
• Size: 61.00 x 76.20 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist's Estate / Bridgeman Art Library. All rights reserved.

about 1962

GMA 1113

In 1961 Redpath travelled to Lisbon. Inspired by the church of St Roque she turned her attention increasingly towards painting church interiors. As a child she had attended the Hawick Congregational Church and was fascinated by the ornamental trappings of the Catholic church. Although she was not religious, Redpath delighted in the rich colourings of gold, silver and purple, and in the precious decoration of altarpieces, as can be seen in this painting. Redpath’s church paintings mark a shift in both the character and style of her work. She commented on her ability to paint still life, saying ‘I couldn’t paint it smooth any more. I had to paint it as if it were some kind of encrusted jewel.’

• Material: Oil on hardboard
• Size: 61.00 x 61.00 cm
• Gallery
• © the Artist's Estate / Bridgeman Art Library. All rights reserved.

about 1920

GMA 1646

The sitter in this portrait is believed to be Dr Elsie Bain, a lifelong friend who Redpath met while studying in Edinburgh. It shows early evidence of Redpath’s interest in combining both two-dimensional and three-dimensional forms, a feature that was typical of her later work. After travelling to Italy on a scholarship in 1919, the influence of early Italian painting became apparent. The sitter is represented in profile against an elaborate background with a decorative frieze along the bottom, reminiscent of early Renaissance frescoes. The flat handling of the paint and limited palette are dramatically different to the vibrant colours and more expressive brushwork for which she is best known.

• Material: Oil on plywood
• Size: 59.70 x 54.20 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist's Estate / Bridgeman Art Library. All rights reserved.

about 1947

GMA 1960

This is one of a number of paintings of the 1940s which show different views of the artist’s home at Beaconsfield Terrace, Hawick. Redpath had a great fondness for including domestic objects in her paintings. The Chinese rug in the foreground, the African sculpture on the mantelpiece and the linen chest in the far corner – decorated by Redpath – feature in many other works of this period. Redpath stated that she liked the rooms of her house to have white walls, most likely influenced by time spent in Italy. The walls serve to highlight and intensify the rich, bright colours used in the rest of the room. The painting shows the ‘tipped-up’ perspective Redpath often used to give a flattened, richly decorated effect.

• Material: Oil on plywood
• Size: 61.00 x 59.90 cm
• Gallery
• © the Artist's Estate / Bridgeman Art Library. All rights reserved.

Dated 1953

GMA 2921

‘Winter Seeding Hillside’ is an example of Reynolds’ painterly style of the 1950s. The landscape is composed of expressionistic, bold brush strokes of muted colours, which help suggest a winter scene. The brash black, and simplification of tree-like structures into jagged shapes, focuses attention towards a skull-like form near the centre, and calls to mind the work of the artist William Gear from the early 1950s. In 1952 the critic Herbert Read grouped the work of several emerging sculptors under the tag, “the geometry of fear”, and although this painting could be viewed in this vein, Reynolds was more concerned with creating a structured balance between the horizontal and vertical forces in the composition.

• Material: Oil on hardboard
• Size: 76.50 cm x 101.50 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist

1958

GMA 883

This work has been built up with layers of paint thickly applied with a palette knife, creating a rich mosaic of colours. Riopelle loved nature and strove to capture a sense of the feeling of places and things in his work. Many of Riopelle's paintings are inspired by landscapes: Ventoux is a mountain north of Marseille. The large area of green to the left of the centre and the black on the right suggest living and dead forests.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 80.70 x 100.00 cm
• Gallery
• © DACS 2004

about 1925

GMA 1589

This monumental portrait of the artist’s wife was painted in the early years of their marriage. It conveys her strength of character, showing her as a striking beauty, looking out from under the brim of her hat with a steely gaze. Sarah Kramer was born into a traditional Jewish family in Leeds in 1900. She often modelled for her brother, the artist Jacob Kramer, and through him she met William Roberts, whom she married in 1922. Roberts painted her on numerous occasions over the next 50 years and she often posed for figures in his compositions as well as featuring in portraits. Another portrait of her, painted in 1965, belongs to the Gallery.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 61.00 x 51.00 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2007

about 1928

GMA 783

This painting was inspired by a boat trip made by the artist down the river Rhine in the summer of 1928. The style owes much to the highly formalised manner adopted by Fernand Léger and his circle, sometimes referred to - for obvious reasons - as 'Tubism'. During the 1920s, Roberts painted many pictures of people engaged in ordinary social activities such as playing, relaxing and working. He would establish the composition in drawings, creating strong formal rhythms and rhymes, and would then square these up and methodically transfer the design onto canvas.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 50.80 x 40.60 cm (framed: 67.00 x 57.20 x 4.00 cm)
• Gallery
• © The Estate of John David Roberts. Reproduced by Courtesy of the William Roberts Society

about 1932

GMA 3511

From the early twentieth century, many artists worked on ballet productions, which was largely due to the success of the dancer Nijinsky and the innovative ‘Ballet Russe’ company which toured Europe. In 1931 Roberts had designed a drop curtain for the Camargo ballet company which was used at the Savoy Theatre in London. The composition of this painting was probably influenced by the work of Walter Sickert, who was interested in the behaviour of both theatre performers and audiences. Although the dancer on stage is the focus of attention, half of the canvas is filled with the members of the audience, each of whom is acutely observed and depicted as an individual, despite being in the shadows.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 40.80 x 45.60 cm
• Gallery
• © The Estate of John David Roberts. Reproduced by courtesy of the William Roberts Society

about 1935 - 1940

GMA 968

This is one of a number of paintings Rouault made of a female head depicted in profile. As in this painting, he often painted in a heavy impasto with thick black outlines. This style is indebted to his early training as a maker of stained-glass windows. 'Head' relates closely to a project for a tapestry, hence the decorative border. In the 1930s Rouault frequently included a border in his paintings, forming a 'frame within a frame' for the picture.

• Material: Oil on paper laid on canvas
• Size: 61.90 x 48.40 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

1981

GMA 2474

John Salt was one of the best-known photorealist painters in America during the 1970s. This painting is notable for being the first English scene he painted after his return to Britain in 1978 - it shows a shop in Ludlow, Shropshire, close to the artist’s home. Like all Salt’s paintings, it was painted using photographs and a slide projected onto the canvas. He used sign-writers’ paint to get a smooth effect and stencils to create some of the details. The scene is not one which normally would have interested the artist, but Salt was attracted to the scene by the strong sunlight, which reminded him of American light, and by the haphazard arrangement of the items and variety of textures. Like Salt’s more usual subject matter of abandoned American cars, this painting evokes times past.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 106.80 x 161.30 cm
• Gallery
• © John Salt

1969

GMA 1262

In this still life, objects have been reduced to their basic outlines. The frying pan is seen from above and the round bottomed bowls are seen from the side. The painting is from a period when Scott had begun to reintroduce figurative references into his paintings after a period of painting abstracts. However the objects are reduced to flat shapes without a physical presence, almost hovering above the picture plane. The painting is also an exploration of colour and tone. Scott described it as a ‘work of twentieth-century tonalist painting.’

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 168.00 x 172.00 cm
• Gallery
• © 2010 Estate of William Scott

1948

GMA 2066

This painting is typical of the sparse, kitchen-based still-life paintings Scott produced from the mid-1940s. The artist has said that he grew up in an austere, grey world, and this experience influenced his choice of subject matter and the colours of his paintings. In this small painting the lemons offer a splash of colour, set against a plain, white plate. Scott chose to paint the objects he was familiar with, and he stated that the work of Cézanne was a particularly strong influence on his still-life paintings.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 50.70 x 61.00 cm
• Gallery
• © 2010 Estate of William Scott

1947

GMA 3514

‘Mackerel’ is one of the earliest of Scott’s works in which a still life is reduced to a very simple, almost two-dimensional image. Like many of Scott’s still-life paintings, this work features common, everyday kitchen utensils and foodstuffs, laid out as if in preparation for cooking a meal. Scott was primarily concerned with composition and form and the relationship of objects to each other, rather then the objects in themselves. In 1947, the year this work was painted, Scott explained that: ‘I find beauty in plainness, in a conception which is precise... A simple idea which to the observer in its intensity must inevitably shock and leave a concrete image in the mind.’

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 52.10 x 76.00 cm
• Gallery
• © 2010 Estate of William Scott

about 1896 - 1898

GMA 740

Israel Zangwill was a famous novelist and playwright. Despite some dispute regarding its date, this portrait was almost certainly begun when both the artist and Zangwill were in Venice in 1896. It can be seen in relation to Sickert’s self-portrait in profile, from 1897, which also features an architectural backdrop. The Venetian setting of Zangwill’s portrait is thought to represent the Ghetto Nuovo, an area of the city in which Jewish inhabitants had at one time been segregated. It is a fitting background for Zangwill, who was a leading Zionist. He had also recently published 'Children of the Ghetto', a novel set in London’s East End, an area which had seen a great deal of Jewish immigrants settle.

• Material: Oil on canvas laid on board
• Size: 61.00 x 50.80 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Walter R. Sickert/DACS 2007

about 1901

GMA 910

Venice was a favourite painting destination for Sickert between 1895 and 1904. This painting can be dated to around 1901 and was most likely painted in the artist’s Dieppe studio from sketches made in Venice. Unlike earlier paintings of St Mark’s, Sickert has chosen to concentrate on a fragment of the building instead of painting the façade from the front. Although the cathedral is a famous landmark, this representation is given a twist through its bold composition, focusing on the left door of the five entrance archways. Sickert’s experimentation with unusual compositions was influenced by his contact with the artist Edgar Degas.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 45.70 x 38.10 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Walter R. Sickert/DACS 2006

about 1938 - 1939

GMA 2099

'High-Steppers' is probably Sickert's last painting to show a theatre scene, one of his favourite subjects. It is his third painting of the Plaza Tiller Girls, a dance troupe who performed at the Plaza cinema in Piccadilly, entertaining the audience before the start of the film. Although Sickert was a frequent visitor to the theatre, he never made any drawings or paintings there; instead, he preferred to work from press photographs. All three paintings of the Plaza Tiller Girls were based on a photograph which appeared in The Evening News in 1927.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 132.00 x 122.50 cm (framed: 149.50 x 139.50 x 10.00 cm)
• Gallery
• © Estate of Walter R. Sickert 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS

Dated 1925

GMA 758

Smith’s post-World War I work is often viewed as a self-indulgent exploration of the female form. His model, Vera Cunningham, for several years in the 1920s was also his lover and this relationship resulted in more sensuous paintings than his earlier Fitzroy Street nudes of around 1915-6. This work is characteristic of the style Smith is chiefly known for – richly coloured and luxurious with vibrant brush strokes. The composition is feminine and fluid, emphasised by the artist’s typical inclusion of material. The model is almost certainly Vera but in titling the work ‘Circus Woman’, Smith suggests a narrative, which is continued in her looking away from the artist. In the 1920s and 1930s Smith spent a considerable part of each year in France, hence the French titles of some of his works.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 116.80 x 81.30 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of the Artist

1944

GMA 2324

This is one of four portraits Smith made of John in October 1944, shortly after taking a break from painting due to depression. It was allegedly painted in less than an hour. Alluding to Smith's habit of painting flesh as if it had been flayed and soaked in blood, John jokingly referred to the painting as 'Another haemorrhage for Matthew; all the same he will be a portrait painter yet'. Augustus John also painted Smith, and when Smith was told that his painting was better, he remarked, 'Ah, but I had by far the more interesting subject!'

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 102.30 x 77.00 cm
• Gallery
• © By permission of the Artist's copyright holder

1958

GMA 2828

The strong horizontal and vertical brushstrokes in this painting show Soulages's interest in oriental calligraphy. In the year this work was painted the artist visited Japan, where he met several calligraphers. Soulages uses broad, solid brushstrokes to create an abstract composition, in which he achieves a careful balance between opposing directions of paint. The appearance of red underneath the heavy black paint gives the painting a sense of warmth. The titles of Soulages's works refer to the date of completion of each, though they may have been begun weeks or months earlier.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 161.00 x 113.30 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

1920 - 1921

GMA 2312

For many years this painting was titled 'Les Gorges du Loup' after an area near Nice, in the south of France, which is famous for its waterfalls. However, it has recently been proven that the painting depicts a landscape near the village of Céret in the Pyrenees, where Soutine moved in 1919. After arriving in the area the artist began to animate his landscape motifs with such frenzied brushwork that the trees and houses seem to lean in the wind. Soutine used the paint very thickly and with great energy.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 62.80 x 86.30 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

1950

GMA 2759

The year 1950 was a difficult one for Spencer. Seeking reconciliation with his first wife, Hilda, he had taken out divorce proceedings against his second wife, Patricia Preece. Preece contested the divorce and, tragically, Hilda died later that year. In the bottom right, the cruel-faced woman with outstretched, grasping hand is probably Preece. Pontius Pilate can be seen sitting on the steps to the left, washing his hands, while Christ is led away. At the top of the scene, the disciples have turned their backs on Christ and scuttle off in a group.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 68.80 x 149.00 cm (framed: 84.10 x 163.40 x 9.40 cm)
• Gallery
• © Estate of Stanley Spencer 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS

1936

GMA 3515

This work was painted whilst Spencer was working on a series of nine oil paintings called ‘Domestic Scenes’. These paintings show scenes of everyday life around the home, such as dusting, speaking to neighbours in the back garden and going to bed. Made at a time when the artist was seeking a divorce from his first wife, Hilda, the paintings refer to memories of his marriage. This painting is unusual in Spencer’s oeuvre, which consisted primarily of figure paintings, landscapes and portraits. It is likely that when winter weather prevented Spencer from painting outdoors he turned instead to depicting a roaring fire.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 76.20 x 50.80 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Stanley Spencer/DACS 2006

1954

GMA 817

'The Boat' was probably painted on a painting trip de Staël made to the north coast of France in the summer of 1954. After previously painting in an abstract style, de Staël had decided to reintroduce figurative elements into his work in 1952. Although the painting still retains strong aspects of abstraction, we can clearly identify the boat against the deep blue sky, on a dark sea. The artist had also recently abandoned the use of a palette knife and heavy impasto for much thinner, translucent paint, which he applied with brushes.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 46.30 x 61.00 cm (framed: 71.90 x 86.80 x 8.00 cm)
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

1946

GMA 2795

De Staël’s work of the late 1940s is characterised by abstract criss-cross marks. Densely packed and paint-encrusted blocks of colour contrast with the smooth application of paint in the artist’s later work. Made at a time when de Staël was struggling to develop a personal style, it is likely that the title was chosen after the painting was completed, rather than it being a representation of lightning. Although the dramatic clash of diagonals suggests conflict, there is still harmony in the work through the use of red accents to complement the palette of greens. The textured surface and tangled web of lines reflect the problematic nature of making art after the horrors of the Second World War – an issue tackled by many artists, such as Giacometti with his stick-thin figurative sculptures.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 115.50 x 89.00 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2009

1938 / 1941

GMA 1072

'Western Hills' was originally painted and sold in 1938, but then returned to the artist in exchange for another painting. Sutherland reworked it in 1941 and remarked: 'though I still liked the composition, it lacked 'body' in certain places. These I attempted to repaint, and, becoming very interested and absorbed, I completely repainted the whole picture, producing something absolutely different.' Sutherland did not paint outdoors but instead painted the suggestive forms of his beloved Welsh landscape from memory in his studio. The vibrant colours and textured brushwork of this painting create a richly atmospheric scene.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 55.50 x 90.50 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Graham Sutherland

1949

GMA 1711

Sutherland began his series of ‘Thorn Head’ paintings in 1945. He was initially inspired by a commission to paint a Crucifixion and by photographs of concentration camp victims from the recently-ended Second World War. Becoming more preoccupied with Christ’s crown of thorns, Sutherland began making drawings of thorn bushes. He noticed the way that the thorns acted ‘like dividers pricking out points in space in all directions, encompassing the air, as if it were solid and tangible.’ Sutherland developed his paintings of heads from looking at entangled, thorny branches. The earlier paintings in the series show a mass of curves and points, while this later work is bolder, showing a freestanding head in isolation with only minimal shapes to suggest thorns.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 60.70 x 46.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Graham Sutherland

1959

GMA 858

In the 1950s, Tàpies began to use a cement-like paste in his work, made by mixing paint with sand and other mineral materials. This thick substance resembles clay or volcanic lava, reminding us of the quality of earth. Tàpies frequently uses symbols in his paintings, such as the cross seen here. He explained that he used these in an intuitive manner, stating "When I put a sign in a picture, an x or a cross or a spiral, I feel a certain kind of pleasure. I see that the sign gives the picture a particular power, and I don’t try to explain why this is the case." A simple and ancient mark, the cross can signify death, human presence and spiritual forces.

• Material: Mixed media on canvas laid on board
• Size: 60.80 x 74.30 cm
• Gallery
• © Fondation Antoni Tapies, Barcelone/VEGAP, Madrid and DACS, London 2006

1961

GMA 2760

The wall is a recurring motif in Tàpies's work and he has related it to the high walls of the dark, narrow streets of his native Barcelona and Catalonia. He remarked: "The image of the wall can contain countless suggestions. Separation, claustrophobia; wailing walls, prison walls; rejection of the world, contemplation, destruction of passion, silence, death..." Most of Tàpies's paintings are black or grey and he even prefered to paint in closed rooms with all daylight blocked out. At the time this piece was painted, it would have formed a sharp contrast to the bright colours used in contemporary Pop Art.

• Material: Mixed media on canvas
• Size: 200.00 x 176.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Fundacio Antoni Tapies/DACS, London 2004

1963

GMA 2761

The structure of this wooden relief is reminiscent of a children's learning game. The underlying theme of 'Nine Elements', and of much of Tilson's work of this date, is language and communication and the relationship between words and symbols. The combination of images and styles invites the viewer to decode or invent a meaning. The images suggest a variety of senses and concepts: touch, sight, sound ('vox' is Latin for 'voice'), hearing (the shape on the bottom right represents an ear), time and chance. The bespectacled eye at the top right derives from a photograph of Tilson himself.

• Material: Mixed media on wood relief
• Size: 259.00 x 182.80 cm
• Gallery
• © Joe Tilson 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS

1958

GMA 1279

This geometric painting was composed by Vasarely to create a sense of movement. As the eye of the viewer follows the fragmented diamond shapes around the circle in the centre, the forms seem to spin, like the sails of a windmill. By the mid-1950s Vasarely was producing paintings, in which asymmetrical, geometric patterns, repeated with varying degrees of frequency and distortion, produce extraordinary, optical effects of depth and movement. Vasarely often gave his paintings titles of geographical origin; Taïmyr is the name of a lake and river in the far north of Russia.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 162.00 x 130.00 cm (framed: 166.40 x 133.40 x 4.10 cm)
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

1954

GMA 2804

Vaughan’s paintings of the 1950s balance figuration and abstraction, moving increasingly towards abstraction of the landscape. Here, the background has been reduced to abstract patches of colour which suggest water and forest but create a sense of ambiguity, and recall Cézanne’s late paintings of bathers. The figures echo the shapes of the landscape while remaining distinct from it, almost like dancers against a stage set. Vaughan attended the theatre regularly, including ballet performances, which appear to have influenced his graceful depiction of figures. He also produced a number of paintings of dancers. At the time this work was painted, Vaughan was interested in producing paintings of figures in motion or off balance.

• Material: Oil on hardboard
• Size: 121.70 x 152.10 cm
• Gallery
• © The Estate of Keith Vaughan 2005. All Rights Reserved DACS

1925

GMA 2148

Although the geometric paintings of Vordemberge-Gildewart resemble the work of Mondrian, the approaches of the two artists were entirely different. While Mondrian's art evolved from his spiritual beliefs, Vordemberge-Gildewart shunned all association with spirituality, symbol and metaphor. He argued that art represented nothing but itself, advocating what he called 'Absolute Art': 'The spiritual in art does not exist. .. For absolute art, so-called content and object are totally impossible.' This austere approach was reflected in the titles of his paintings which are simply numerical. The artist declared that it was his aim to reconcile art and technology.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 104.80 x 104.80 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart, Courtesy of Annely Juda Fine Art, London

about 1902 - 1903, reworked 1915

GMA 2933

This room is part of the apartment Vuillard shared with his mother at 28 rue Truffaut, Paris. The woman seen on the left of this painting is the artist’s mother, who ran a corset-making business from home. Vuillards’s painting is a study of the relationship between indoor and outdoor light. Much like the Impressionist painters who worked some years prior to the date of this painting, Vuillard was particularly interested on the effect of light on colour. The tonal quality of this scene and the dappled brushstrokes make the painting less flat and more decorative than earlier work.

• Material: Oil on millboard
• Size: 56.90 x 45.00 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2007

1893

GMA 2934

Vuillard is well known for his 'intimiste' paintings. These feature intimate scenes that convey the comfort of a domestic lifestyle. 'The Chat' is one of a series of paintings depicting the artist's mother and his sister, Marie. In these paintings, Vuillard generally depicts his mother as a large, expansive woman, at ease in her surroundings, while his sister appears awkward and submissive. In this painting, his mother is imparting advice to her daughter who is about to get married. Vuillard integrates each woman into the composition by placing an item the same colour as their dress beside them: a black throw on the left and a white plant pot on the right.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 32.40 x 41.30 cm (framed: 57.80 x 49.80 x 8.90 cm)
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

about 1900

GMA 2935

This painting shows Vuillard's obsession with pattern and texture. The designs on the wallpaper and tablecloth are depicted in great detail. However, each element in the painting is given equal weight and the whole composition is unified by little dabs of paint. Vuillard often painted with a dry, sticky type of paint, known as 'colle' on soft, brown cardboard. He would frequently leave some parts of the board unpainted, as can be seen in the bottom right area of this picture, to form the neutral tone.

• Material: Oil on millboard
• Size: 43.60 x 75.80 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2004

about 1910 - 1911

GMA 2936

Vuillard often left unpainted areas on his work, and does so here to great effect, with areas on the right of the canvas left bare. In this impressionistic painting the artist shows the effect of bright sunlight in a room, making positive use of the bare areas of primed canvas to emphasise shadow and create space around the vase of flowers on the table. Vuillard leaves it to the viewer to ‘fill in’ parts of the scene where shapes have been suggested – this is particularly evident on the flowers and the door on the right. Hints of dark outline in the foreground create the perspective of our viewpoint as spectators inside the room, standing over the end of the table.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 64.00 x 53.00 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2007

about 1900 - 1901

GMA 2937

Vuillard selected much of his subject matter from the small Paris apartments he shared with his mother. In painting familiar and ordinary objects he often chose unusual angles and compositions, paying particular attention to the decorative possibilities of scenes. Like many of Vuillard’s still-life paintings, this work has a casual air to it, like a snapshot of a room rather than a contrived arrangement of objects set up specifcally for the painting. Although the focus of this painting is the pot of flowers, the stack of canvases on the left of the work confirm that it is a view of the artist’s studio.

• Material: Oil on millboard
• Size: 48.50 x 62.00 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2007

1932

GMA 768

During the early 1930s, Wadsworth painted in an abstract style, but moved away from the hard, aggressive forms of his earlier vorticist period to naturalistically-inspired shapes. The rounded forms in this painting seem biological in inspiration. For many modern artists, scientific discoveries of a microscopic, biological nature were as stimulating and as suggestive of modernity as new developments in machinery or industry. Wadsworth was in close contact with developments in the French avant-garde, travelling to France regularly and exhibiting there. On the Continent he was recognised, in the early 1930s, as probably Britain's leading abstract artist.

• Material: Tempera on board
• Size: 35.70 x 40.70 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Edward Wadsworth 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS

1987

GMA 3042

The artist painted this cheerful picture two days after his son, Max, was born. The idyllic scene of father and son fishing reflects the artist's relief at the arrival of a healthy child. The kingfisher, with a fish in its beak, acts the part of a stork delivering a baby. The fish also has a child, which it spits out. Wiszniewski drew the composition directly on the canvas with a felt-tip pen before applying bright acrylic colour very sparingly.

• Material: Acrylic and felt-tip pen on canvas
• Size: 213.50 x 213.50 cm
• Gallery
• © Adrian Wiszniewski

1930

GMA 1712

The 'boy' in this painting is one of Wood's lovers, the artist Francis Rose. The work shows a hotel room in Tréboul, Brittany. Wood suffered from mental instability made worse by an opium habit. This problematic side to Wood's character sometimes surfaces in his art. The tarot cards lying on the bed may allude to worries about money and love, and perhaps also to danger; in any event they seem to tell of his troubled state of mind. A few months after completing this painting, Wood was killed by a train. Whether it was suicide, an accident, drug related or the result of mental instability, remains unclear.

• Material: Oil on hardboard laid on plywood
• Size: 53.80 x 65.00 cm (framed: 86.40 x 76.20 x 9.20 cm)
• Gallery
• © The Artist's Estate

1927

GMA 3523

Wood met Antonio Gandarillas, a Chilean diplomat, when he first travelled to Paris in 1921. They formed a close relationship with Gandarillas proving very influential on the young ‘Kit’ - introducing him to a variety of artists, musicians and writers of Parisian society and encouraging Wood to accompany him on diplomatic visits around the Mediterranean and North Africa. Gandarillas also built a studio for Wood on the top floor of his house on Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, London. Wood presumably made this work while he was in London during April 1927, for his first major exhibition, shared with Ben and Winifred Nicholson and the potter William Staite Murray at the Beaux Arts Gallery.

• Material: Oil on plywood
• Size: 32.80 x 40.70 cm (framed: 53.50 x 62.00 x 7.50 cm)
• Gallery

1927

GMA 3524

Wood completed several stylisically different paintings of bridges over the River Seine, which reflects the way he developed his own technique. In experimenting with a series of influences such as Fauvism and Impressionism, he combined different characteristics to create his own mode of expression. This painting shows distinct similarities to Henri Rousseau’s primitivist work, featuring motifs frequently found in Rousseau’s paintings – a river and factory chimneys - and heavy black lines. The dark palette is brought to life by a vivid red dotted around the painting, drawing the viewer further into the work and highlighting details such as the fire below the bridge and billowing smoke. The bridge is almost certainly the ‘Passerelle Debilly’, a footbridge close to the Eiffel Tower.

• Material: Oil on wood
• Size: 37.80 x 45.90 cm (framed: 61.00 x 68.70 x 7.20 cm)
• Gallery

1956

GMA 2479

This painting was made in 1956, a year of radical change in Wynter’s work. Its large scale and ‘all-over’ composition relates to works by American Abstract Expressionists the artist saw in an exhibition at the Tate in January 1956, and to the work of Mark Tobey, whom he met in St Ives in 1955. The painting refers to an imaginary primitive history, something which Wynter sensed in the extraordinary natural surroundings of his isolated home in Cornwall. Although Wynter has moved away from figurative painting, the work suggests a group of skeletal, primal figures, comprising enigmatic shapes and symbols. Built up from layers of overlapping and gestural brushmarks made intuitively, Wynter has suggested a deep picture space, unlike the shallow picture space often associated with abstract art.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 112.10 x 142.50 cm
• Gallery
• © DACS 2006

1950

GMA 1245

This is one of Yeats's late paintings. During the last twenty years of his life, he often took subject matter from his past, returning to Celtic mythology and the landscapes of his beloved Sligo. In the final decade of his life Yeats also became friendly with the artist Oskar Kokoschka. Kokoschka influenced Yeats's work to become more expressionistic in style, although Yeats normally sought to remain distinct from artistic movements. This landscape features Queen Maeve, the legendary fairy queen, who is reputed to have been buried in Sligo.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 91.50 x 122.00 cm
• Gallery
• © The Estate of Jack B. Yeats 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS

1987

GMA 3047

This photograph refers to the myth of Narcissus, the nymph who fell in love with his own reflection. In this photograph, we can see that the figure is gazing at himself in the mirror to the left. He is oblivious to everything but himself, even the pack of 'naked lady' playing cards beside him. Colvin frequently uses myths and stereotypes as a basis for his work and sets the scenes in rooms filled with household clutter, which bring his subjects up-to-date. He creates his image by painting on these objects and photographing the scene. This photograph deals with the themes of male narcissism, the cult of the body beautiful and obsessive self-regard.

• Material: Cibachrome print
• Size: 104.00 x 82.50 cm (framed: 138.50 x 113.00 x 5.08 cm)
• Gallery
• © Calum Colvin

Dated 1939

GMA 2079

The reference to classical mythology, both in the title of this work and in the Greek mask featured, was probably inspired by Agar's trip to the south of France in 1939. With this collage, which was based on a cut-out illustration of a ‘primitive’ mask, Agar evokes a world of carefree indulgence, much as she imagines the fabled lotus eaters to have inhabited. When the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art acquired the work, Agar wrote a note concerning the title: “Lotophagi: A fabulous people living on the Lotus-flower, the effect of which was to make the eater forget his own country and desire to live in the Lotus-land of his own choosing. The legend was the origin of [this] collage”.

• Material: Paper collage with watercolour and ink on paper
• Size: 38.10 x 28.20 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Eileen Agar

1910

GMA 682

This beautifully detailed drawing depicts the National Gallery of Scotland and Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh, as seen from Princes Street. Bone was particularly skilled at depicting detail and it has been suggested that this was a result of his being long-sighted in one eye and short-sighted in the other. The drawing was bequeathed to the National Galleries of Scotland by Sir James Caw in 1950, and is inscribed ‘In return for tea at Edinburgh Sept. 16, 1910.’ Sir James Caw was the first director of the National Gallery of Scotland, from 1907-30 and presumably Bone gave Caw this drawing of his place of work as a gift for providing him with tea.

• Material: Pencil on paper
• Size: 12.90 x 16.90 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Sir Muirhead Bone. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2009

Dated 1917

GMA 694

As Britain’s first official war artist, Muirhead Bone was posted to the Western Front in July 1916. He sent sketches back for publication in monthly Government journals such as ‘The Western Front’. In 1917 he was posted with the naval fleet, and made a number of watercolours, such as this, of the naval boats on the Firth of Forth and at Scapa Flow. The following year, on 21 November 1918, the German fleet surrendered in the Firth of Forth, signalling the end of German naval power after four long years.

• Material: Pencil and watercolour on paper
• Size: 19.60 x 29.20 cm
• Gallery

GMA 936

This work in watercolour and chalk shows an archway in the continental town of Fonte. Bone’s first prolonged trip abroad was spent in Italy between 1910 and 1912. He travelled to Holland the following year and from the 1920s to 1930s he visited Spain, France, Turkey and Sweden, producing both etchings and watercolours during his trips. There are towns called Fonte in both Italy and Spain, therefore we do not have an exact date for this work as it could have been produced at any time between 1910 and 1930 during Bone’s travels. Bone has made effective use of chiaroscuro in his depiction of the shady archways, contrasting the darkened areas of the arches with the shafts of sunlight falling in between.

• Material: Black chalk and watercolour on paper
• Size: 22.00 x 25.50 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Sir Muirhead Bone. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2009

1910 - 1912

GMA 937

This pastel drawing depicts the Italian town of Todi in Umbria. The ‘rocca’ of the title is the town’s medieval fortress and highest point. This drawing shows the view of the town as seen from the fortress, with the Tevere valley below. Bone visited Italy from 1910-12 - it was his first prolonged visit abroad. This drawing is very different from the precise, architectural etchings with which Bone is normally associated. The expressionistic treatment of the landscape is reminiscent of the Spanish artist El Greco.

• Material: Pastel on paper
• Size: 24.30 x 36.50 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Sir Muirhead Bone. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2009

about 1937

GMA 1115

Burra visited Spain on several occasions in the 1930s and was deeply impressed by the paintings by Goya and Bosch that he saw at the Prado museum in Madrid. However, although the extremist politics of the Spanish Civil War, that were intensifying in Spain and being felt around Europe, satisfied Burra’s interest in theatrical sensation, the increasing violence provoked a new turn in his work. Unusual for progressive artists of the period, Burra was pro-Franco, and his reaction to the violence was not ideological or moralistic but instead featured a sinister cast of characters - skeletons and menacing, cloaked figures, inhabiting a decaying world of ruined buildings - an exploration into the effect of the escalating violence and suffering on the people.

• Material: Watercolour and pencil on paper
• Size: 102.00 x 67.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of the Artist c/o Lefevre Fine Art Ltd, London

1937

GMA 2147

This painting shows Izzy Orts, a popular bar and dance-hall once located at the docks in Boston, but now demolished. Burra was a frequent visitor to the bar, no doubt attracted by the lively mix of clientele. Many of his works depict life in the seedier areas of cities. Burra visited America several times and this picture is believed to have been painted during his second visit in 1937. The vibrant scene contains a number of strange characters, such as the disquieting blank-eyed sailor who faces the viewer. The sailor in the foreground on the left-hand side is a self-portrait of the artist. The work is painted in watercolour, Burra's favourite medium.

• Material: Watercolour and pencil on paper
• Size: 73.60 x 104.50 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate Of The Artist c/o Lefevre Fine Art Ltd, London

about 1932 - 1933

GMA 1326

This work is a study for the painting ‘A Portrait Group,’ which is in the collection of the Gallery of Modern Art. The boy is one of Cowie’s pupils from Bellshill Academy, where the artist taught briefly before the First World War and subsequently from 1918-35. His pupils feature frequently in his paintings and drawings of this period. In ‘A Portrait Group’, Cowie planned the painting by using individual studies, like this work. This formal and self-conscious way of organising the composition resulted in a painting in which the figures do not relate to each other. Cowie was particularly influenced by early Italian Renaissance artists.

• Material: Coloured chalk and pencil on paper
• Size: 56.00 x 33.60 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of James Cowie

Dated 1954 / 1962

GMA 3366

Born in Langholm, Christopher Murray Grieve was one of the most influential Scots of the twentieth century. He was a prolific poet and essay writer, a founding member of the Scottish National Party, a Marxist and the leader of the Scottish literary renaissance. He revived and renewed Scots as a poetic language and used half a dozen pen names before settling for Hugh MacDiarmid, the name by which he is best known. This captivating illustration of MacDiarmid was made for 'The Radio Times’ with the title perfectly describing the scene - ‘Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle.’

• Material: Ink over pencil on scraperboard
• Size: 12.80 x 20.30 cm (scraperboard 15.20 x 22.80 cm)
• Gallery
• © The Estate of the Artist

about 1936

GMA 1723

Gillies loved to paint dramatic Highland landscapes, particularly the area around Ardnamurchan, Morar and the Kyle of Lochalsh where he made regular trips throughout the 1930s. Following the death of his beloved sister Emma in 1935 and with the threat of war looming, Gillies’s landscapes became increasingly emotional and expressive. In this painting, the dark, watery sky threatens imminent rain, contrasting with the lighter colours and relaxed mood of the figures in the foreground, who are the artist’s mother, Aunt Margaret and sister Jenny. Gillies said of this painting; ‘The mood of this one I like. There is a fine threat in the landscape’.

• Material: Watercolour and gouache on paper
• Size: 50.60 x 63.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Royal Scottish Academy

about 1931

GMA 1833

Travelling around the Scottish Highlands on painting trips in the 1930s, Gillies found watercolour to be the ideal medium for producing quick and atmospheric paintings. Much influenced by organising an exhibition of Edvard Munch’s paintings in Edinburgh in 1931, his landscapes of this period contain an emotional response to the subject matter not previously present in his work. Here, the distinctive rugged outline of the Cullin Hills in the background is set against a patchwork of luminous blues and greens of the sea and sky to suggest changing weather and shifting light conditions. Using the slightest of brushstrokes to suggest waves, ripples and rocks, Gillies was able to painting quickly to capture the essence of the scene and could produce several paintings each day.

• Material: Watercolour and gouache on board
• Size: 37.60 x 55.80 cm
• Gallery
• © Royal Scottish Academy

1920

GMA 2102

This drawing was made while Grosz was working with the Berlin Dada group. It shows three industrialists counting their riches, while the poor and war-wounded stand in the background. The man in the bottom right of the picture wears a swastika tie pin. Grosz claimed that he made this drawing, and others like it, to reveal to the oppressed the true faces of their rulers. Indeed, he has made the three men look ugly and corrupt. However, his work seems to caricature the poor as much as the rich.

• Material: Pen and ink on paper
• Size: 52.70 x 41.10 cm (framed: 79.37 x 66.67 x 2.54 cm)
• Gallery
• © DACS 2004

about 1926

GMA 2957

In this drawing Hubbuch has paid great attention to the details of the women's appearance - the checked coat, the hairstyles and shoes - situating them firmly in the 1920s. Hubbuch insists upon the banality of everyday, contemporary reality, in keeping with the Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) movement. However, something about the drawing seems strange, as one figure is dressed as if for cold weather, while the other is naked from the waist upwards. Both women are distracted by something unseen, allowing the viewer to gaze at them freely.

• Material: Black chalk and coloured crayon on eight pieces of paper joined together
• Size: 77.00 x 65.00 cm (framed: 94.80 x 74.50 x 2.10 cm)
• Gallery
• © Karl Hubbuch Stiftung, D-79098 Freiburg

about 1923 - 1927

GMA 1902

In the early and mid-1920s Hunter spent much of his time in Fife, drawing and painting its fishing villages. This study for a later oil painting may represent Lower Largo. The furious scribbles of coloured pencil, combined with the strong, inky black lines, create a vibrant impression of the village.

• Material: Pen and ink and crayon on paper
• Size: 22.80 x 29.00 cm
• Gallery

about 1927 - 1929

GMA 1907

Hunter was based on the French riviera from 1927-29, and this drawing shows the beach at the fashionable resort of Juan-les-Pins, near Nice. The area was particularly popular among artists, and Picasso holidayed there regularly in the 1920s. Hunter has perfectly captured the atmosphere of a sunny day at the beach in this lively sketch. His use of brightly-coloured crayons conveys the bright light as well as giving the scene a child-like sense of joy and playfulness. Hunter made hundreds of quick sketches like this during his stay in France, using them as a way to record his immediate impressions of light and colour.

• Material: Ink and crayon on paper
• Size: 32.00 x 41.30 cm
• Gallery

about 1907 - 1908

GMA 861

The woman depicted in this work is thought to be ‘Dorelia’ (Dorothy McNeill 1881-1969). Dorelia lived with the artist and his wife, Ida, between 1904 and 1907 and became John's common-law wife after Ida's death in 1907. She is depicted here in 'gypsy' clothes and barefoot. John was an ardent enthusiast for the Romany life and spent much time between 1905 and 1911 travelling with his extensive family in a gypsy caravan. Dorelia was perhaps John’s most frequent subject in his early career. However, in the 1920s he was much in demand for commissioned portraits and it was only in later years that she began to feature in his work once more.

• Material: Watercolour, gouache and pencil on paper
• Size: 40.60 x 28.80 cm
• Gallery
• © the Artist's Estate / Bridgeman Art Library. All rights reserved.

about 1914 - 1918

GMA 1530

Gwen John spent the majority of her working life in Paris and the nearby town of Meudon. In 1913 she became a Catholic and made a large number of paintings of the local church and of the nuns that belonged to the Meudon order, the ‘Soeurs de Charité de la Présentation de la Sainte Vierge de Tours’. This work was previously known as ‘A Sleeping Nun’. However, the artist was asked to make deathbed drawings of nuns on several occasions and therefore it is likely that the work may be a record of a real scene or a later exploration of the powerful motif. The combination of the nun’s posture and pale complexion added to the fact that she is holding a rosary, would indicate that she is dead or dying rather than sleeping.

• Material: Gouache, watercolour and black chalk on paper
• Size: 31.50 x 24.00 cm
• Gallery

about 1950 - 1955

GMA 1532

Following a nervous breakdown in 1947, Jones went to live as a lodger with his doctor in Harrow. There, he made a series of watercolour drawings which feature a glass goblet of flowers on a table surrounded by a variety of domestic objects. This delicate and lively composition is centred around an eighteenth-century German glass chalice. The distinctive curved metal arms of the casement windows of the artist’s small bedroom can also be seen in the painting. Critics have commented on the chalice as representing a sacrificial cup, which reflects the artist’s strong Catholic faith.

• Material: Watercolour, gouache and pencil on paper
• Size: 78.20 x 58.70 cm (framed: 117.00 x 86.80 x 3.00 cm)
• Gallery
• © Trustees of the David Jones Estate

about 1916 - 1917

GMA 720

Princess Melilot is a character from the story ‘The Bound Princess’ in Laurence Hausman’s book ‘The Field of Clover’ (Melilot is also a plant, known as ‘sweet clover’). In Hausman’s story, a spell is cast over the princess by her step-sisters, who are jealous of her beauty and charm. She is first turned into a rose-tree and then turned back into herself but is rooted to the ground in an enchanted sleep, unable to move or speak. The hero of the story carries out tasks to break the spell, and on waking, the Princess marries him. King was much in demand as a book illustrator. Her delicately detailed drawings which use the curves and natural imagery of Art nouveau were ideal to illustrate fantastical stories.

• Material: Pen and ink on vellum laid on board
• Size: 32.40 x 21.20 cm
• Gallery
• © Dumfries and Galloway Council and The National Trust For Scotland

1913

GMA 1673

Jessie M. King lived in Paris from 1910-14, where she ran an art school with her husband. Best-known for her distinctive line illustrations, King was a versatile artist who also produced designs for wallpaper and interiors. In 1913 she was asked to design a child's nursery for an exhibition of 'Art for Children' held at the Musée Galliera. Her final display closely resembled the design in this painting. It included a stained glass window, white furniture and a frieze around the middle of the walls illustrating the story of ‘The Frog Prince’, with bookshelves fitted above. Whilst living in Paris, King’s use of colour was influenced by the Russian Ballet and the popular craft of batik dying.

• Material: Watercolour, gouache and pencil on board
• Size: 35.70 x 61.80 cm
• Gallery
• © Dumfries and Galloway Council and The National Trust For Scotland

1927

GMA 1015

Klee’s technique of ‘taking a line for a walk’ allowed his hand to be free from rational control, creating the starting point for new images. Here, the labyrinth of interlocking horizontal and vertical lines is turned into a town by the simple addition of a roof. In this context, the delicately-sprayed clouds of pink and blue paint in the background become a dense snowstorm. Klee’s works had an enormous influence on the Surrealists (Masson and Miró, in particular), because they provided an example of how automatism could be used in art. This work was acquired by a private collector from the first exhibition of Klee’s work held in a public gallery in Britain, at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh in December 1934. It was later bequeathed to the National Galleries of Scotland.

• Material: Pen and coloured inks and watercolour on paper laid on card
• Size: 49.90 x 31.60 cm
• Gallery

1922

GMA 2106

This work may be a self-portrait. Klee had very large eyes, a domed head and a closely cropped beard. The artist made many puppets for his son, and this figure, with its arms flopping down and tilted head, appears to have been inspired by a puppet. The figure was created by a process of oil transfer, rather like making a carbon copy. The artist used a sharp instrument to draw the outline of the figure on a sheet painted with special oil paint on the underside. The black smudges show where Klee's hand rested on the paper.

• Material: Oil transfer and watercolour on paper laid on card
• Size: 50.00 x 35.40 cm (framed: 61.90 x 80.30 x 3.80 cm)
• Gallery

about 1902

GMA 1249

This drawing is believed to be a study for the frieze Klimt painted in the central hall of Secession building in Vienna in 1902. The frieze was part of a group exhibition which paid tribute to Beethoven, and accompanied a controversial sculpture of the composer by Max Klinger. Klimt chose Richard Wagner’s interpretation of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony as the theme for the frieze. The drawing was originally thought to show a standing woman, but it in fact relates closely to a number of similar studies of a woman lying down.

• Material: Black chalk on paper
• Size: 31.90 x 45.30 cm
• Gallery

about 1903 - 1904

GMA 2946

Although Klimt was not a prolific painter, he made thousands of drawings. Most of these were linked, albeit loosely, with painting projects. This drawing is thought to be a study for the painting Hope (Hoffnung). In German, 'Hoffnung' can also mean pregnancy. The painting features a naked, pregnant woman, but was originally intended to show a man with his arm held protectively round the woman's shoulders, as in this scene. Klimt's work was concerned with the great subjects of human existence - birth, love, suffering and death. This study of a couple is in keeping with that interest.

• Material: Black chalk on paper
• Size: 44.70 x 30.60 cm
• Gallery

about 1913

GMA 3037

From 1910 to 1914 Kokoschka painted a remarkable series of portraits which expose the inner life of his sitters. Alma Mahler (1879 - 1964) was the muse of some of the great early-twentieth-century artists. Klimt fell in love with her but was ultimately spurned and the composer Gustav Mahler was her first husband. Kokoschka was her lover after Mahler's death. The artist met Alma Mahler in April 1912 and they immediately embarked upon a turbulent love affair. He painted several portraits of her and a celebrated oil, 'The Tempest', which depicts the couple together on a stormy sea.

• Material: Black chalk on paper
• Size: 39.20 x 31.50 cm (framed: 68.00 x 54.70 x 3.00 cm)
• Gallery
• © DACS 2004

1983 - 1984

GMA 2958

This work was inspired by a trip the artist made to Naples. It is a collage, of handmade papers, painted in watercolour and oils, with sand added to the upper half of the tree. Lawrence has used a limited range of colours in the work, concentrating the viewer's attention on the detailed drawings of feathers and branches. Her intense analysis of these forms suggests the spiritual power and significance of nature. The strictly balanced and symmetrical composition is influenced by Oriental art.

• Material: Watercolour, oil and sand on handmade paper, laid on paper
• Size: 183.00 x 160.00 cm (framed: 186.30 x 163.30 x 7.50 cm)
• Gallery
• © Eileen Lawrence

1950 or 1951

GMA 2955

The appearance of the man in this drawing marks him definitively as a manual worker, shown wearing a cloth cap and grasping a rope with large, strong hands. The drawing is simplified, as the subject is not depicted as an individual, but represented as a ‘worker’ type. Although this drawing is described as a study for the painting ‘Les Constructeurs’, it was in fact made after the painting was completed. It is one of several such drawings which focus on aspects of the full and finished painting, of which the Gallery owns a painted study. This work is certainly more of a highly-finished drawing than a sketch, with shading carefully cross-hatched within the strong black outline of the figure.

• Material: Ink and black chalk on paper
• Size: 64.50 x 49.70 cm
• Gallery
• © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2006

Dated 1925

GMA 3433

William McCance moved to London in 1919 or 1920 with his wife, Agnes Miller Parker. This portrait of his wife is rendered in the vorticist style, with angular forms accentuated by shading in black chalk. McCance was one of very few Scottish artists to follow the Vorticism path. Miller Parker was herself an artist and had, like McCance, trained at Glasgow School of Art. She went on to become a well-known wood engraver and book illustrator.

• Material: Black chalk on paper
• Size: 38.00 x 50.80 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of William McCance

1975

GMA 1591

Alexander Moffat’s artistic output consists chiefly of portraits, which are often of his family and friends. As an influential teacher and writer on art, Moffat’s sitters have included many prominent Scottish figures, such as John Bellany, Alan Bold and Norman MacCaig. In this portrait of Ian Hamilton Finlay, Moffat has shown the sitter in a natural and relaxed pose, looking as if he is thinking or listening to a conversation. By the late 1960s, Moffat had abandoned his palette of earthy colours to use bright colours, influenced by Matisse. In this work, the soft, bright pastels combine with Moffat’s confident sense of linear form to make a striking portrait of Finlay.

• Material: Coloured chalk on paper
• Size: 54.00 x 40.10 cm
• Gallery
• © Alexander Moffat

1944

GMA 2065

In 1944 Moore made a series of drawings and maquettes (small models) of family groups. These were preliminary ideas for a sculpture to be sited outside a school near Cambridge. In several of the studies two children are shown handling a book, a detail inspired by the scholastic nature of the project. The commission was abandoned for financial reasons, but an altered version of the sculpture (with a single child) was made several years later. Although primarily known as a sculptor, Moore concentrated on drawing while he was an Official War Artist from 1940 to 1942. He produced drawings of Londoners sheltering in underground stations during air raids.

• Material: Watercolour, ink, crayon and chalk on paper
• Size: 52.30 x 44.90 cm (framed: 58.70 x 67.90 x 3.50 cm)
• Gallery
• © The Henry Moore Foundation. Image must not be reproduced or altered without prior consent from the Henry Moore Foundation.

Dated 1940

GMA 2002

This work was painted while Morton was in St Ives visiting two artists he had met through his involvement with ‘Edinburgh Weavers’ - Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth. Its unusual composition forms an essentially unique aspect of Morton’s oeuvre. It has a cinematic quality which suggests the manner in which the work should be read – a series of successive horizontal frames in an abstract, animated film. The sense of movement evoked by the varying compositions of forms in space shows the influence of Alexander Calder’s hanging mobiles from the late 1930s. The reductive selection of colours highlights Morton’s interest in Modernism, and the artist Piet Mondrian (whose work he owned) in particular.

• Material: Gouache, watercolour and pencil on paper
• Size: 35.50 x 50.80 cm
• Gallery
• © Alison Morton

Dated 1960

GMA 1081

Although only twenty-one years old and still at University in California when the Spanish Civil War broke out, Motherwell was deeply affected by reports of the terrible violence. This work is related to the long series of works entitled ‘Elegy for the Spanish Republic’, which the artist began in the late 1940s and continued over three decades. Using predominantly black and white, the paintings represent life, death and injustice. Motherwell said of the series, ‘I discovered Black as one of my subjects – and with the black, the contrasting white, a sense of life and death which to me is quite Spanish. They are essentially the Spanish black of death contrasted with the dazzle of a Matisse-like sunlight’.

• Material: Gouache and pencil on paper
• Size: 58.10 x 73.60 cm (framed: 114.80 x 84.00 x 2.50 cm)
• Gallery
• © Dedalus Foundation, Inc/DACS, London/VAGA, New York 2006

1987

GMA 3470

This work consists of a frond of seaweed delicately drawn in pencil on handmade paper. The subject of all of Elizabeth Ogilvie's art is the sea, as she seeks to evoke its movement and the abstract patterns it creates. The shape of the seaweed in this work suggests the rhythms of the sea, as if it is moving gently in the waves. Drawing in graphite is a labour-intensive process, very different from the loose and expressive style popular among some artists during the previous decade.

• Material: Graphite on handmade paper
• Size: 61.00 x 244.00 cm
• Gallery
• © Elizabeth Ogilvie

1963

GMA 848

This large and dramatic watercolour triptych was initially created as three separate paintings. Philipson commented that, ‘One day, when I had them laid side by side on the floor to study them, I realised that they were in a fact a single statement in three parts.’ On the left panel, a figure stands against a dark scaffold with flames licking upwards. A muted middle panel balances this against the ominous darkness developing from the bottom of the right panel. The rich blues of the rose window set the scene unmistakably in a Gothic cathedral. Painted in deep, glowing colours, the triptych’s subject matter and the vigorous paint handling imply violence. Much of Philipson’s subject matter of the 1960s reflected his rage following his wife’s premature death in 1960.

• Material: Watercolour, pastel, gouache and black chalk on paper (triptych)
• Size: Three panels, each 137.20 x 81.30 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist's Estate

1951

GMA 849

This drawing is a near duplicate of another. Pollock placed two sheets of thin rice-paper on top of one another and dripped black and red ink onto the first so that much of it bled through to this second sheet; he then added touches of white gouache. The drawings were probably done on 16 January 1951 at a birthday party for the artist's friend, chief supporter and great champion of Abstract Expressionism, the critic Clement Greenberg. Pollock gave the other version to Greenberg.

• Material: Ink and gouache on paper
• Size: 63.10 x 99.90 cm
• Gallery
• © ARS, NY and DACS, London 2004

about 1942 - 1944

GMA 2198

Pollock's early work was figurative, becoming increasingly abstract over time until the 'drip' paintings of the early 1950s, for which he is most famous. This work features a human figure drawn in black ink. Another figure, possibly an animal, has been added over the top. The main body of this figure is in red ink, and its head is to the right of that of the drawn figure. A severe alcoholic with emotional difficulties, Pollock underwent psychoanalysis between 1937 and 1943, producing drawings as part of his therapy.

• Material: Oil, pen and ink, and watercolour on paper
• Size: 33.50 x 50.70 cm
• Gallery
• © ARS, NY and DACS, London 2004

1956

GMA 1278

Drawing was always important to Scott. His charcoal drawings of 1956 offer more fluid lines than those of 1954, which are angular and brutal at times. Scott’s mode of reduction and reworking are central to these drawings, and build to create a vibrant, energetic composition. This larger-than-life-size work, is distinctly of this period, yet its pose is firmly rooted in art history – referencing Giorgione’s ‘Sleeping Venus’ and Manet’s ‘Olympia’. However, unlike Giorgione’s sleeping beauty, Scott’s nude is very much awake and props herself up. She wears a shoe like Manet’s Olympia, but in contrast her legs are apart rather than elegantly crossed. As Scott stated: “Drawing for me is exploring not explaining, containing geometry, sex, distortion and correction, forms pure and impure”.

• Material: Black chalk on two sheets of paper
• Size: 74.30 x 207.00 cm (framed 94.50 x 227.00 x 3.90 cm)
• Gallery
• © 2010 Estate of William Scott

1931

GMA 2067

This beautiful and tender drawing depicts Stanley's wife Hilda. Spencer worked on this drawing and other pencil studies of Hilda in the evenings, while painting the Sandham Memorial Chapel at Burghclere. Although the Spencers' marriage started to break down around 1932, this work shows Stanley's love for his wife. The drawing is made with the point of a hard pencil and is lightly modelled. The precise, academic style can be seen also in Spencer's paintings. Around the same time as this drawing was made, Hilda completed a drawing of Stanley which complements this work.

• Material: Pencil on paper
• Size: 50.80 x 35.20 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Stanley Spencer 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS

1931

GMA 2068

In this drawing of her husband, Hilda makes detailed observations of both head and body. She depicts Stanley day-dreaming but makes no suggestion as to the content of those dreams. Hilda Spencer was a talented artist, although frequently overshadowed by her famous husband. This tender drawing shows her highly skilful draughtsmanship. It was drawn when the Spencers were living at Burghclere in Hampshire, while Stanley was working on the murals for Sandham Memorial Chapel. Around the same time as this drawing was made, Stanley completed a drawing of his wife which complements this work.

• Material: Pencil on paper
• Size: 50.80 x 35.30 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Hilda Carline (Spencer), 2004. All rights reserved. DACS

1945

GMA 763

After working as a War Artist during the Second World War, Sutherland returned to painting landscapes and natural motifs. In his paintings of 1945-6, there is a noticeable brightening of the palette, moving away from the use of dark and heavy colours and sharp contrasts in tone. In this work, Sutherland has concentrated on a group of thistle branches, stylizing the shapes of the thorns. It was made in the same year that the artist began his series of ‘Thorn Head’ paintings, which relate to themes of human suffering and cruelty. However the inclusion of the sun and use of oranges and yellows make this work more positive in tone.

• Material: Gouache, black and coloured crayon on paper
• Size: 45.00 x 40.40 cm
• Gallery
• © Estate of Graham Sutherland

1986

GMA 3459

Taking her inspiration from archaeological imagery, Kate Whiteford began incorporating symbols from ancient cultures into her work from around 1980. Fascinated by timeless symbols such as Roman urns and columns and Celtic and Pictish iconography, shapes such as the circle, spiral, and chevron lines seen in this painting, recur in her work. By taking signs from different ancient cultures, Whiteford removes their cultural references and explores their visual power, often using them on a large scale to increase their impact. Stripped to their essence, Whiteford questions whether the same shapes found in different cultures may essentially represent the same thing. For example, does the spiral always represent growth or life? Whiteford made a number of paintings and prints in red and green.

• Material: Acrylic on paper in painted frame
• Size: 150.50 x 113.50 cm (frame 157.50 x 120.60 cm)
• Gallery
• © The Artist

1951

GMA 1997

The symmetrical composition of this large work is particularly characteristic of Wilson’s later style, as is the dramatic use of colour on a black background. From the early 1940s the artist began to experiment with a ‘landscape’ style, which is not landscape in the true sense, but the picture plane is divided into horizontal bands. Totem poles are a favourite motif of Wilson, influenced by his time spent living and travelling in Canada. The central construction may be a castle or more likely a fountain. Fountains occur frequently in Wilson’s work, a reminder of his childhood spent in the public parks of Glasgow.

• Material: Crayon and pen and ink on black paper
• Size: 90.20 x 154.40 cm (framed: 109.50 x 177.10 x 4.50 cm)
• Gallery

1932

GMA 2281

Wilson combined work in an Edinburgh stained-glass studio with his activities as a printmaker. In 1932, he won the Royal Scottish Academy Carnegie Travelling Scholarship and took leave from his employer to study full-time at Edinburgh College of Art and travel to Spain and Italy. In Spain, he produced views of Madrid, Granada, Ronda and Toledo, including this pen and ink drawing. It shows the mountain-top city with the river Tagus below. The distinctive turreted building at the top of the city is the Alcázar of Toledo. The castle was to play an important role in a battle at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War when it was held by the Nationalists against Spanish Republican forces, just four years after this drawing was made.

• Material: Pen and ink, ink wash, pencil and black chalk on paper
• Size: 40.60 x 53.80 cm
• Gallery
• © The Estate of William Wilson

1953

GMA 3482

Wilhelmina Barns-Graham’s paintings respond to geological formations and the natural environment, from seaside rocks to glaciers. This painting belongs to a group of studies inspired by the rock formations at Zennor, near St. Ives. The artist had a studio there and worked among the active artistic community in the area. In this painting, the paint has been scraped to produce a textured surface. This reveals the pencil lines underneath, which show that the work has been structured using geometrical proportions. The flattening of the picture space underlines the abstract nature of the painting, yet although abstract, Barns-Graham’s work takes the rhythms and forms of nature as its primary inspiration.

• Material: Oil and pencil on wood
• Size: 22.90 x 28.50 cm
• Gallery
• © Barns-Graham Charitable Trust

about 1939

GMA 3494

Hodgkins travelled in Spain from 1935-6 and although usually dated around 1939, this work relates stylistically to several other gouaches she painted during this period. It shows characteristics of a new phase which emerged in her work around 1928-30 and later became an important aspect of her oeuvre - the still life-landscape. ‘Chairs and Pots’ features an abstracted composition with Hodgkins’ distinctive spatial ambiguity. Rippling and reflections around the central chair leg suggest the group is standing in water. This is contrasted against the flat background, on which shadows of the objects are visible, implying a studio arrangement. This ambiguity is juxtaposed with the overall tonal harmony created by the blue palette.

• Material: Gouache and watercolour on paper
• Size: 72.30 x 54.90 cm (framed: 92.80 x 75.30 x 7.40 cm)
• Gallery
• © Estate of Frances Hodgkins

1944

GMA 3520

This painting shows the influence of the artist’s wartime work as a coastguard in Cornwall. The floating shape on the right resembles a radar screen while the white point in the centre suggests a star used as a navigational aid. Tunnard has created a marbling effect by pressing paper onto the wet paint and peeling it off, a technique known as decalcomania. The resulting textured effect suggests the sea. In contrast, stencils have also been used to achieve the more precise outlines of the arches. The painting subverts our understanding of the picture space through the use of arches and planes set at disorientating angles.

• Material: Oil over gesso on board
• Size: 53.40 x 43.20 cm
• Gallery
• © The Artist's Estate

Dated 1948

GMA 3527

‘Cyclamen’ is an example of Wynter’s approach to painting in the late 1940s, before he evolved a more abstract style for which he is better known. In 1946 Wynter saw a Georges Braque exhibition at the Tate Gallery and this influenced his approach for several years. This is visible here in the breaking down of the composition into surfaces, creating an angular, cubist feel. The scene beyond the still life shows a view across the bay at Wynter’s home, The Carn, near St Ives. Across the paper is an underlying texture created by a monotype print, which Wynter used as the initial base for most of his gouaches at this time. It creates a unique surface that the artist built into the overall patterning, identifiable here in the surface texture of the plant’s leaves.

• Material: Gouache with monotype on paper
• Size: 50.50 x 37.40 cm (irregular) (framed: 58.00 x 73.30 x 3.20 cm)
• Gallery
• © DACS 2008

about 1924 - 1927

GMA 3533

Besides being an architect and designer, Mackintosh also produced a large number of drawings and watercolours. Mackintosh and his wife moved to the south of France in 1923, staying for most of the time in Port Vendres, a small town close to the Spanish border. This is one of about forty surviving landscape watercolours that Mackintosh painted in the area. These watercolours have the same sense of organic structure that we find in Mackintosh's architecture. The broad sweeps of paint enliven the composition, which is highlighted by patches of bright blue.

• Material: Watercolour on paper
• Size: 38.70 x 43.80 cm
• Gallery

12 May 1988

GMA 3537

John Bellany has always used his immediate surroundings and his own experiences as raw material for his art. In 1988 the artist underwent liver transplant surgery. As soon as he came out of the intensive care unit at Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, Bellany set to work producing self-portraits, and charting the course of his hospitalisation and convalescence and covering the walls of his hospital room with drawings and watercolours. They reflect the inevitable ups and downs of the patient: the intense physical pain, the discomfort and fears that he might not pull through, and then the optimism about a new lease of life.

• Material: Watercolour and black chalk on paper
• Size: 77.50 x 56.90 cm
• Gallery
• © the Artist / Bridgeman Art Library. All rights reserved.

1852

PG 250

This portrait was painted over 50 years after Abercromby’s death. It is painted after another portrait by John Hoppner, also in the National Galleries of Scotland Collections. The painting commemorates the British victory against the French near Alexandria in Egypt and preceded by the daring disembarkation. The painting shows Abercromby standing in the camp they had set up at Aboukir Bay after their successful landing, Abercromby holds his battle plan ready to march to Alexandria. His great victory defeated the French and made Britain’s eastern empire secure. In the background you can make out the Piillar of Pompey at Alexandria.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 242.00 x 151.40 cm
• Gallery

about 1787

PG 989

Abercromby studied law at Edinburgh and Leipzig but preferred a military career, seeing his first active service during the Seven Years’ War. Whilst climbing the military ranks, in 1774 he was elected MP for Clackmannanshire, but his liberal views on the American War of Independence damaged any political prospects. Instead, the war with France gave Abercromby the chance to revive his military career, and by 1800 he was commander of Britain’s troops in the Mediterranean. With orders to expel the French from Egypt, Abercromby landed at Aboukir Bay on 8 March 1801 and led his troops to victory at the battle of Alexandria on 21 March, where he himself was fatally wounded. Both events are depicted in two paintings by De Loutherbourg, also in the National Galleries of Scotland’s collection.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 74.90 x 62.20 cm (framed: 90.70 x 78.00 x 5.50 cm)
• Gallery

about 1805

PG 2038

Adam was a classical scholar and educational reformer. His family were tenant farmers in Morayshire, and he walked 150 miles from there to Edinburgh, aged seventeen, to attend logic classes at the university. Augmenting his interest in education, in 1763 he was appointed Rector of Edinburgh High School. Adam was a popular teacher, and his pupils included Sir Walter Scott, the critic Lord Francis Jeffery, Lord Chancellor Henry Brougham and the MP Francis Horner. In around 1805, fourteen former pupils commissioned Raeburn to paint Adam’s portrait, which they presented to the High School. When he died, his obituary referred to this portrait, stating that Raeburn had painted “an excellent likeness of the worthy rector, who is represented in the act of teaching his pupils”.

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Size: 127.00 x 101.60 cm (framed: 159.00 x 132.50 x 15.20 cm)
• Gallery

1792

PG 201

The architect Robert Adam’s period of study in Rome, from 1755-1757, coincided with the artist Allan Ramsay’s second stay in that city. In letters home Adam referred to Ramsay cheekily as “Old Mumpy” and “Black-beard Allan”. Nevertheless, he visited the Ramsays regularly, explaining that “nothing could be genteeler than their weekly conversations . . . and as Mrs Ramsay is of so good a family and Mumpy himself so rich they are no discredit.” He joined the artist on sketching expeditions and Ramsay painted his portrait in 1755.

• Material: Paste
• Size: framed: 13.60 x 11.00 x 2.90 cm
• Gallery

1792

PG 262

Robert Adam transformed British architecture. With his brother, James, he created a new style based on an inventive use of classical ideas which appealed to rich patrons for both country and town houses. Interiors designed by Robert Adam typically include ceilings with decoration in low plaster relief around painted panels. In Edinburgh, Charlotte Square, Register House and the Old College of the University are all examples of their work.

• Material: Paste medallion
• Size: Height: 7.80 cm
• Gallery