About this artwork
The title of this etching comes from James Hogg’s classic novel, ‘The Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner’, published in 1824. Bellany read it when he went to London to study at the Royal College of Art. The book examines the potential for evil within humanity, a theme that links directly to Bellany’s Calvinist upbringing. This etching is filled with ambiguities, creating an unsettling scene. In the foreground a figure carries a skate in a basket whilst behind, another apparently hermaphrodite figure with a cat-like face, clutches an egg timer. The skate has human features and external sexual organs - an alter ego of some description that appears frequently in his work. Bellany only began to experiment with etching when he started teaching at Winchester College of Art. This is one of the first of a series of etchings he made in 1970.
Updated before 2020
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artist:John Bellany (1942 - 2013) Scottish
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title:Confessions of a Justified Sinner
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date created:Dated 1972
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materials:Etching on paper (3/50)
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measurements:49.50 x 43.20 cm (paper 66.40 x 54.50 cm)
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased 1986
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accession number:GMA 2994
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gallery:
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subject:
John Bellany
John Bellany
Bellany was born in the fishing village of Port Seton, near Edinburgh. He studied at Edinburgh College of Art and at the Royal College of Art, London. His work of the 1960s and 1970s dealt with original sin, guilt, sex and death. His characteristic paintings are large compositions featuring his own...