Bidding on this item has ended.
Colin Middleton
SURREAL STUDY
Lot 25
Result:
Not Sold
Estimate:
€10,000 - €15,000
Colin Middleton MBE, RHA, RUA, 1910-1983
SURREAL STUDY
Oil and mixed media on board, 36" x 36" (91.5 x 91.5cm), signed with monogram.
Colin Middleton was the stylistic chameleon of 20th century Irish art, the exception to the rule that ...
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Lot 25
Colin Middleton
SURREAL STUDY
Lot 25
Colin Middleton
SURREAL STUDY
Estimate:
€10,000 - €15,000
Colin Middleton MBE, RHA, RUA, 1910-1983
SURREAL STUDY
Oil and mixed media on board, 36" x 36" (91.5 x 91.5cm), signed with monogram.
Colin Middleton was the stylistic chameleon of 20th century Irish art, the exception to the rule that each artist finds his or her own style and sticks with it. The key to his restless versatility is probably that, for about 20 years, he had another, demanding job, working as a damask designer for his father's firm before turning fulltime to painting. A designer takes a problem and figures out how to deal with it, and Middleton applied that approach to the plethora of modern movements he encountered as an aspiring artist. Fauvism, Cubism, Abstraction and Surrealism were all grist to his mill. Hence, though he is often referred to as the first Irish Surrealist, and while he certainly adopted the methods and tropes of Surrealism when he felt like it, he was no more a Surrealist than he was a Constructivist or an Expressionist.
The fact is he had the technical skill and that intellectual capacity to absorb the nuts and bolts of any movement or style and make it his own. Some art historical commentators are suspicious of such promiscuity, but it did not prevent Middleton gaining a wide, appreciative audience. It's true that there is a certain playfulness to his appropriation of style, but that does not eclipse the honesty and intensity of feeling in his work.
In Surreal Study, he seems to be channelling Aubrey Beardsley and Max Ernst. The historian SB Kennedy notes that Edward Shih made a good case for him in 1950, seeing him as a pilgrim through modernist possibility. But, crucially, underlying the variety was a basic concern for the human condition and that - like Beardsley - he was a Symbolist and his primary protagonist, as here (attended by a retinue of fantasy creatures), is an archetypal female figure, drawn from "a universal subconscious."
Aidan Dunne, November 2021
SURREAL STUDY
Oil and mixed media on board, 36" x 36" (91.5 x 91.5cm), signed with monogram.
Colin Middleton was the stylistic chameleon of 20th century Irish art, the exception to the rule that each artist finds his or her own style and sticks with it. The key to his restless versatility is probably that, for about 20 years, he had another, demanding job, working as a damask designer for his father's firm before turning fulltime to painting. A designer takes a problem and figures out how to deal with it, and Middleton applied that approach to the plethora of modern movements he encountered as an aspiring artist. Fauvism, Cubism, Abstraction and Surrealism were all grist to his mill. Hence, though he is often referred to as the first Irish Surrealist, and while he certainly adopted the methods and tropes of Surrealism when he felt like it, he was no more a Surrealist than he was a Constructivist or an Expressionist.
The fact is he had the technical skill and that intellectual capacity to absorb the nuts and bolts of any movement or style and make it his own. Some art historical commentators are suspicious of such promiscuity, but it did not prevent Middleton gaining a wide, appreciative audience. It's true that there is a certain playfulness to his appropriation of style, but that does not eclipse the honesty and intensity of feeling in his work.
In Surreal Study, he seems to be channelling Aubrey Beardsley and Max Ernst. The historian SB Kennedy notes that Edward Shih made a good case for him in 1950, seeing him as a pilgrim through modernist possibility. But, crucially, underlying the variety was a basic concern for the human condition and that - like Beardsley - he was a Symbolist and his primary protagonist, as here (attended by a retinue of fantasy creatures), is an archetypal female figure, drawn from "a universal subconscious."
Aidan Dunne, November 2021
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In the event of a tied bid, the preference will be given to the bid submitted first. The second bidder will receive immediate notification of being outbid.
PLEASE BID EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT.
In order to allow rival bidders the opportunity to respond to a late bid the following extensions will apply:
IF A BID IS RECEIVED WITHIN THE FINAL 45 SECONDS OF THE COUNTDOWN THE CLOCK WILL RESET TO 60 SECONDS.
At any point you can leave a maximum bid, representing the highest price you are prepared to pay for a particular lot. Bidding only advances when there is competition from a rival bidder. In that case the system bids on your behalf, only up to the maximum if required. All bids are relayed to you be email, along with notification if you have been outbid.
All maximum bids are confidential and not disclosed. The system will endeavor to purchase the lot for you for the least price. Bids are subject to buyer’s premium of 25% (incl vat), with no additional charges.
In the event of a tied bid, the preference will be given to the bid submitted first. The second bidder will receive immediate notification of being outbid.
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