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Colin Middleton
THE CATALAN MOUSETRAP
Lot 19
Price Realised:
€34,000
Estimate:
€30,000 - €40,000
Colin Middleton RHA, RUA, MBE, 1910-1983
THE CATALAN MOUSETRAP
Oil on board, 23 3/4" x 23 3/4" (60 x 60cm), signed; signed, inscribed and dated 1975 verso.
Provenance: David Hendriks Gallery, Dublin (label verso); Collection of Antoinet...
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Lot 19
Colin Middleton
THE CATALAN MOUSETRAP
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Lot 19
Colin Middleton
THE CATALAN MOUSETRAP
Estimate:
€30,000 - €40,000
Colin Middleton RHA, RUA, MBE, 1910-1983
THE CATALAN MOUSETRAP
Oil on board, 23 3/4" x 23 3/4" (60 x 60cm), signed; signed, inscribed and dated 1975 verso.
Provenance: David Hendriks Gallery, Dublin (label verso); Collection of Antoinette and Patrick J. Murphy; their sale, Adams, 23 October 2019 no.92; Private Collection.
Exhibited: Towards the Worlds Edge, Belltable Arts Centre, Limerick 1981, Cat no.42.
Literature: Patrick J. Murphy, 'A Passion for Collecting: A Memoir', illustrated p.190.
The bright colours and visual inventiveness of Colin Middleton's painting in the 1970s appear primarily to have been sparked by the various journeys he was able to take during this decade, first to Australia, where he stopped to work for a month, as the culmination of a round-the-world sea voyage, and then to Spain, where his daughter, Jane, was living.
The Catalan Mousetrap was part of the Barcelona Quartet included in Middleton's 1976 exhibition at the David Hendriks Gallery (the Quartet also included Bon Voyage, now in the collection of the Irish Museum of Modern Art). Middleton's time in Spain became increasingly influential in this heightened palette and the discovery of a new landscape and local culture, and also in reigniting Middleton's early interest in Surrealism, visiting museums devoted to Dali and Miro.
As with his earlier surrealist works, abstract elements of pattern and design also began to be integrated into Middleton's paintings in the 1970s, although often more overtly than in the wartime period when he was still working as a designer for the linen industry. Within the present painting this creates repeated or connected series of shapes and colours across the canvas, uniting an unexpected and impenetrable association of objects and characters. Beginning in 1972 with the Wilderness Series, Middleton began to develop a particular style and iconography within his work, still related to earlier periods, often playing with our sense of perspective and physical logic to evoke a heightened mood that can be simultaneously joyous, mysterious and unsettling. Middleton noted that the incongruous advertising hoardings placed in the middle of an empty landscape that he saw in Spain had influenced him and, despite the visual unity of The Catalan Mousetrap, there is also a sense of disjuncture between its various elements which is perhaps reflective of this unexpected source.
Dickon Hall
THE CATALAN MOUSETRAP
Oil on board, 23 3/4" x 23 3/4" (60 x 60cm), signed; signed, inscribed and dated 1975 verso.
Provenance: David Hendriks Gallery, Dublin (label verso); Collection of Antoinette and Patrick J. Murphy; their sale, Adams, 23 October 2019 no.92; Private Collection.
Exhibited: Towards the Worlds Edge, Belltable Arts Centre, Limerick 1981, Cat no.42.
Literature: Patrick J. Murphy, 'A Passion for Collecting: A Memoir', illustrated p.190.
The bright colours and visual inventiveness of Colin Middleton's painting in the 1970s appear primarily to have been sparked by the various journeys he was able to take during this decade, first to Australia, where he stopped to work for a month, as the culmination of a round-the-world sea voyage, and then to Spain, where his daughter, Jane, was living.
The Catalan Mousetrap was part of the Barcelona Quartet included in Middleton's 1976 exhibition at the David Hendriks Gallery (the Quartet also included Bon Voyage, now in the collection of the Irish Museum of Modern Art). Middleton's time in Spain became increasingly influential in this heightened palette and the discovery of a new landscape and local culture, and also in reigniting Middleton's early interest in Surrealism, visiting museums devoted to Dali and Miro.
As with his earlier surrealist works, abstract elements of pattern and design also began to be integrated into Middleton's paintings in the 1970s, although often more overtly than in the wartime period when he was still working as a designer for the linen industry. Within the present painting this creates repeated or connected series of shapes and colours across the canvas, uniting an unexpected and impenetrable association of objects and characters. Beginning in 1972 with the Wilderness Series, Middleton began to develop a particular style and iconography within his work, still related to earlier periods, often playing with our sense of perspective and physical logic to evoke a heightened mood that can be simultaneously joyous, mysterious and unsettling. Middleton noted that the incongruous advertising hoardings placed in the middle of an empty landscape that he saw in Spain had influenced him and, despite the visual unity of The Catalan Mousetrap, there is also a sense of disjuncture between its various elements which is perhaps reflective of this unexpected source.
Dickon Hall
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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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