Gravity and Light

29 June 2019 - 21 July 2019

We are delighted to host Ewan McClure’s first solo exhibition at The Scottish Gallery. He is a painter of prodigious talent using oil paint in the Scottish tradition of Belle Peinture, so well represented in our history by both Glasgow Boys and Scottish Colourists. For subjects he chooses landscape, here of Sweden in particular: fresh, plein air studies; the figure: still, in movement, always psychologically animated, and still life/interior giving ample scope for original composition and play of light.

A fully illustrated catalogue introduces a new painter for whom the title genius seems quite appropriate. Click here to purchase the catalogue.

To the casual observer, a still life painter’s workday involves a surprising amount of arbitrary juggling with bric-a-brac. But amid the trial-and error process of setting up; principles of harmony and order are dimly suggesting themselves to the painter – there to be obeyed or defied. As an idea finally crystallises, every passage of space and form is understood to relate to every other, and the channelled excitement of painting can begin. Ewan McClure

Born: 1975

Ewan McClure is a Scottish artist who graduated from Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen, in 1997 under the tutelage of Sandy Fraser. Gaining national recognition through the BP Portrait Award and Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year, he was later shortlisted for the Conversations Prize at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 2015. Beyond portraiture, his work extends to observational still-life and landscape painting. From 2018-2023, he served as artist-in-residence at Hornel’s former studio in Broughton House, Kirkcudbright. His practice is defined by exceptional draughtsmanship, a profound understanding of oil painting, and a respect for the medium. His work is held in notable collections, including The Fleming Collection, Princeton Theological Seminary, and The Royal Scottish Academy.

He is a painter deeply connected to the history of belle peinture and if he recalls any single Scottish painter it is Samuel John Peploe, in his early period: the given of brilliant draughtsmanship, the understanding, and respect for the medium, the confidence to eschew the conventional but without relying on contrivance. Guy Peploe

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