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Colin Middleton
GAME OF CHANCE (WILDERNESS SERIES NO.1)
Lot 6
Current Bid:
€15,000
Bid History:
1 Bids
Estimate:
€20,000 - €30,000
Ending:
18:03:45 on 28/05/2024
Colin Middleton RHA, RUA, MBA, 1910-1983
GAME OF CHANCE (WILDERNESS SERIES NO.1)
Oil on board, 24 1/2" x 24 1/2" (62.2 x 62.2cm), signed with monogram; signed, inscribed and dated 1972/74 verso.
Exhibited: 'Colin Middleton, Wilderness Series, No... Read more
Lot 6
Colin Middleton
GAME OF CHANCE (WILDERNESS SERIES NO.1)
DVTV Click Here To View VideoGAME OF CHANCE (WILDERNESS SERIES NO.1)
Oil on board, 24 1/2" x 24 1/2" (62.2 x 62.2cm), signed with monogram; signed, inscribed and dated 1972/74 verso.
Exhibited: 'Colin Middleton, Wilderness Series, No... Read more
Lot 6
Colin Middleton
GAME OF CHANCE (WILDERNESS SERIES NO.1)
Estimate:
€20,000 - €30,000
Colin Middleton RHA, RUA, MBA, 1910-1983
GAME OF CHANCE (WILDERNESS SERIES NO.1)
Oil on board, 24 1/2" x 24 1/2" (62.2 x 62.2cm), signed with monogram; signed, inscribed and dated 1972/74 verso.
Exhibited: 'Colin Middleton, Wilderness Series, Northern Hemisphere and Barcelona', 1972-74, Tom Caldwell Gallery, catalogue number 24.
After a decade when Colin Middleton's work had largely become focussed on his immediate environment, and the Irish landscapes most familiar to him, in the early 1970s his life underwent substantial changes. An Arts Council bursary and some notable sales allowed him to retire from teaching, to move from Belfast and to travel to Australia by sea to visit his daughter, Alison, and to Barcelona, where Jane, his youngest child, was then living.
Travel had always made a powerful impact on Middleton's work and the scale of the ocean and the Australian landscape, as well as the effect of light and the influence of indigenous art, were all influential in the paintings Middleton made in the early 1970s, although they also reveal a period of self-reflection, in which the artist returning to his early interest in Surrealism.
Game of Chance also demonstrates the manner in which Middleton was able to integrate his early training and work as a designer into his paintings, almost three decades after he had abandoned this career. Pattern is used not just to describe the folds of clothing, but also to connect the two figures in the painting, even though that on the right is highly ambiguous.
The painting is full of visual wit and invention, but is also disconcerting. The female figure, recalling the archetype that runs through Middleton's career and dominates the Wilderness Series, connects all the elements of the painting, seeming to balance precariously on the edge of the building while holding on to a pole that just touches the moon. The sky, sea and horizon are all unsettlingly interchangeable. To the right is a head, with patterned shapes suggesting a body, which seems to defy any physical logic as it flows through the building.
The Wilderness Series explores philosophical ideas and pictorial experimentation alongside autobiography, and the meaning of individual paintings becomes clearer in the context of the entire series. Middleton spoke of transmutation and metamorphosis in regard to these paintings, and they do seem to question the physical laws of our world and to create a mystical, dreamlike place.
Dickon Hall, April, 2024
GAME OF CHANCE (WILDERNESS SERIES NO.1)
Oil on board, 24 1/2" x 24 1/2" (62.2 x 62.2cm), signed with monogram; signed, inscribed and dated 1972/74 verso.
Exhibited: 'Colin Middleton, Wilderness Series, Northern Hemisphere and Barcelona', 1972-74, Tom Caldwell Gallery, catalogue number 24.
After a decade when Colin Middleton's work had largely become focussed on his immediate environment, and the Irish landscapes most familiar to him, in the early 1970s his life underwent substantial changes. An Arts Council bursary and some notable sales allowed him to retire from teaching, to move from Belfast and to travel to Australia by sea to visit his daughter, Alison, and to Barcelona, where Jane, his youngest child, was then living.
Travel had always made a powerful impact on Middleton's work and the scale of the ocean and the Australian landscape, as well as the effect of light and the influence of indigenous art, were all influential in the paintings Middleton made in the early 1970s, although they also reveal a period of self-reflection, in which the artist returning to his early interest in Surrealism.
Game of Chance also demonstrates the manner in which Middleton was able to integrate his early training and work as a designer into his paintings, almost three decades after he had abandoned this career. Pattern is used not just to describe the folds of clothing, but also to connect the two figures in the painting, even though that on the right is highly ambiguous.
The painting is full of visual wit and invention, but is also disconcerting. The female figure, recalling the archetype that runs through Middleton's career and dominates the Wilderness Series, connects all the elements of the painting, seeming to balance precariously on the edge of the building while holding on to a pole that just touches the moon. The sky, sea and horizon are all unsettlingly interchangeable. To the right is a head, with patterned shapes suggesting a body, which seems to defy any physical logic as it flows through the building.
The Wilderness Series explores philosophical ideas and pictorial experimentation alongside autobiography, and the meaning of individual paintings becomes clearer in the context of the entire series. Middleton spoke of transmutation and metamorphosis in regard to these paintings, and they do seem to question the physical laws of our world and to create a mystical, dreamlike place.
Dickon Hall, April, 2024
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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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