Bidding on this item has ended.
Colin Middleton
RAIN: SHIMNA VALLEY
Lot 23
Price Realised:
€12,000
Estimate:
€15,000 - €20,000
Colin Middleton RHA, RUA, MBA, 1910-1983
RAIN: SHIMNA VALLEY
Oil on board, 36" x 36" (91.5 x 91.5cm), signed with monogram; signed, inscribed and dated 1966 verso.
Exhibited: Colin Middleton, Ulster Museum and Hugh Lane Gallery, 1976, ca...
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Lot 23
Colin Middleton
RAIN: SHIMNA VALLEY
Lot 23
Colin Middleton
RAIN: SHIMNA VALLEY
Estimate:
€15,000 - €20,000
Colin Middleton RHA, RUA, MBA, 1910-1983
RAIN: SHIMNA VALLEY
Oil on board, 36" x 36" (91.5 x 91.5cm), signed with monogram; signed, inscribed and dated 1966 verso.
Exhibited: Colin Middleton, Ulster Museum and Hugh Lane Gallery, 1976, catalogue number 88 (dated 1967); Oriel Gallery, Dublin, 'An Exhibition of Paintings by Colin Middleton, 1995, catalogue number 24.
In the 1960s, Colin Middleton's work became increasingly concentrated on the landscape. In the later 1940s and 1950s, his landscapes had often included figures or had specific symbolic intentions, but as his work slowly transformed in its style and technique in the late 1950s, he became more absorbed in evolving a pictorial language that could suggest the enduring physical qualities of a landscape alongside the changing visual effects.
Although Middleton was living in Belfast in 1966, when he painted Rain: Shimna Valley, most of his subject matter was drawn from landscapes he grew to know well during family holidays. Their caravan was located near the Mournes in the mid-1960s, and Middleton would make sketches direct from a particular motif before returning to the caravan to paint. The scale of this work might even suggest that it was painted in his Belfast studio, but the directness of his response to the landscape is maintained.
The horizontal bands that suggest space and distance within the painting are broken up here by abrupt marks, repeated verticals and semi-circles that are familiar from Middleton's work at this time, delineating passages of vegetation, trees, hills and dips, and guiding the viewer's eye through this extremely resolved space. A single tall tree connects the middle ground with the distance, where the effect of rain has softened the horizon and sky to two grey bands, in contrast to the activity elsewhere in the work. The weather is often noted in Middleton's titles, and the shifting transformative effects of rain, sunshine or evening were clearly of interest to him, but there is also an absorption in the underlying structure and material nature of these places.
Dickon Hall, March 2024.
RAIN: SHIMNA VALLEY
Oil on board, 36" x 36" (91.5 x 91.5cm), signed with monogram; signed, inscribed and dated 1966 verso.
Exhibited: Colin Middleton, Ulster Museum and Hugh Lane Gallery, 1976, catalogue number 88 (dated 1967); Oriel Gallery, Dublin, 'An Exhibition of Paintings by Colin Middleton, 1995, catalogue number 24.
In the 1960s, Colin Middleton's work became increasingly concentrated on the landscape. In the later 1940s and 1950s, his landscapes had often included figures or had specific symbolic intentions, but as his work slowly transformed in its style and technique in the late 1950s, he became more absorbed in evolving a pictorial language that could suggest the enduring physical qualities of a landscape alongside the changing visual effects.
Although Middleton was living in Belfast in 1966, when he painted Rain: Shimna Valley, most of his subject matter was drawn from landscapes he grew to know well during family holidays. Their caravan was located near the Mournes in the mid-1960s, and Middleton would make sketches direct from a particular motif before returning to the caravan to paint. The scale of this work might even suggest that it was painted in his Belfast studio, but the directness of his response to the landscape is maintained.
The horizontal bands that suggest space and distance within the painting are broken up here by abrupt marks, repeated verticals and semi-circles that are familiar from Middleton's work at this time, delineating passages of vegetation, trees, hills and dips, and guiding the viewer's eye through this extremely resolved space. A single tall tree connects the middle ground with the distance, where the effect of rain has softened the horizon and sky to two grey bands, in contrast to the activity elsewhere in the work. The weather is often noted in Middleton's titles, and the shifting transformative effects of rain, sunshine or evening were clearly of interest to him, but there is also an absorption in the underlying structure and material nature of these places.
Dickon Hall, March 2024.
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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.
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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