Lot 24 Colin Middleton

Colin Middleton RHA RUA, 1910-1983 THE BRIDE Oil on canvas, 24'' x 20'' (61 x 51cm), signed and dated 1938. Provenance: Christies Irish Art Sale, 12th May, 2006 (lot 106), which catalogue entry read: Middleton commented that, 'you could say that in the 1930s I was the only surrealist painter working in Ireland' (quoted in Exhibition catalogue, Colin Middleton: A Millennium Appreciation, Belfast, Eastwood Gallery, 2000, p. 74). He produced a fascinating body of work that was related to European trends of Surrealism but on which Middleton was able to stamp his own distinct mark. He was familiar with the work of English Surrealists including Paul Nash and Tristram Hillier and the influences of other artists, including Dali and de Chirico, are apparent in Middleton's work. He was also affected by the worsening political climate in Europe in the 1930s and the present work, as was another painting of the same title (Collection of George and Maura McClelland at the Irish Museum of Modern Art), was painted as a reaction to the Spanish Civil War (see The Hunter Gatherer: The Collection of George and Maura McClelland at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, London, 2005, p. 68, no. 57). Dickon Hall (Colin Middleton: A Study, 2001, p. 18) comments, 'There is no single manner that dominates Middleton's surrealist paintings, but there are hallmarks that run through much of this work. The frequent use of the female nude is typical of European surrealism (and seems to be distinct from Middleton's later interpretation of the female archetype) ... but Middleton's surrealism is not as derivative or irrelevant as is often suggested. Visually it is immediately reminiscent of mainstream European surrealist painting of the pre-war era, but in its content and consistency it comes closer at times to a highly personal and passionate symbolism'.