Anne Redpath, R.S.A., A.R.A.

Aitken Dott & Son, Edinburgh;
Mrs David McC. Hunter, Edinburgh;
Private Collection

Edinburgh, Royal Scottish Academy, 1949, no. 173;
Edinburgh, Aitken Dott & Son, Anne Redpath Exhibition, October 1950, no. 25;
Edinburgh, The Arts Council of Great Britain - Scottish Committee, Anne Redpath Memorial Exhibition, no. 34

There is some extremely minor cracking to the surface of the reverse of the board but structurally the board is sound. There are some tiny pin holes in the corners. Otherwise in good original condition, clean and ready to hang. Ultraviolet light reveals no sign of retouching. Held in its original decorative moulded frame in fair condition. Under glass and unexamined out of frame.
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In 1949 Redpath moved from Hawick to Edinburgh to live in a house in Mayfield Gardens which she shared with her sons David and Alastair. The extent to which Redpath immersed herself in the Edinburgh art scene is evidenced by an article in Vogue magazine in May 1950 which described Redpath 'as a social centre for Edinburgh's art world.' The paintings Redpath produced during this period are evidently some of her most progressive and exciting.

Redpath's technique had long involved an 'all over' approach which disregarded perspective and instead concentrated on colour contrast and form. Derek Clarke, a contemporary of Redpath's in the Hanover Street Group who met from 1947 until 1950, recalls Redpath's 'liveliness and concentration, walking back and forth, turning suddenly to spring a surprise on the image and catch it unawares, screwing up her eyes to diffuse the focus and generalise the image. She was at every stage concerned with the whole of the painting rather than concentrating on a small area.' This focus on the even treatment of the surface which was a prime concern of the abstract expressionists such as Jackson Pollock in America during the 1940s and 1950s is powerfully conveyed in Greys. The objects on the table appear to be viewed from a slightly elevated perspective. The viewer can see over the edge of the glasses, bowl, vase, mug and jug. The table top, however, appears completely flat as if it has been painted with a bird's eye view. The still life objects appear to fall forwards and the mug is placed so far on the verge of the table that it threatens to fall to the floor at any moment.

Redpath credited the Italian Primitives as having the greatest influence on her painting. But her independent time in Italy also had a great impact on her work and describing her accommodation in Florence, Redpath remembered the 'walls were white, rough white with plaster. There was a gay orange and red rug hung on a wall. There were cool white tiles on the floor...Coming in from the heat of Florence in the summer, to this cool room, and the lovely bit of colour which had far more intensity because it was against white, I think that was the beginning of my love of a white wall.' She further recalls that 'as far back as I can remember I have loved painting white.' The white, pastel-like tones which Redpath employs in her paintings of the 1940s and early 50s, which is wonderfully displayed in Greys, is a prominent feature in her most accomplished early work.