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

Acquired directly from the arist by the family of the present owner circa 1940 and thence by descent

The board is sound. The board is very slightly undulated. On very close inspection there is a small area of paint lifting to the left of the extreme upper edge (approx. 1 inch in length). There is some minor surface dirt. Otherwise in good original condition. Held in a simple white painted wooden frame in fair condition. Under glass and unexamined out of frame.
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Blue and Yellow Still Life dates to the mid 1940s, around the time that Redpath returned from France and painted several of her most dynamic paintings. This period saw the production of masterpieces such as The Indian Rug of c.1942 also known as Red Slippers and the Blue Table Cloth of c.1940 and Still Life with a Teapot and a Round Table of c.1945. The common theme is a table, laden with fine china and blooms and swathed in vibrant tablecloths, seen from above as though the viewer were standing over the table and looking down on the sumptuous spread laid out before them. With this painting Redpath combines the strength of a bold composition with the subtlety of colouring, that mark her experiments in pale tones and as Patrick Bourne remarked "she was an extrovert and sensitive, and this balance between strength and subtlety is the key to her achievement as a painter."

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 the present work. The work is comparable in date and quality to Still Life with White Tulips (Sotheby's, Edinburgh, 26 April 2007, Lot 129) and Greys (Sold, Sotheby's, Edinburgh, 1 May 2008, Lot 171) which represent some of Redpath's best work to have been offered at auction.

The objects on the table appear to be viewed from a slightly elevated and flattened perspective. 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 vibrant dashes of colour juxtaposed with subtle pastel-like tones which Redpath employs in her finest paintings of the 1940s and early 50s is wonderfully displayed in Blue and Yellow Still Life.