Sir Robin Philipson, R.A., P.R.S.A., R.S.W.

London, The Fleming Collection, From Colourists to Contemporary: Still Life Painting from The Fleming Collection,  2006

Original canvas. The work appears in very good overall condition with rich passages of impasto. Under ultraviolet light there appear to be no signs of retouching. Held under glass in a gilt and black painted wood frame; unexamined out of frame. Ready to hang.
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On discussing the poppy paintings, Philipson remarked: 'It was when painting poppies in oils that I decided to change from direct painting to the old method of underpainting and glazing. What attracted me to poppies was their splendour – the sheer power and yet the delicacy of their colour – the cold and warm reds and very subtle translucent lights. I began by modelling their form in whites and a range of neutral colours. When this ‘white’ stage was quite dry, the strong colours were created by laying thin glazes of pale transparent paint over the top, sometimes up to ten or more on top of the other. Some of the blacks are built up in the same way over a bed of very rich blue or crimson. Working with glazes means that design and colour scheme have to be planned in advance, the forms themselves have to be more precisely determined – effects cannot be produced directly as they can in painting straight onto the canvas.' (Robin Philipson Retrospective, exhibition catalogue for Edinburgh College of Art, 1989, unpaginated)