Divided Figure: William Scott at the Jerwood.

“I am an abstract artist in the sense that I abstract. I cannot be called non-figurative while I am still interested in the modern magic of space, primitive sex forms, the sensual and the erotic, disconcerting contours, the things of life”. William Scott (1913-1989).

The current Jerwood exhibition William Scott: Divided Figure celebrates the centenary of the birth of Scott, one of the leading and most influential British painters of the 20th century and a central figure in European and American art. The exhibition is the second in a series of distinctive retrospectives taking place in art galleries across the UK and US throughout 2013. The Jerwood showcases Scott’s figure works, both on canvas and on paper, created between 1954-1973 when he was arguably at the height of his artistic career and propelled onto the international art stage. Hot reporter Joe Fearn went along to enjoy the exhibition of work produced by such an influential artist.

The Jerwood Foundation was established in 1977 by its Chairman, Alan Grieve, for John Jerwood, an international businessman and philanthropist. In his speech, Alan Grieve quoted the philosopher and humanist Anthony Grayling, Master of the New College of the Humanities, London. When asked about the meaning of life, A.C. Grayling emphasised the need to develop an eye for the fittingness of things, an idea taken from Aristotle, who filched it from Plato. It was at that point that Joe Fearn, (Ph.D Philosopy, Leicester) realised how to review William Scott’s exhibition: it is all about influences.

The first influence on the visitor is the Jerwood Gallery. The impressive space is an artwork in itself, and is part of a landmark redevelopment of the Stade, a historic area in Hastings Old Town, home to Europe’s largest beach-launched fishing fleet. The £4 million Gallery, for which the capital and running costs are met by the Jerwood Foundation, is an important catalyst in the cultural and economic redevelopment of the area. The Director, Liz Gilmore, pointed out in her speech that the gallery has had approximately 65,000 visitors in its opening year, from March 2012 to March 2013.

The Current exhibition features William Scott CBE RA. Scott was born on 15 February 1913 in Greenock, Scotland; his artistic career spanned five decades and took him across the globe: from his formative years in Northern Ireland and Cornwall in the mid 30’s, to Italy (1938), France (during and after the war), Canada and the USA (1953 and 1978), Spain (1955), Germany (1963-5) and Japan (1980). Scott was introduced to Jackson Pollock in 1953 and that summer he also met the leading painters of the New York school: Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko and Franz Kline. At the same time he was assimilating the influence of European painters. In the biographical notes to the Tate Gallery exhibition catalogue (William Scott: Paintings, Drawings and Gouaches 1938-1971, London Tate Gallery, 1972 p. 65), Scott wrote

“Continual figure painting made me aware of the great paintings of nudes. The pictures I had in mind amongst the Old Masters were Cranach, Titian, Giorgione, Goya and Boucher and among later paintings, Corot, Manet, Gauguin, Modigliani, Bonnard and Matisse”.

The above is testimony to influences. Visit the exhibition and you will see how many of Scott’s works remind you of work by other artists; Red Figure (Red Nude) 1954 oil on canvas, evokes Francis Bacon, in its graphic and emotionally raw imagery.

Modern artists owe so much to William Scott who came before and got there first. In the same way that Plato influenced Aristotle, and Wittgenstein bestrides fifty years of twentieth Century analytic philosophy somewhat as Picasso bestrides fifty years of Twentieth Century painting, Lady Gaga and Born This Way paid homage to Madonna’s “Express Yourself,” and Top Cat is basically Sergeant Bilko.

Humour aside, we may note that many threads make up the pattern of Scott’s development as an artist. Although his work had become predominantly abstract in 1952, after his meeting with the American Abstract Expressionists he reverted back to his roots in still life and European painting. His still lifes hint at landscapes, landscapes hint at the figure, and at the beginning of the 1950s the figure becomes the still life. The female nude was a recurring and key theme in Scott’s work. The Jerwood’s exhibition highlights the artist’s exploration of the divide between abstraction and figuration, and the developments that took place throughout this crucial phase in his career.

Liz Gilmore, Director of the Jerwood Gallery says:

“We are thrilled to be showcasing a range of Scott’s stunning figure works, which were created over a nineteen year period in his career. Many of the works are from private collections and have rarely or, in some cases, never been on public display. An exhibition of this nature would not be possible without the very generous support of private collectors and the William Scott Archive, for which we are extremely grateful”.

The exhibition includes photographs, exhibition catalogues and archive material loaned by the William Scott Archive and screenings of the 1984 film Every Picture Tells a Story, a touching and personal biography of the life of William Scott told by his son, Academy Award-winning film-maker, James Scott.

In 1953 William Scott had the first of many exhibitions at the Hanover Gallery, London. Later that year he travelled to Canada to teach as a guest instructor at the Banff School of Fine Arts at the University of Alberta. He returned to London via New York where he was introduced to the leading New York school of painters, including Rothko, Pollock, de Kooning and Franz Kline. In 1954 he exhibited alongside Francis Bacon and Barbara Hepworth. In 1955 his work was included in an exhibition of work by Patrick Heron, Victor Pasmore, Terry Frost and Roger Hilton at the Redfern Gallery and in 1956 he resigned from his post at the Bath Academy and became a full-time artist. In 1958, Scott was chosen by the British Council to exhibit his work in the British Pavilion at the XX1X Venice Biennale. In 1966, Scott was created CBE in the New Year Honours List. Scott died in 1989, having suffered for some years from Alzheimer’s disease.

Robert Scott, the artist’s eldest son and Director of the William Scott Foundation, says: “It is our hope that this year-long celebration will give this generation the opportunity to appraise the extraordinary body of work created by William Scott over five decades, and secure his reputation as one of the leading British painters of the 20th Century”.

William Scott: Divided figure
Jerwood Art Gallery, Rock-A-Nore Rd, Hastings, East Sussex TN34 3DW
www.jerwoodgallery.org
The show runs from 27 April–July 10 2013

 

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