Page 5 - Patrick Scott Scrapbooks

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EXHIBITION OF . P AINTINGS IN
When a painter is a.Die to develop spra)ed w1ith the urgent s·piky bis style to kee.p ,pace with a re- of black paint above which we can markable of ima-ginative still sec a line of sky.
ideas. he proves himself to be a
major artist. It this capacity
which enables one to recognise in
Patrict Scott a most serious and
adlventmous Irish painter and his
at the Dawson Gallery,
opened yesterday by Mr. John
Huston, proves to be an occasion
of i.mportance.
CANVASES
BROWN
BY SCOTT
L A R GE brown canvases, da.s11ed with white and black, dominate an exhibit10n which stimulates the vision from the first moment of im- pact and reveals increasmg derpths on a closer scrutiny. The familiar " gi·rls carrying grasses" have disappeared. All that remaius of these de.Jight- fully humorous stud1es are the ver tical and horizon tal lines which Mr. Patrick Scott loves to use. This exhibition of his work at the Dawson Gallery. which opened yesterday, reveals
him as a deep and sensitive artist with a potent style.
The over-defined red mas.s of "Bog Sun," and the occruoionaHy woolly effects of masses in some of the smaller p!C'tures, do not de.tract from the grandeur and assurance of " Magnetic Field," and the wonderfully true proportions of " Ascent " and "Descent." The exP'loding ball of fire in " Ascent " is caught within a thick black circle above a trailing white ' Y ' shape, a sp1en<lidly decorated surface.
In complete contrast are the severe and almost scientific- seeming studies of bog flora. Some of these dark brown canvases (some are tempera on ha rdboa rd ) remind one of studies of geologic·al In bog and pool, it is as though we see them in section. rather than from above.
The tall "Straw Girl" which appeared very aptly ' on the invitation to the exhibition, i.s an ink wash drawing of strange and terrifying presence. Im- possible to ignore, it shows yet another side to this yQung painter 's talent and one which h e m a y d o w e l l t o e J <- . . p l o r e further.
This may not be art of the very first rank, but it is profesaiona l in its competency and satii!fying in its authority.
BURLEIGH. 1 Film director, John Huston
talks to artist, Patrick Scott, after he had opened an exhibi- tion of his paintings at tbe Dawson Art Gallery, Dublin, yesterday.
V.l.Ps MEET IN DUBLIN
He has never been an abstract painter in the strict sense of the term. Always he has been con- cerned w.ith figiures o r form;; which
He appears to use paint as he
I
P A TRICK DA WSON
SCOTT'S GALLERY
Having traced a connection
between each of his pictures and
life, one can then retire to the
more delightful consideration of
them as paintings. Here we find
that Mr. Scott is an absolute mar-
tinet for perfections of all kinds;
of surface, of exact placing and
above all of general presentation.
thinks. Jf the subject is movement,
we see the white sipray s.wooshing (Continued from previous column.)
out from the centre like a Catherine a peculiar originality of wheel, apparently unmarked by the
). by virtue of their shape evoke in
\. hiis highlv developed architectural
). mind a res:ponse to some curious, down in.to a pond or pool, as we for a picture from which the many
brush. If we are asked to look style m.Patrick Scott's work:. It was
un.ique relationshiip with .something peer in.to the depths our eyes pass studies shown h&e seem to else of which his pictures make us the floating petals and the flicker derive that he was awarded the aware for the first time. Thw the of reeds. If we wis.h to oontem- Guggenheim prize. Nevcrtihelcss. scaffolding of a buildin·g. the archi- plate a still life we find a &roup one notes a development o1f tender-
0 teotural plan and the blue streaky of ovoids in delicate colours placed ness and intimacy in his smaller night sky are sudden•lv united in a in a receding rectangle in a manner works which is gratifying. He seems si1IJ1Plificat·ion of his dovisall. Thus which recalls Claes or Heda, but to have painted pictures like "Bog
O the bulrushes. the boll' cotton and Flora" and "Bog Landscape" out of in a way which never calls j.nto love and of a great pleasure in
d indeed all the growiinll; things which existene¢ an exact table with
come between the eye and the and a wall behind. The idea is the handimg of minute dota·ils and
on a summer's dav. Jazin.g in some held in space and given a larger a general interest in peculiarly
Bord na Mona site. have provoked dimension than a room because it subtle tones. One not prefer le.: in him a series of pictures which is frud from the association with thorn to the splendid large figure are reminiscent of the idea. But the exactly known. "Straw Girl." but one imagines now thev have become 11nked with At the Y.eniee Biennale this year that thcii ropr<!3ent an excursion l the somlbre brown boa.rd or grey discernin11: critioi from abroad re- into realmJ oi. feeling rather than
canvas, mottled with flowerlike ol idea, llPOl.s of mauve_ blue and .white and (Continued in next eolumn.)
l. w.
At the exhibition o[ paintings in Dawson Gallery, Dublin, by
P a t r i c k S c o t t . J o h n fa m o us film producer,
t h e
w-ho met
opened
the exhibition Siobhan McKenna.
· 4
DA WSON
STREET,
DU'BLIN.
EXHIBITION
of
REC£NT P AINTINGS
by
P A TRICK SCOTT THE DAWSON GAI.:LERY
John Huston opened an exhibition of paintings by Patrick Scott by quoting an inscription of Braque's ' to love without reason '. Though an intuitive approach to painting, and abstract painting in particular, is to be discouraged as it can lead to a mystical acceptance in considering Patrick Scott's paintings, this is because of I-know-what-I-like criticism. Perhaps it is justifiable. His paintings are apparently simple rather than difficult, direct rather than obscure, and pleasant rather than crude.
Patrick Scott is an abstract painter in that he draws out his ideas from nature and the world around him. This is contrary to the abstract art recommended by Victor Pasmore in his article in the Sunday Times. Victor Pasmore is a constructionist believing that an abstract painter should work from the simple to the complex. Though he is an architect, Patrick Scott works from the complex to the simple.
The subject and inspiration of his paintings is nature and in particular the nature of the bogs and mists of Ireland. He restricts his colours to a brown often favoured by Braque, black, white, and grey-greens. Occasionally there glow purple and violet lights which could be interpreted as flowers or as some colourful
insect. He seems very much concerned with the minute- ness and detail of nature, using a technique of multi- tudinous dashes of white and black on brown. He paints in temporS' on hardboard so that his surfaces are thin and even.
His interest in minutiae make those of his p\J.intings which are less obviously c;oncerned with nature look like a study of atoms exploding or photographs of distant nebulae. Undoubtedly as one goes further into his paintings the macrocosm and the microcosm of the universe become apparent. Here is something incompre- hensible, distant, and probably very personal. On the whole, personality, people and events do not enter into his work. Patrick Scott is shy, introverted, boyish and charming, and perhaps his character explains the re01ote personal style of his paintings.
. I any charge of whimsy, simplicity, or slightness is There is little sign of emotional diversity, or a sense of tragedy, but this is offset by a certam calm assurance. Whereas most people _are in- articulate in their reactions to nature, Patrick Scott's architectural mind helps him to be accurate.and simple and yet remain poetic aqd intuitive.
.This t.hen is a v.:on?erful opportunity to see a truly Insh pamter, provmcial and seemingly removed from the for all modern painting to imitate Ar;iencan abstract impressionism. His reputation already gamed from being the Irish representative at the Venice Biennale last year is enhanced. Trinity College is to be congratulated for securing two of his paintings. A very important exhibition.
P A TRICK
Gallery, Dublin.
The
SCOTT'S
P AINTINGS,
Dawson
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