Sunday 26 August 2012

Art, Anne Redpath



Anne Redpath; Scottish Painter
1895 - 1965


Redpath was  Born in Galashiels in 1895, she was the daughter of a textile designer. The Redpaths moved from Galashiels to Hawick when Anne was about six. After Hawick High School, she went to Edinburgh College of Art in 1913. Her father was a traditional Scottish tweed designer in the Scottish Borders. She saw a connection between his use of colour and her own. She is reported to have said "I do with a spot of red or yellow in a harmony of grey, what my father did in his tweed’’. 


She attended Edinburgh College of Art and graduated in 1918. Post-graduate study led to a scholarship which allowed her to travel on the Continent in 1919, she visited Bruges, Paris, Florence and Siena. She travelled extensively throughout Europe which is later reflected time and time again in her work. The following year, 1920, she married James Michie, an architect, and they went to live in Pas-de-Calais, France where her first two sons were born; the eldest of whom is the painter and sculptor Alastair Michie. In 1924 they moved to the South of France, and in 1928 their third son was born, now David Michie the artist. Returning to Scotland, Redpath began to paint seriously in both oil and water-colour. Initially her work was mostly still-life, but in  later years she chose Mediterranean subjects, which she painted using intense colours. This was very much in keeping with contemporary influences prevalent throughout France and Europe at that time.
In 1934 she returned to Hawick and soon began exhibiting in Edinburgh. She was made president of the Scottish Society of Women Artists from 1944 to 1947. The Royal Scottish Academy admitted her as an associate in 1947, and in 1952 she became the first woman Academician. In 1955 she honoured with an OBE for her work as "Artist" and "Member of the Board of Management of the Edinburgh College of Art".
Once her children were grown-up, she developed an ever more active involvement in the Edinburgh art circles. She moved to live in town at the end of the 1940s and in the 1950s and early 1960s she started to travel again, painting in Spain, the Canary Islands, Corsica, Brittany, Venice and elsewhere.

She is probably best-known for her still-lifes where familiar household objects - a chair, a cup - are made into a "two-dimensional" design. She used textiles - a printed tablecloth, a spotted scarf - to add pattern within the pattern. The Indian Rug, also known as Red Shoes, is a good example of this group of paintings.

Matisse's influence is clear in these bold, flat-surfaced interior arrangements. During her travels throughout Europe she discovered the richness of Catholic imagery which was unfamiliar to a young woman brought up as a strict Scottish Protestant. The rich imagery of Catholicism is a theme explored many timers in her work.


Together with a group of contemporaries her work was sometimes referred to as ‘’The Edinburgh School’’. And they are seen by some as the natural successors to the Scottish Colourists:

Redpath's ‘’The Orange Chair’’, for example, suggests the Colourist heritage, even the name is reminiscent of ‘’The orange Blind’’, (unfortunately I can only find a tiny image of her ‘’Orange Chair’’).
   

acousticeagle wrote on Mar 14, '09
I love the still life in blue and white, it's a lovely combination of muted colours. It's interesting that she drew inspiration from her father's tweed making, and thus to use the yellow on grey in the first painting of the girl reading. Use of colour like this can be very effective in art.

This artist had a very busy life and rewarding output of work.
brendainmad wrote on Mar 14, '09
Yes! If only I had the money and wall space to hang her paintings or even prints! Thanks for a lovely post.
dianahopeless wrote on Mar 14, '09
I love these Art Sunday posts. I have learned so much about art from them.
This is a new to me artist, and I really like some of her work. The way I decide that is, would I hang it in my home. I definitely would. Thanks for sharing some about this artist Loretta. Very interesting!
starfishred wrote on Mar 14, '09
She is a very interesting artist-love her colors and ideas-
veryfrank wrote on Mar 13, '09
I am taken with the detailed use of textiles in the paintings and the textured look of some of her later paintings.
bennett1 wrote on Mar 13, '09
I looked at the paintings before I read this blog, then thought I should read before I commented more. "She is reported to have said "I do with a spot of red or yellow in a harmony of grey, what my father did in his tweed’’. " Yes, I see that in her work and it makes it unique. Especially the ones featuring yellow are striking for me, a yellow dress or table or daisy center. I am so impressed and also fascinated by her self-portrait. Thank you for introducing me to this wonderful artist.

No comments:

Post a Comment