Art, Cadell, The orange blind

 

Art Sunday (29.06.08), Drinking

The Orange Blind

by Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell (1883–1937)

THE PAINTING

The painting I have chosen for the theme ‘Drinking’ is ‘The Orange Blind’, by Francis Cadell. This shows a well dressed fashionable lady sat drinking tea in an Edinburgh interior.

The whole scene typifies fashionable Edinburgh of early 20^th Century. The tea service is silver, the black and gold screens have a Japanese, exotic look to them, there is a sedate and discreet piano player and the furniture exudes quality and style (probably French). It is interesting to note that while Cadell was heavily influenced by the work of contemporary French artists; Cadells subject drinks tea from a silver tea set but the subjects of French paintings were much more likely to be depicted with a glass of wine. This is possibly a reflection of the influence of the ‘Kirk’ (church) in Scottish society of the time. The painting gets its name from the huge bright orange blind covering the high window in this interior. This blind sets the tone of the painting. If you can imagine this painting without that blind, or with the blind toned down, dulled or diluted you can see the importance of colour in this painting. Without this block of solid orange the painting loses every thing. It  becomes a rather ordinary record of middle class Edinburgh society, but WITH the blind; it’s a vibrant piece of art. Which is another reason for choosing this particular painting, it does demonstrate exactly why this small group of painters were known collectively as the Scottish Colourists.

THE ARTIST

Cadell was born in Edinburgh but from the age of 16, he studied in Paris at the Académie Julian. While there he was in close contact with the French avant-garde painters of the day and his exposure to work by the early Fauvists, and in particular Matisse, became his most important influence. Once returned to Scotland, he exhibited in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and London on a regular basis. He painted landscapes, interiors, still life and figures in both oil and watercolour. He is most noted for his use vibrant waves and solid blocks of colour. He enjoyed the landscape of Iona (Scottish Island) enormously, which he first visited in 1912 and features prominently in his work. During the 1920s he spent several summers with Samuel Peploe, another Scottish Colourist, on painting trips to Iona.

THE SCOTTISH COLOURISTS

At the turn of the centaury a small group of Scottish painters collectively known as ‘The Colourists’  were among the first to introduce the intense colour of the French Fauve movement into Britain. This Group of four Scottish artists, Francis Cadell, Leslie Hunter, Samuel Peploe and the leading figure John Duncan Fergusson were greatly influenced by work of contemporary French artists.Their work was not highly regarded when it was first exhibited in the early years of the twentieth Century, but by the late 20th Century it had become popular both at home and abroad. Their distinctive style had a formative influence on contemporary Scottish art. The Colourists visited and trained in France, the influence of the French Impressionists such as Monet, Matisse, and Cezanne is easily seen in their work.  This French influence is mixed with elements of traditional Scottish painting to give the unique style that The Colourists became renowned for. They worked with the vivid colours of French painting to produce a distinctive Scottish style. The Scottish Colourists continued the work of their predecessors, the Glasgow Boys. There seems to be a direct link between the art of the ‘Glasgow Boys’ and the art of the ‘Scottish Colourists’. The Glasgow Boys were revolutionary in their approach to art in late 19^th century/ early 20^th century and the Colourists took the movement forward into the middle/late 20^th century.

I have searched for a decent sized photograph of this painting but unfortunately I could only find this rather small reproduction of it. This is such a shame because I have seen this painting in the Kelvingrove Gallery, Glasgow and it really is a wonderful piece of art when seen hanging in the gallery. I have found some pictures of other pieces of his work but unfortunately none of these pictures is very big. You will just have to use your imagination and think big.

delete reply idiomatix wrote on Mar 27, '11 OF COURSE without the orange rectangle the painting would be s@*^e. It's color is complimentary to the blue of that chaise lounge

delete reply idiomatix wrote on Mar 27, '11 I like that THEENG she's sitting on. That piece of furniture. Want a house of my own and want an excuse to put THAT in it.

delete reply aimlessjoys wrote on Sep 15, '08 A great painting & gret commentary, too! So now I know about the orange blind, lol, thanks! I was worried it might be something awful. Enjoyed!

delete reply vickiecollins wrote on Jul 1, '08 very nice painting..thanks for visiting my page.

delete reply wickedlyinnocent wrote on Jul 1, '08 This is a lovely work and yes, the influence of Japanese prints is easy to see, the colour orange gives an exquisite touch.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jul 1, '08 wow................just let me know when you are comeing..... any excuse for me to go to Glasgow and re-visit the Kelvingrove.....

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Jul 1, '08 As I mentioned last night, as soon as I saw this painting, I went over to Google to find a larger version. I saw several, but not much larger. The orange of the shade is outstanding and , yes, I love how it spills out and over the piano, chair and so forth. The Tate version has a brighter, more luminescent orange, there is a copy of this on someone's blog that blows up, but then I can't see the entire picture. Nothing for it then but for me to put Glascow on my list and go to visit it just to see this painting.

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Jul 1, '08 Orange happens to be my favourite colour or one of them, The only thing I did was to click on the button next to edit in Firefox (the view button I think it's called in English) and increased the text size. Luckily for people with vision problems, they still can use a computer. Probably, there is another way to do it though.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jul 1, '08 Don't you just love the way you get all that orange reflected light spilling out over the corner. It's all over the piano, the picture, the chair and the floor..mmmmmmmmm wonderful piece of art

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jul 1, '08 Thanks for that but I did try to resize this picture and it distorted, I lost all clarity. Not sure what I did wrong but if you have managed it maybe you could post the bigger version here for every one to see, It would be really nice if you could do that, thank you

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Jul 1, '08 You can always increase the size of your texts and photos in your browser. I use Firefox and I made the painting bigger. These are fantastic paintings, and I can see the French influence.

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Jul 1, '08 i love the color :)

delete reply starfishred wrote on Jun 30, '08 oh how wonderful and a new artist so nice-I love to learn about new artists ty

delete reply lauritasita wrote on Jun 30, '08 What a beautiful painting ! I love it, too ! Thank you for visiting my Art Sunday post. I actually have another one which I did for the drinking theme if you have time to see it: http://lauritasita.multiply.com/journal/item/754

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Jun 30, '08 I looked all over Google for a larger picture - not one to be found as you said. The one at the Tate site is nice. The picture itself is marvelous. My eyes hurt - I will come back to look and comment.