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Sunday, 2 June 2019

Artlyst - John Bellany, Alan Davie: Spiritual Joy and Magic

My latest piece for Artlyst takes Cradle of Magic at Newport Street Gallery - which sets Alan Davie and John Bellany, Scotland’s best-known post-war artists, alongside each other, as a starting point to examine the spirituality of Scotland's Expressionists:

'Davie, one of the first British artists to win international acclaim after World War II, was an influence on Bellany, Alisdair Gray, Craigie Aitchison, Christopher Wood and Lorraine G Huber. Bellany would later be a significant influence on the New Glasgow Boys, in particular, Peter Howson and Ken Currie.

While their work differs, in that Davie’s work is primarily abstract deriving from use of automatism and Bellany’s mostly figurative and mythic, they share a significant point of connection in their love and purpose of Expressionism. Within Scottish art, the pair follow artists such as William McTaggart and William Johnstone through their interest in and use of Expressionism. Both achieve rich painterly effects through the excessive use of thick layers of oil paint. An abundance of black is used to amplify the brilliance of other colours and enhance the drama of works which surface our deepest emotions.

The work of Davie and Bellany also shares an interest in and engagement with religion; this being an interest shared, too, with some of those influenced by them.'

My other Artlyst articles and interviews are:
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Steve Scott - Different Kind Of Light.

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