* STEWART LEES RSW ARWS ROI (SCOTTISH 1926 - 2008),
ROAD TO ESCAILLES
acrylic on paper, signed; titled verso
52cm x 56cm
Mounted, framed and under glass
Provenance: The New Academy Gallery label verso Note: Stewart Lees was born near the village of Auchertool in Fife and graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in the early 50's. His contemporaries at college included Elizabeth Blackadder and John Houston and his most influential lecturers were Sir William Gillies RA and Leonard Rosoman RA. Using mainly acrylic or watercolour, the artist explored the structures and textures inherent in landscapes, architecture and still lives and he often used unconventionally expressive, bold colours and played with space and perspective endlessly. Stewart painted his native Fife landscape again and again but he also travelled extensively, his journeys taking him throughout Europe and as far as India and Uzbekistan, for as well as landscapes, he loved ruined cities and the sensation of being amidst Middle Eastern architecture. Stewart exhibited widely in the UK and Europe and his work hangs in many public, private and institutional collections all over the world. In December 2016 there was a major retrospective exhibition of the work Stewart Lees at The Dundas Street Gallery (Edinburgh).