* MICHAEL SCOTT (SCOTTISH 1946 - 2006),
CLOWNS
oil on canvas, signed and dated 2005 label verso
image size 91cm x 76cm, overall size 113cm x 98cm
Framed.
Handwritten label verso.
Label verso: The Contemporary Fine Art Gallery, Eton.
Note: The inspiration for this painting is said to be from the French Poet Guillaume Apollinaire and his subject of the Harlequin in ‘Acrobats’. Apollinaire famously first coined the term ‘Surrealism’ and, in its most moderated definition, this may be appropriate to the sensibility of Scott’s work”. Apollinaire was a confidant of Picasso and the Spanish master famously took the Harlequin as his subject in the period 1904 and thereafter. In the book by Ray McKenzie and Tom Normand on Michael Scott’s life and work titled ‘Testament’, it is written: “ It was in Ovid that Scott found many of the source tales for his classical subjects and in Apollinaire that he discovered the non-linear, capricious and whimsical aesthetic that informed his oeuvre”. The poem by Apollinaire ‘Acrobats’ is thought to be the inspiration for "Clowns" together with “The Circus 1995 and The Travelling Players 2002”. This lot includes a hardback copy of "Michael Scott, Testament" published in 2010. "Clowns" features as a full page photograph on page 99.

Condition Report

Condition is good overall, with no visible signs of restoration, damage, or known issues.