Colin Middleton RHA RUA MBE (1910-1983)
Torso II (1967)
Oil on board, 60 x 60cm (23¾ x 23¾")
Signed

 

Provenance: With David Hendriks Gallery, Dublin.

 

Exhibited: Ten Year Travelling...

Colin Middleton RHA RUA MBE (1910-1983)
Torso II (1967)
Oil on board, 60 x 60cm (23¾ x 23¾")
Signed

 

Provenance: With David Hendriks Gallery, Dublin.

 

Exhibited: Ten Year Travelling Exhibition, ACNI and An Comhairle Ealaíon, 1969-1970, Dublin and Belfast.

 

In the 1960s Colin Middletons work took on an austerity and subtlety that might in part be seen as a reaction to the vivid colours and expressive surfaces of his paintings during the previous decade. This interest in abstraction and his subtle exploration of the texture of the surface and support brought Middletons own technical concerns close to those of near contemporaries such as Ben Nicholson and Victor Pasmore, while he also continued to develop the alignment of his depiction of the landscape with the female form, a theme which had consistently occupied Middleton from the early 1930s.

Torso II, one of four torso paintings included in his 1968 solo exhibition at the Hendriks Gallery, exemplifies Middletons ambitions during this time. Description is refined to a highly abstracted linear treatment of the female form, with occasional passages of paint and tonal variations across the prepared board increasing the sense of volume and space. The horizontal banding of the painting, with its mostly vertical bands of paint leading towards an implied horizon, demonstrates how closely Middleton integrated figure and landscape, giving the female archetype attributes of fertility, regeneration and strength that many of the female figures across all periods of his work characterised.

This decade of Middletons work demonstrates his ability to create complex images and convey ideas using a minimum of means. The 1960s also saw elements of design become more overtly important in Middletons painting again, and the various murals and works in mosaic and tiles that he made to be integrated in houses and buildings most of which were designed by Noel Campbell also increased the architectural structure and balance within his work, which are evident in Torso II.

Dickon Hall, 2019

 

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