RSA Scottish Art
Allegory
 | Artist: Gordon Bryce |
| Title: Allegory | |
| Year: c. 1993 | |
| Medium: oil on canvas | |
| Dimensions: | |
| Suggested topic: | |
| Source: RSA Diploma Collection | |
| View full screen image of this work | |
| Open print version of this work | |
| © the artist | |
| Description: Gordon Bryce's still life paintings and landscapes show a delight in the use of rich colour and the expressive handling of paint.The composition of Allegory is a riot of colour, shapes and textures against an empty space in the foreground. This still life uses items found in similar paintings for many centuries: fruit, jugs, bottles, books and other commonplace objects, but the way in which these objects have been rendered is very robust and bold, rather than trying to reproduce their appearance perfectly. Bryce has included a tub of paintbrushes in the background; perhaps this scene was constructed from objects found around the studio.The intensity of the colours appear to dissolve the objects on the table as though the energy is bursting out from the centre and blurring the edges. Bryce's vigorous brushwork shows a lot of movement and energy. Tonally the painting moves from deep black shadow to very bright highlights. The intense reds and warm yellows complete the restrained palette. This image works as a still life scene but also as a more abstract image, where colours and forms merge.The composition is in three horizontal bands: a red band in the foreground; a dark band in the background; and the complex V-section in the middle with objects overlapping each other. Bryce has arranged the objects with care, so as not to create regular shapes or rhythms, but to fill the centre of the painting with life and vibrancy. | |
Find us on