RSA Scottish Art
Snack in a Dutch Museum
 | Artist: Jack Knox |
| Title: Snack in a Dutch Museum | |
| Year: c. 1976 | |
| Medium: acrylic on canvas | |
| Dimensions: | |
| Suggested topic: | |
| Source: RSA Diploma Collection | |
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| Open print version of this work | |
| © the artist | |
| Description: Jack (John) Knox was Head of Painting at Glasgow School of Art. Now retired, he devotes his time to his painting. Throughout the 1970s Knox worked on a series of still life paintings using food as his subject. He was inspired by a trip to the Netherlands, where the tradition of still life painting using arrangements of abundant and luxurious food relates back to the tradition of the 17th century. By contrast the cool colours and strong geometric forms in this picture also relate to the stark modernist tradition in 20th-century design. This image features only a few commonplace foods rather than the generous spreads which the 17th-century Dutch painters depicted. A beer, a roll and a hot dog are placed beside a stairway in an austere and almost clinical environment. If 17th-century still life painters wanted to display decadence and sensuality in depictions of food, Knox attempts to show the meagreness and artificiality of modern living. The blunt geometry of the horizontal and vertical lines are only relieved by the curving handrails and the sloping line of the stairway. The composition has no real centre, but the main focus (the food) is placed far off to the right. We are made aware of its presence by the use of colour in what is an otherwise monochromatic painting. The starkness of the scene, with very little texture and no shadows, gives the sense of being in a harshly lit and sterile place. The curved rails initially offer a point of interest but the fact that they too are geometrical and repeated reminds us of the industrial nature of the environment. The whole composition is intended to focus attention on the food but there is no ambience in this setting. The mood of this painting is cold and possibly ironic. It seems to point to the lack of colour, the rigidness and the deadness of 20th-century minimalist culture. The only things that offer colour or interesting shapes are the snacks, which are themselves industrial products with none of the sensuality of a bowl of fruit or a fresh fish. Does this scene remind you of anywhere you have been to or seen? Would you like to eat here or can you think of an environment which you would prefer? | |
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