RSA Scottish Art
The Bull
 | Artist: John Maxwell |
| Title: The Bull | |
| Year: c. 1962 | |
| Medium: oil on board | |
| Dimensions: | |
| Suggested topic: | |
| Source: RSA Diploma Collection | |
| View full screen image of this work | |
| Open print version of this work | |
| © the Maxwell Family | |
| Description: John Maxwell was one of a group of artists dubbed the Edinburgh School. A travelling scholarship enabled him to study in Paris and visit Spain and Italy and, while he was there, discover the work of Marc Chagall and the Symbolists. This inspiration was to influence his work for the remainder of his career.The Bull is a late work and is unusual in having an animal as a subject. However, it is characteristic of his work in its rich, bold use of paint with thick layers of impasto. The stylisation of the beast emphasises the main outlines of the body with black outlines and rounded-off shapes. This echoes Maxwell's method of employing simple, almost primitive, body shapes for his human figures in other works. The palette is varied, with a combination of earthy colours and deep warm reds shaded with black. Tonally the painting is quite heavy, enhancing the sense of menace from this powerful animal. The composition of the painting leaves very little space around the animal's outline. This increases the mass of the bull and gives the viewer a feeling of being in close proximity to the animal. The curving outlines give a rhythmic feel to the image. The textured background, reminiscent of a Spanish stucco or plaster wall, is close in colour and tone to the animal's body. It seems as though the bull is almost camouflaged, waiting in the shadows.The menacing mood of the painting comes mostly from the bull's striking facial features. The staring eyes are painted in garish, unnatural colours that lend the bull an air of rage. The flared nostrils and angry red mouth emphasise the bull's menacing expression. The bright yellow horns complete the image of a deadly animal ready to defend itself. Is this bull about to enter a bullring and be killed by a matador? Could the last moments of this animal's life entail bloody combat followed by an inevitable bloody death? | |
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