RSA Scottish Art
Vigo, Spain
 | Artist: James Miller |
| Title: Vigo, Spain | |
| Year: c. 1928 | |
| Medium: pencil & watercolour on paper | |
| Dimensions: | |
| Suggested topic: | |
| Source: RSA | |
| View full screen image of this work | |
| Open print version of this work | |
| © the RSA | |
| Description: James Miller was a Glasgow painter who worked mostly in watercolours and who specialised in architectural themes. He was particularly attracted to Spain. Vigo is in Galicia, on the Atlantic coast of north-west Spain. Miller's watercolour presents the tightly stacked buildings rising up from the harbour-side, almost like boxes. He uses pencil to set down the outlines and has indicated the edge of the image in pencil where he has decided the border should lie. The deep shadows of this sunlit port town have influenced the earthy palette and deep tonal contrast. Although the actual buildings may be painted in white, Miller has rendered them with shadows in umber. The composition of this painting is a combination of very strong verticals and irregular diagonals. The edges of the buildings are all vertical, while their rooftops follow the contours of the hillside along and across the picture. The range of tones, from sunlit walls to deep shadow, gives the scene a patchwork quality which emphasises the variety of shapes and buildings in the scene. The majority of the image is in the middle-ground; there is only a little sky and a small strip of foreground showing the harbour. As a painter who focused on architectural subjects, Miller has selected this view of Vigo's buildings from other possible locations. This view is very descriptive of the appearance of the harbour and the steep hillside. The people are included to show a sense of scale and activity but it is the relationship of the buildings to the landscape that Miller is interested in. How do you choose a view or perspective when drawing or painting a place? | |
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