DOI Heft:
No. 317 (August 1919)
DOI Artikel:Eddington, A.: The paintings of James Lawton Wingate, P.R.S.A.
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21358#0120
THE PAINTINGS OF J. LAWTON WINGATE, P.R.S.A.
light on the shimmering waters of the sea
in calm. He has not, like McTaggart,
been fascinated by the endless wave motion
of the sea in all its varying moods. With
Wingate the sea has meant repose, and
almost invariably it has been associated with
landscape. 00000
Since the death of Mr. McTaggart, Mr.
Wingate has occupied the leading position
in the landscape art of Scotland. On the
purely constructive side he has been
equalled by some of his contemporaries,
but even in judging this side of his work one
has to remember that his compositions have
been built up largely by colour rather than
by design in form. The merely decorative
has had no place in his work. The gallery
picture he has seldom painted ; the fullest
realization has been attained in canvases of
moderate or small size. By nature an opti-
mist, he has never struck a pessimistic note.
But he is keenly sensitive to the beautiful
in earth and sea and sky manifested in all
seasons of the year and under diverse condi-
tions of light and atmosphere. a 0
The sky as the source of light, treated by
so many painters in a perfunctory way, is
with him all-important. So whether it be
to realize the radiant purity of a summer
noon, the dewy freshness of early morning,
or the sunset glories of eventide, we look to
the sky as the keynote. His skies pulsate
with light amid which the clouds float as
moving masses of vapour, even the heaviest
of them conveying no sense of a density
which is not permeated by atmosphere.
Especially fine in their sensitiveness and
delicacy, combined with vivid truthfulness,
are his sunset pictures, glowing with colour
yet not over-emphasized, and the many ex-
quisite interpretations of that most fascinat-
ing but fleeting period “ 'twixt the gloamin’
and the mirk," so subtly suggestive, so full
of mystery, a ah. Eddington
“SUMMER SEA.” OIL PAINTING
BY J. LAWTON WINGATE, P.R.S.A.
104
light on the shimmering waters of the sea
in calm. He has not, like McTaggart,
been fascinated by the endless wave motion
of the sea in all its varying moods. With
Wingate the sea has meant repose, and
almost invariably it has been associated with
landscape. 00000
Since the death of Mr. McTaggart, Mr.
Wingate has occupied the leading position
in the landscape art of Scotland. On the
purely constructive side he has been
equalled by some of his contemporaries,
but even in judging this side of his work one
has to remember that his compositions have
been built up largely by colour rather than
by design in form. The merely decorative
has had no place in his work. The gallery
picture he has seldom painted ; the fullest
realization has been attained in canvases of
moderate or small size. By nature an opti-
mist, he has never struck a pessimistic note.
But he is keenly sensitive to the beautiful
in earth and sea and sky manifested in all
seasons of the year and under diverse condi-
tions of light and atmosphere. a 0
The sky as the source of light, treated by
so many painters in a perfunctory way, is
with him all-important. So whether it be
to realize the radiant purity of a summer
noon, the dewy freshness of early morning,
or the sunset glories of eventide, we look to
the sky as the keynote. His skies pulsate
with light amid which the clouds float as
moving masses of vapour, even the heaviest
of them conveying no sense of a density
which is not permeated by atmosphere.
Especially fine in their sensitiveness and
delicacy, combined with vivid truthfulness,
are his sunset pictures, glowing with colour
yet not over-emphasized, and the many ex-
quisite interpretations of that most fascinat-
ing but fleeting period “ 'twixt the gloamin’
and the mirk," so subtly suggestive, so full
of mystery, a ah. Eddington
“SUMMER SEA.” OIL PAINTING
BY J. LAWTON WINGATE, P.R.S.A.
104