DOI Heft:
No. 332 (November 1920)
DOI Artikel:Taylor, Ernest Archibald: Some pictures by John Duncan, A. R. S. A.
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21401#0161
[SOME PICTURES BY JOHN DUNCAN, A.R.S.A.
nothing. That belongs to the artist and
his vision—his vision as seen in the
countries through which we wander in
dream and to which on awakening living
nature around us may add somewhat of
her colour. Nor is it my desire to dissect
Mr. Duncan's pictures and by so doing
diminish the soul of their appeal. Yet
I fancy that even the most exacting
technical critic will fail to find in them
flaws upon which he could long dwell.
It may, however, not be out of place to
refer briefly to the ways and means the
artist has used in arresting his visions.
While in France the use of tempera, as
employed by the primitives and others,
made a strong appeal to him, and it is
in that medium that much of his important
work has been done. A keen seeker after
the ancient ways and methods, he prepares
his own canvas and colours with a scrupu-
146 .
lous care that would quite satisfy the heart
of Cennino Cennini. In a recent exhibi-
tion) held in the galleries of The Petit Salon
in Edinburgh, one had an excellent
opportunity of intimately viewing a col-
lective gathering of his smaller works in
tempera, chalk, water-colour and oils.
Among his oil paintings some landscapes
of the Western Isles were exceptionally
distinguished. Only those who have
visited the islands—the " many coloured
lands," as the ancient Gael named them—
can have any idea of their mystic moods
and brilliancy of colour. On Iona, for
instance, one day may dawn with dusky
hues and another with an opalescence
that makes the brightest and purest
pigments look dull by comparison. a
That Mr. Duncan's work has of recent
years advanced in technical charm and
colour as well as in creative design is at
nothing. That belongs to the artist and
his vision—his vision as seen in the
countries through which we wander in
dream and to which on awakening living
nature around us may add somewhat of
her colour. Nor is it my desire to dissect
Mr. Duncan's pictures and by so doing
diminish the soul of their appeal. Yet
I fancy that even the most exacting
technical critic will fail to find in them
flaws upon which he could long dwell.
It may, however, not be out of place to
refer briefly to the ways and means the
artist has used in arresting his visions.
While in France the use of tempera, as
employed by the primitives and others,
made a strong appeal to him, and it is
in that medium that much of his important
work has been done. A keen seeker after
the ancient ways and methods, he prepares
his own canvas and colours with a scrupu-
146 .
lous care that would quite satisfy the heart
of Cennino Cennini. In a recent exhibi-
tion) held in the galleries of The Petit Salon
in Edinburgh, one had an excellent
opportunity of intimately viewing a col-
lective gathering of his smaller works in
tempera, chalk, water-colour and oils.
Among his oil paintings some landscapes
of the Western Isles were exceptionally
distinguished. Only those who have
visited the islands—the " many coloured
lands," as the ancient Gael named them—
can have any idea of their mystic moods
and brilliancy of colour. On Iona, for
instance, one day may dawn with dusky
hues and another with an opalescence
that makes the brightest and purest
pigments look dull by comparison. a
That Mr. Duncan's work has of recent
years advanced in technical charm and
colour as well as in creative design is at