Author: Admin

The author of this family history is Cardwell McClure, son of Mary McClure, née Scott, the younger sister of renowned artist William Scott CBE, RA.   Cardwell remembers how his mother told him that William, when a teenager, would get his younger sister to sit for him lacking any other willing members of the family.

This book provides a first hand experience of the family’s trials through poverty, tragedy, war and fame.

There are twelve chapters in the book, eleven of which are devoted to each child, while the first chapter outlines the family beginnings in Glasgow, Scotland.

On 12 August 1942, William Scott’s brother Hugh was killed on board HMS Indomitable in ‘Operation Pedestal’ off the coast of Malta.  The aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable was on its way to rendezvous in Freetown, under Captain T H Troubridge with the code name Force K.

Whilst Hughie’s body was interred at sea, the war memorial in Enniskillen commemorates his sacrifice as a Royal Marine.

Based in London, whilst serving in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, William Scott returned home to Enniskillen on compassionate leave.

To celebrate the life of the artist Claes Oldenburg, who passed away at the age of 93, James Scott is making his dual screen film The Great Ice Cream Robbery, featuring Oldenburg, available to stream until July 26th 2022.

The film can be viewed at https://vimeopro.com/user3582856/tribute-to-claes-oldenburg

For complete information about the film visit https://www.james-scott.com/gicr

An Orchard of Pears, No. 15
1976 or 1977
Oil on canvas
39.6 × 46.7 cm / 15½ × 18½ in approx.
Collection of ING Commercial Banking UK

This work was one of in the An Orchard of Pears Series. Charcoal lines visible under the paint indicate that Scott altered the position of several of the pears.

It was reproduced as An Orchard of Pears XV, 1976, at the Gallery Kasahara exhibition of 1977.

In 1988 it was purchased by the Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, and in November 1992 it was included in a sale at Sotheby’s, London. Later, it was acquired by Barings Bank which, after its collapse in 1995, became ING Bank NV, becoming part of the ING Collection.

The ING Collection is an award winning corporate collection, focused on forward looking art.  ING UK have selected An Orchard of Pears, No. 15 as their work of their month.

It was 50 years ago that the retrospective exhibition William Scott: Paintings Drawings and Gouaches 1938-1971 was held at the Tate Gallery, London 19 April-29 May 1972.

This major exhibition was organised by Sir Alan Bowness in collaboration with the artist.

The Retrospective was designed by the artist’s son Robert Scott who set out the total layout and the wall positioning of every painting and drawing having made a scale model of the total installation.

He also designed the sophisticated overhead lighting grid which was to be used by the Tate in their main exhibition gallery for many years afterwards.