William Scott CBE RA (1913-1989)
British Artist
In January 1934, William Scott, then a student at the RA Schools in London, decided to switch from studying sculpture to painting. Although at the time this request was made on the grounds that he felt more inclined to be a painter, Scott later explained that it had been for practical reasons: ‘One had to be pretty mobile in the early thirties. Continue reading “Archive Blog – January 2019”
In 1963, the Ford Foundation invited William Scott to spend a year as an artist in residence in Berlin. There were no specific obligations attached: ‘We want you to continue your work as you see fit, at the same time we hope you would like to become part of Berlin’s cultural and intellectual life.’ Continue reading “Archive Blog – November 2018”
In 1959, William Scott was awarded first prize in the British Painters section of the John Moores’ exhibition, held at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, for his large painting Blue Abstract. A critic writing in The Guardian told his readers that the painting, ‘burns under a ceramic-like surface like a window into a Continue reading “Archive Blog – November 2018”
In 1958, William Scott was one of the painters chosen to represent Great Britain at the Carnegie Institute’s Pittsburg International Exhibition of Contemporary Painting and Sculpture. The jury of award that year included Marcel Duchamp, Vincent Price and James Johnson Sweeney. Continue reading “Archive Blog – October 2018”
70 years ago, in August 1948, William Scott met the painter and writer Patrick Heron whilst on holiday in St Ives. A friendship developed that lasted the rest of their lives. 10 years after that first encounter, William’s son James took this fabulous photo of Scott and Heron with Peter Lanyon and Jack Smith outside the Tinners Arms in Zennor, Cornwall.
In 1965, on his return to England after a year long residency in the German capital, William Scott embarked on a series of remarkable paintings to which he gave the name Berlin Blues; the title relates to the very particular blue pigment which Scott discovered whilst staying in the city. Continue reading “Archive Blog – June 2017”
‘You’re the man who “does pots and pans”…’ was Tony Rothon’s opening line when he interviewed William Scott in 1974 (published that year in Studio International). Continue reading “Archive Blog – November 2016”
7 July marks the anniversary of the birth of Mary, William Scott’s wife. Muse, mother, wife, secretary, hostess – while it is true that she performed all of these roles with grace and skill, the picture we have of Mary too often ignores her own work as an artist. Continue reading “Archive Blog – July 2015”
As the exhibition Barbara Hepworth: Sculpture for a Modern World opens at Tate Britain, it seemed a good time to look at some of the material relating to Hepworth held in the William Scott Archive. Continue reading “Archive Blog – June 2015”
Dark-haired gondoliers, sunlight glinting on the water, the graceful curved arches of the Doge’s Palace – just some of the memories of Venice captured in a series of black-and-white photographs in the William Scott Archive. Continue reading “Archive Blog – May 2015”