Page 22 - Whyte'sIrishart

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William Crozier HRHA (1930-2011)
NORTH STAR AND VENUS, 1982
oil on canvas
signed lower right; with typed label of The Scottish Gallery [Edinburgh & London] on reverse
42 by 45in. (106.68 by 114.30cm)
Provenance:
The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh & London
This nocturnal landscape was painted after a period spent in New York in 1979 which had a profound efect on Crozier’s work. It shows the
impact of the vigorous colours and design of modernist art, such as that found in the work of Henri Matisse and Edvard Munch, on the artist.
The composition is dominated by the strong green of the ground. Above the high horizon line two tiny circles of red and white indicate the
planet Venus and the North Star. The scene is intensifed by the dark ambiguous forms of the shadows cast by the tree and other unseen
elements across the ground. Small lines and dots of pale blue and red enliven the surface suggesting the efect of starlight on the landscape.
From a simple motif of a tree at night, Crozier creates a complex and evocative landscape in the grand tradition of modernist painting.
Dr. Róisín Kennedy
April 2012
€15,000-€20,000 (£12,295-£16,393 approx).
WHYTESS I N C E 1 7 8 3
,
The Jim O’Driscoll Collection