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Colin Middleton MBE RHA (1910-1983)
DUET, 1961
oil on board
signed in monogram lower left; inscribed, dated and signed again on reverse
24 x 18in. (60.96 x 45.72cm)
Provenance:
Sotheby’s, 11 May 2006, lot 117;
Private collection
Exhibited:
Irish Exhibition of Living Art, Dublin, 1964, catalogue no. 41;
Possibly also exhibited at the artist’s solo show, Hendriks Gallery, Dublin, December 1965, as Duet: Carnlough, catalogue
no. 13
According to a contemporary inscription on reverse, this theme was suggested to the artist after listening to Chris
Barber’s Band.
Both Colin Middleton and his wife Kate had a deep and wide-ranging interest in music and it was a theme that he
explored in a number of works throughout his career, most notably in the series of paintings and drawings from the
1960s of Kate playing the piano.
Jazz was a particular passion and at the time Duet was painted, Middleton was living in Belfast at Camden Street and
was part of a circle of jazz enthusiasts. Neil Shawcross recalled an “enthusiasm for jazz that was evident at the numerous
parties he would throw at Camden Street, and the energy and rhythm of many of his paintings reflect Colin’s own jazz-
inspired animation.” 1
The present painting demonstrates the interest in austerity and extreme simplification of form that Middleton explored
in the early 1960s, in contrast to the lush and expressive qualities of many works from the previous decade. His visual
language is pared down, ambiguous and witty and the picture space is flattened and spatially uncertain. The seated
pianist on the left recalls images of Kate at the piano, but what appears to be a keyboard to the right can also be read
as another musician facing us, and the pianist’s arms could even metamorphose into the lower right arm of this figure
perhaps playing a double bass or a guitar.
The small white circle and the suggestion of a row of strings above and below connect this work with the subtle hints of
musical instruments in the cubist paintings and collages of Picasso and Braque. Middleton’s image shares the invention
and energy of the performance it apparently recalls, while also carrying overtones of the landscape with which
Middleton so liked to integrate the figure through the suggestions of wood and rocks.
Dickon Hall
April 2015
1 Neil Shawcross, foreword to Colin Middleton: A Study, Joga Press, 2001
€ 8,000.00- € 10,000.00 (£5,970-£7,460 approx.)
Large Image & Place Bid Lot 71
s on view at Whyte’s Belfast preview, James Wray
This work will be among the highlights on view at Whyte’s Belfast preview, James Wray Gallery from 6pm to 8pm Thursday 14 May and 10am to 3pm on
Friday 15 May.
5 May.
IMPORTANT IRISH ART · 25 MAY 2015 AT 6PM