An expressive original oil painting by the Scottish artist David Macbeth Sutherland RSA (1883–1973), depicting the breakwater at Stonehaven on Scotland's northeast coast.
Working with a beautifully restrained palette of soft blues, muted greens, ochres and greys, Sutherland captures the force of the North Sea as waves break against the harbour wall.
Small boats sit in the sheltered water beyond, with the buildings of Stonehaven stretching across the distant shore.
The painting has a wonderfully immediate quality. Broad, energetic brushstrokes and passages of exposed ground give the composition a freshness and freedom, particularly in the swirling movement of the foreground water.
It is an excellent example of Sutherland's expressive approach to Scottish landscape painting, where atmosphere, colour and movement take precedence over precise detail.
Exhibition History and Family Provenance
This painting has an especially interesting and well-documented history.
The reverse retains its original Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum exhibition label from 1974, identifying the work as The Breakwater, Stonehaven, by D. M. Sutherland.
It was exhibited as catalogue number 35 in the memorial exhibition held following the artist's death in 1973.
Significantly, the exhibition label records the lender as Dr Anne Sutherland, the artist's daughter.
A further handwritten ownership label names Dr Dorothy A. Sutherland of Prestatyn, North Wales.
The reverse also retains an earlier exhibition label associated with an Aberdeen Artists exhibition, apparently dated 1967, indicating that the painting had an exhibition history during the artist's lifetime.
Acquired from the Sutherland family estate, the work has remained closely connected to the family of David Macbeth Sutherland and his wife, the distinguished Scottish artist Dorothy Johnstone ARSA.
About the Artist
David Macbeth Sutherland was born in Wick, Caithness, in 1883.
After initially considering a career in law and working for a lithographic firm, he studied at the Royal Scottish Academy Life School under Charles Hodge Mackie.
In 1911 he was awarded the prestigious Carnegie Travelling Scholarship, travelling to Spain and France, where he encountered European painting and developed his own expressive approach to colour and composition.
He became an original member of the Edinburgh Group, a circle of progressive Scottish artists associated with the development of early twentieth-century Scottish painting.
Following service in the First World War, for which he was awarded the Military Cross, Sutherland returned to teaching at Edinburgh College of Art.
In 1924 he married the artist Dorothy Johnstone ARSA (1892–1980). Together they became influential figures in Scottish artistic life.
Sutherland was appointed Head of Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen in 1933, a position he held until 1948.
During the Second World War he worked as an official war artist, recording Newfoundland lumberjacks working in the forests of Deeside.
Elected to the Royal Scottish Academy in 1936, Sutherland exhibited extensively throughout his career and became particularly well known for his Scottish coastal landscapes, Highland views and scenes of Brittany.
His work is held in important public collections, including Aberdeen Art Gallery and the Royal Scottish Academy.
Sutherland died in Plockton in 1973.
The Breakwater, Stonehaven combines the artist's confident, energetic handling of paint with unusually well-preserved exhibition documentation and direct family provenance.
Signed D. M. Sutherland lower right.Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum, 1974, memorial exhibition of David Macbeth Sutherland, catalogue number 35. Dr Anne Sutherland recorded as lender. Earlier Aberdeen Artists exhibition label verso, apparently dated 1967.
Gouache on paper.
Good, untouched condition.
Framed in original gilt and cream frame with textured fabric lined surround, behind glass.
