A wonderfully expressive Scottish Highland landscape by Hamish B. Lawrie (1919–1987), depicting a secluded loch surrounded by dramatic mountains and dark, wooded hillsides.
Painted in thick, vigorous strokes of oil, with rich turquoise water, deep earthy browns and flashes of yellow and burnt orange. Lawrie's energetic use of the palette knife gives the landscape a remarkable sense of movement and atmosphere.
About the artist
Hamish Lawrie was born in Dunfermline in 1919 and studied at Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen.
His career took an unusual route. In 1941 he moved to London and worked as a cameraman in the film industry. His first painting was reportedly sold to the poet Dylan Thomas for the princely sum of £5.
In 1947 he held his first major exhibition at Wolf Mankowitz's Little Gallery in London. After spending time working in Africa, Lawrie returned to Scotland, where his friend, the Scottish Colourist J. D. Fergusson, encouraged him to travel to France and develop his painting.
Lawrie subsequently spent nine years living in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, the celebrated artists' village in the south of France, associated with many of the leading painters and writers of the twentieth century.
Returning to Scotland around 1960, he increasingly turned his attention to the Western Highlands and Outer Hebrides. His paintings from this period are particularly recognisable for their bold colour, heavy impasto and expressive treatment of the Scottish landscape.
Lawrie exhibited regularly in Edinburgh and was a well-known member of the Scottish Arts Club.
His work is represented in the Argyll Collection.
This painting is an excellent example of his vigorous approach to landscape, with the wonderfully tactile surface and rich colours that make his work so appealing.
Signed lower left.Retains a biographical label for Hamish B. Lawrie and a framing label from Amber Arts, Edinburgh, verso.
Oil on board.
Max Width - 57cm / 22.5”
Max Height - 47cm / 18.5”
Good, untouched condition.
Framed in a substantial dark wooden frame with pale inner slip, behind glass.
