Sea Maiden

John Bellany (1942 - 2013)

Watercolour on paper

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© Courtesy of the artist/Bridgeman Art Library

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Image of Sea Maiden
  • About the work
    Location
    Country: Other
    City: other locations abroad
  • About the artist
    John Bellany was born at Port Seton on the East Coast of Scotland into a family of fishermen. Images of fishermen, boats and the sea have continually figured in his work. He studied at Edinburgh College of Art and then the Royal College of Art from 1965–68. The symbolism in the monumental Max Beckmann painting The Departure (1932–33), exhibited at the Tate in 1965, was revelatory to Bellany. After visiting East Germany in 1967, his work became darker and more complex, with images of concentration camps symbolising humanity’s irredeemable fall from grace. After suffering periods of ill-health in the 1980s, he produced a series of life-affirming portraits which were exhibited at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 1989.
  • Explore
    Places
    Subjects
    semi-figurative, sea, woman
    Materials & Techniques
    paper (as artists material), watercolour (as artists materials), watercolour (as object name)
  • Details
    Artist
    John Bellany (1942 - 2013)
    Title
    Sea Maiden
    Date
    Medium
    Watercolour on paper
    Acquisition
    Presented by the artist for the British Embassy, Mexico City, December 1996
    Inscription
    br: Bellany
    Provenance
    donated by artist to British Embassy, Mexico, in 1996, following exhibition at HMA Residence.
    GAC number
    17688