ARTHUR MELVILLE EXHIBITION

This gorgeous exhbitiion is still running at the National Gallery of Scotland-until Jan 17, 2016. I have just visited and one of the things which I particularly noticed was that so many of the paintings are still housed in their original frames, If you are going, make sure to study the frames.The watercolours are exhibited in C19 manner without  any visible mount. Melville's large, broadly painted watercolours (more than three feet along one side in some cases), stand up to this very well. There are roughly speaking two types of frame, a flat gold with many  margins and on rarer occasions  of a coarse unplaned wood which is also gilt. Indeed it is the watercolours without their original frames which stand out here as the unfortunate exceptions. The Bravo Toro from the V&A and the lovely example from the Fleming-Wyfold Collection stand out like sore thumbs in this context.

The sight of so many original frames is a sign that the paintings have been treasured, it probably also means that so mnany of them are still with their original owners.

His oil paintings are a different matter. He uses a lot of oil in his painting medium and his handling can often be rather coarse. The large portrait -The White Piano-from Preston has a background of biomorphic art nouveau  shapes. They are painted very solidly and resemble lacquer. In the lower part of the painting the paint has sunk drastically.

When I get a chance to look at the catalogue I may review it. My post on Melville's highly original watercolour technique can be found here.