Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD

Postwar Painting Historic Midlothian Temple Village By Sir William George Gillies RSA RA

57,847.00 NIS

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Indulge in the striking beauty of Sir William George Gillies' Postwar Painting of Historic Midlothian Temple Village. This exquisite work showcases the famed artist's mastery of color, composition, and storytelling, transporting you to a world of refined elegance and sophistication. A must-have for any art collector or admirer.
Add this landscape masterpiece to your home or office collection & really impress your guests & clients.
Title “Temple Village, Autumn” by Sir William George Gillies CBE LLD RSA PPRSW RA.
Subject landscape view of the historic known village of Temple in Midlothian in Scotland set during autumn, showing the artists country cottage home in the village along with other buildings homes and tall trees by Temple Church in the background.
His distinct use of various dark and light hue colours browns, maroon, yellow. gray, white which stand out.
Circa mid 20th century 1960's.
Medium is watercolour on paper backed with board, with a front protective glass over.
Set in the original mid century frame.
Signed W. Gillies in the lower bottom corner by the known artist Sir William George Gillies CBE LLD RSA PPRSW RA.
Inscribed & numbered by the artist verso G1327.
A nice easy to display size with the frame being 54.5 cm wide and 44.5 cm high.
Artist Biography Sir William George Gillies CBE RA (21 September 1898 – 15 April 1973) was a renowned Scottish landscape and still life painter. He is often referred to simply as W. G. Gillies. His works have been sold in auction houses like Sotherby’s, Christie’s also Bonhams around the world and exhibited in galleries like National Galleries of Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy & The Scottish Gallery. The highest sold price is $47,755 US Dollars. Gillies was born in Haddington, East Lothian. He had just enrolled at the Edinburgh College of Art, when he was called up for service in World War I with the Royal Engineers.
After the War, he returned to the College, and after graduation taught there for over 40 years with other notable Scottish artists including Adam Bruce Thomson. He was Principal of the College from 1959 until his retirement in 1966. In 1922 along with nine fellow students, including William Crozier, William Geissler and William MacTaggart, he founded the 1922 Group, an exhibition society which promoted their works at the New Gallery in Edinburgh for the next ten years. Assisted by a travelling scholarship, Gillies studied under André Lhote in Paris in 1923 and he went on to visit Italy in 1924.
For a brief period after these experiences he worked in a cubist manner, but would later revert to a more traditional style. His cubist influenced works are typified by the 1933 still life, Two Pots, Saucer and Fruit. The arrangement of the objects, which are close together on a tilted table top, are influenced by Cézanne, whereas the understated colours and textures are reminiscent of Braque and Picasso. In 1934 Gillies attended an exhibition of Paul Klee's work and was impressed by the childlike qualities and imaginative use of colour that he saw. Klee's influence is clear in Gillies' 1934 work, The Harbour, which depicts the harbour at Anstruther.
Gillies has created a grid-like composition, using bold blocks of contrasting colour emphasising the vertical lines of the buildings and the ships masts. This is balanced by the use of rippling horizontal brushstrokes. Although he experimented with portraiture in his early career, Gillies concentrated principally on landscapes and still lifes, frequently depicting the Lothian, Fife and Border regions. Several of his works feature ceramics created by his younger sister, the potter Emma Smith Gillies, who died prematurely in 1936. Both in his prolific output over the course of his career, and in his 40 years of teaching, Gillies influence on Scottish painting of the twentieth century has been profound. He died in his home village in Temple Scotland in 1973.
Temple (Scottish Gaelic: Baile nan Trodach) is a village and civil parish in Midlothian, Scotland. Situated to the south of Edinburgh, the village lies on the east bank of the river South Esk. The name "Temple" refers to its historical connection to the Knights Templar. In 1237, the town name was recorded as "Ballentrodoch", from the Scottish Gaelic Baile nan Trodach, which means "town of the warriors", again a reference to the Knights Templar. Historically the Parish of Temple was divided into three portions, the ancient parish of Clerkington, and the chapelries of Moorfoot and Balantrodach. Clerkington was a parsonage held by the monks of Newbattle Abbey, Moorfoot was a chapelry founded by monks from the same institution.
Balantrodach on the other hand, was a chapelry of the Knights Templar. Temple Church Temple Midlothian In 1128, Hugues de Payens, the first Grand Master, met with David I in Scotland and was granted the lands of Balantrodach. In 1128, the Council of Troyes formally recognized the Order.
Balantrodach became their principal Templar seat and preceptoryin Scotland until the suppression of the order between 1307 and 1312. As Temple, being just to the south of the Firth of Forth, was an area of the country occupied by England at this time, knights were prosecuted, but not all were found guilty.
Nearby to the north, politics was even more on their side – Robert the Bruce had been excommunicated, and so was not required to follow papal commands, and at war with England, it has been suggested that he may have been welcoming to powerful and desperate allies. Following 1312 and the Papal bull (edict) entitled Ad providam, King Edward II of England abolished the Templars in both England and Scotland. According to the edict, all Knight Templar property was to be seized and handed over to the control of the Knights Hospitaller, who had a preceptory at Torphichen in West Lothian. Although he was located in Scotia, north of the Firth of Forth, Robert the Bruce, being under interdictat the time, was reluctant to do so.
Legend has it that treasure of the Knights Templar was removed secretly from Paris, to be hidden in Temple. A local legend states: 'Twixt the oak and the elm tree/You will find buried the millions free.' French legends about the Templar treasure apparently also state that the treasure was taken to Scotland, with the knights landing on the Isle of May, the first island they would encounter in the Firth of Forth. Geographically, this would take them to the mouth of the river Esk, which could take them on to Rosslyn.
Sources A Chasm in Time - Scottish War Art and Artists in the Twentieth Century, by Patricia R. Andrew, Birlinn Ltd., 2014. ISBN 978-1780271903. "1922 Group". Retrieved 16 January 2015. The 1922 Group, Seventh Exhibition, New Gallery, Shandwick Place (Closing Day 10 May 1929). Members: Arthur V. Couling, William Crozier, A.R.S.A, William Gillies, William Geissler, David W. Gunn, C. Wright Hall, William MacTaggart, John Maxwell, William G. Scoular, George C. Watson. Orton-Hatzis, Anna (May 2015). "Emma Gillies: Rediscovered". Scottish Pottery Society Annual Review.
Provenance Aitken Dott & Son (The Scottish Gallery) 26 Castle Street Edinburgh, in collection of Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD.
Highly sought after due to the collectible nature of the landscape subject matter.
With hanging thread on the back ready for immediate home wall display.
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Condition report.
Offered in fine used condition.
Front painting surface is in good overall order. Having some foxing staining, craquelure in areas. The frame which has general wear, scuffs, scratches, some losses commensurate with usage & age.
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Dimensions in centimetres of the frame

High (44.5 cm)
Wide (54.5 cm)
Depth thickness of frame (3 cm)