The great Scottish artists were – and still are – drawn to our shores to paint harbours and seascapes.
Carnoustie, the East Neuk of Fife and the Inner Hebrides were patronised and popularised by, especially, the four Scottish Colourists – and also the fifth.
John Maclauchlan Milne is rightly bracketed with the more famous Cadell, Peploe, Hunter and Fergusson.
You can see why in this glorious oil, titled A Corner of the North Shore, Iona, which appeared at Duke’s Auctions in Dorchester on October 9.
Signed lower left, and further signed and titled on a label, oil on panel, 16 x 20 inches, the picture was acquired directly from the artist by the previous owner’s family. It was exhibited in London at the Portland Gallery’s 2017 exhibition John Maclauchlan Milne and the Colourist Connection.
Maclauchlan Milne (1885-1957) was no stranger to Dundee. The son of local artist Joseph Milne, the family stayed at Kingoodie, near Invergowrie, until the outbreak of the First World War when John enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps.
He returned to Dundee before moving to Paris, then Cassis, where he painted with the Colourists F. C. B. Cadell and Samuel Peploe.
While in France his stipend was paid for by the Dundee marmalade and jam family Keiller’s, who took a proportion of his work.
The permanent collections in Dundee and Perth each have half a dozen Maclauchlan Milnes. Perth also has a fine collection of Joseph Milne’s work.
And if Kirkcaldy was to throw in a wee selection of Colourists from its world-class accumulation, a ‘Tayside & Fife’ retrospective would certainly add colour to the present gloom.
Estimated at £5000-£10,000, Iona romped away to £22,000.
Picture: Iona by John Maclauchlan Milne, £22,000 (Duke’s Auctions).
