Alexander Goudie - An Introduction (continued)
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Chapel Interior (c.1985)
152x152 cm Oil and chalk on canvas |
A life-long association with Brittany resulted from marriage to his Breton
wife Marie-Renee. For over 30 years, summers were spent documenting the
changing face of the rural landscape in sketchbooks and paintings, on harboursides
and in the fields. The culmination of these decades of study came in 1989
with the monumental commission to decorate the interior of the Brittany
Ferries Flagship, ‘Bretagne’. Some years later he was chosen
to revive the tradition of creative collaboration between artists and the
famous ceramic ‘fainceries’ of Quimper. The resulting series
of ceramic sculptures depicting ‘Breton types’, bear testament
to a way of life that had all but vanished at the end of the 20th century.
A Scot first and foremost however, Goudie held a fascination throughout
his career with Robert Burns’ great narrative poem, ‘Tam O’Shanter’ and
over many years he re-created the poem in paintings. The final illustrative
cycle of over 54 works, completed in 1996, would be purchased in its entirety
and now resides on permanent public display at Rozelle House, near Burns’ home
in Alloway, Ayrshire.
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Ayrshire Woods (c.2000)
122.5x153 cm Oil and charcoal on board |
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Alexander Goudie also found literary inspiration in Oscar Wilde’s
play ‘Salome’ and Richard Strauss’ opera of the same
name. When asked to create the décor for a production by Scottish
Opera, the artist immersed himself in both the text and the music. He devised
a host of exquisite designs for costumes and sets, which were fated not
to appear on stage when the project met financial difficulties. Undeterred,
Goudie transformed his vision into an exhibition of dramatic canvasses
which was unveiled at the Edinburgh festival in 1990.
Alexander Goudie died in 2004. A brilliant draughtsman and sumptuous colourist,
he was an artist who drew inspiration from a broad range of subjects. In
his studio in Glasgow he worked tirelessly, painting portraits of society
figures one day and immortalising the labouring Breton peasant the next.
In character he was as theatrical as many of the canvasses to which he
put his name. Possessed of a self-conviction that refused to bow to any
of the artistic trends of the day, he saw himself in the tradition of figurative
painting which stretched back from the work of his native Glasgow boys,
to encompass the influence of Gauguin, Goya, Velazquez and Titian. He identified
with them in his strongly held belief that “the pictures should tell
their own story” and that an artist should, above all else, “speak
with a clear voice”.
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