Something strange is at play in the paintings of Mary Newcomb. In one of her better-known works, The Lady with a Bunch of Sweet Williams, a landscape painted in 1988, we meet a woman as she passes through a golden clearing in a field, the dark shadow of a church spire visible in the distance. So far, so pastoral. Nothing unusual to see here. That is until our eyes adjust and we realise the woman’s whole body is dwarfed by her enormous bouquet – size-wise, it’s practically on par with that church spire. Only her legs poke out beneath a firework-blast of red and white blooms that she holds before us like a hypnotist’s wheel. In the Victorian era, when the language of flowers (known as “floriography”) was used to communicate certain meanings, Sweet Williams symbolised gallantry, which could explain Newcomb’s courageous choice of size, but really, it’s about capturing a burst of feeling – the kind you might get when marching across a village to a friend’s house to proudly present them with a bunch of hand-picked flowers.
Like so many of Newcomb’s paintings, it stays true to the intentions she laid out in her diary in 1986: “I wanted… to remind ourselves that – in our haste – in this century – we may not give time to pause and look – and may pass on our way unheeding”.
This story is from the February 2021 edition of Artists & Illustrators.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the February 2021 edition of Artists & Illustrators.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Still life IN 3 HOURS
Former BP Portrait Award runner-up FELICIA FORTE guides you through a simple, structured approach to painting alla prima that tackles dark, average and light colours in turn
Movement in composition
Through an analysis of three masterworks, landscape painter and noted author MITCHELL ALBALA shows how you can animate landscape composition with movement
Shane Berkery
The Irish-Japanese artist talks to REBECCA BRADBURY about the innovative concepts and original colour combinations he brings to his figurative oil paintings from his Dublin garden studio
The Working Artist
Something old, something new... Our columnist LAURA BOSWELL has expert advice for balancing fresh ideas with completing half-finished work
Washes AND GLAZES
Art Academy’s ROB PEPPER introduces an in-depth guide to incorporating various techniques into your next masterpiece. Artwork by STAN MILLER, CHRIS ROBINSON and MICHELE ILLING
Hands
LAURA SMITH continues her new four-part series, which encourages you to draw elements of old master paintings, and this month’s focus is on capturing hands
Vincent van Gogh
To celebrate The Courtauld’s forthcoming landmark display of the troubled Dutch master’s self-portraits, STEVE PILL looks at the stories behind 10 of the most dramatic works on display
BRING THE drama
Join international watercolour maestro ALVARO CASTAGNET in London’s West End to paint a dramatic street scene
Serena Rowe
The Scottish painter tells STEVE PILL why time is precious, why emotional responses to colour are useful, and how she finds focus every day with the help of her studio wall
Bill Jacklin
Chatting over Zoom as he recovers from appendicitis, the Royal Academician tells STEVE PILL about classic scrapes in New York and his recent experiments with illustration
