William Scott (1913-1989)

Kitchen Still Life

Irish artist William Scott first visited Cornwall in 1936 and was inspired by the paintings of Christopher Wood and Alfred Wallis to pursue 'primitive realism'. After serving in the army during the Second World War he would visit St Ives each summer. There he met artists of his own generation such as Terry Frost, Bryan Wynter and Peter Lanyon and was introduced to Ben Nicholson.

Scott's still life paintings grew from his interest in French painting, particularly the work of Cezanne and Braque. He chose ordinary items from his kitchen and like Nicholson simplified them, focusing on colour and form in an attempt to give life to each object. As Scott's work grew in scale it became increasingly abstracted but the motifs of his early still life paintings remained.

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