Anne Madden

Dawson Gallery, Dublin, whence purchased, July 1976, and thence by descent to the present owner

Original canvas. The surface is dirty and there are some minor scratches at the edges. There is a fine tear approx 2in. long above the bottom edge to the left of the vertical stripe otherwise in original condition. Under ultraviolet light, there appear to be no signs of retouching. Unframed.
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Standing Stones Blue is a key work from a series of abstract vertical compositions executed in the 1970s which were influenced by the artist's experience of  the ancient megalithic monuments around Burren, Co. Clare. In the previous decade, her focus has been on the experience of landscape itself evident in works such as Mountain (1962) and Land Formation (1963) and this developed in the 1970s to incorporate an investigation of human presence within the landscape.

The emphasis on intense colour recalls the work of the American colour field painters such as Mark Rothko and in particular, the work of Barnett Newman and his focus on the vertical in works such as The Promise (1949, Coll. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York).  Madden achieved the fluid nature of the interflowing forms by pouring paint directly over wetted canvas, a technique she developed to great effect in the 1960s.

Although born in London, Madden spent her formative years in Chile before her family returned to London and Co. Clare.  Having moved to Carros in France with her husband Louis le Brocquy in the late 1950s, she won the first Carroll's Award at the Irish Exhibition of Living Art in 1964 and was chosen to represent Ireland at the Paris Biennale in 1965. She has exhibited extensively internationally and a major retrospective of her work was held this year at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin.