Colin Middleton, R.H.A.

Acquired directly from the artist circa 1950 by a private collector, and thence by descent to the present owner

The board appears sound - faint sign of warping in upper left corner. Paint surface appears slightly dirty and may benefit from a light clean; otherwise the work appears in good overall condition with impastoed surface. Under ultraviolet light there appear to be no signs of retouching. Held in a simple wooden frame.
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Born in Belfast and brought up in a suburb at the foot of Cavehill, Middleton worked in Northern Ireland throughout his career, building up an acute knowledge of his home city both in terms of its unique topography as well the people that lived within it. Executed in 1940, the present work is a rare early example of the artist's vision of his own city and also demonstrates the lyrical impressionistic handling he had developed in the previous decade alongside his more well known surrealist style. The work gains added poignancy in light of the fact that Middleton's wife, Maye MacLain, who he had married in 1935, died the previous year. Moreover, the work was also executed the year after the outbreak of the Second World War during which Belfast was to become the target of bombing with widespread damage. 

While stylistically related to other paintings of Belfast which Middleton produced in the early 1940s, such as Allotments, Belfast (1940, sold in these rooms, 9^th May 2007, lot 94) and Allotments on Annadale Embankment, Belfast (1941, Private Collection), the present work is a rare depiction of the heart of the city. Despite the tumultuous events of that year, the painting provides a scene of continued everyday activity. On a quiet side street, residents go about their lives oblivious to the action in other parts of the world. A group of neighbours huddle about an unseen object of interest; a small boy in a bright green jumper and short trousers eagerly leans over to get a better look. Behind this central grouping, children play a game in the street and a woman strolls home with her shopping. This sense of quaint normality reflects the artist's optimism in the face of both personal and universal tragedy at the time.

Although Middleton had studied at the Belfast Academy and attended evening and Saturday morning classes at the Belfast College of Art, he joined the family linen damask firm as an apprentice when his father suffered a stroke in 1927, and later took over full ownership. The almost geometric impression of the present work reflects Middleton's sense of graphic design and this early training as a textile designer. Middleton has rid the environment of extraneous detail, and the simplified forms of the buildings are a patchwork of vertical planes receding along the street and broad horizontal fronts. His love of simple ordered forms would take on an almost mosaic effect later in his career, where in the influence of Paul Klee and Australian Aboriginal Art became pronounced.