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Arniston House and estate lie between Temple and Gorebridge and provided Gillies with endless subject matter.
The grand house designed by William Dundas in 1726 never features in his work, instead Gillies is drawn to the wildness of the grounds which is transected by the South Esk as it winds its way to the Forth Estuary.
Sir William Gillies is still highly underrated in Modern British terms. Born in Haddington, he trained and taught at Edinburgh College of Art, and did the latter as principal. He was a great influence on many of the next generation of the Edinburgh School. He himself studied in Paris with Andre Lhote and absorbed, variously, the work of Munch, Matisse, Braque and Bonnard. Still life and landscape oils tend to be composed studio pieces of subtle complexity. Watercolours are lyrically observed renderings of the Scottish Borders based on decisive pencil or pen drawings or for larger works, executed alla prima. Gillies had a long and fruitful relationship with The Scottish Gallery which continues in the secondary market.
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