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Gillies has packed information and atmosphere into this watercolour. Cruden Bay, in northern Aberdeenshire, saw a great Scottish victory over the Danes in 1012 and lies in the lea of a headland which ends with the remains of Slains Castle, the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Castle Dracula. Gillies’ picture is far from bloody or sinister however, capturing a breezy summer day with assured drawing and delicate warm colour washes down by the estuary, with salmon nets and stone wharfs.
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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