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Gillies places his still life in an interior as indicated by the view beyond the sideboard to the left. Behind his objects: two jugs, fruit on a plate and the huge conch shell, is a plane sharing an edge with the sideboard, highlighting the objects but to the right, displaying the shadow of the second jug and flower stem. The lower half of his composition is dominated by crumpled drapes, anchored to the top by the jugs and shell. It is a naturalistic artifice, at once sophisticated and unpretentious, a wholly satisfactory accommodation of form and colour into the significant. Still Life with Shell is a perfect example of Gillies’ studio practice.
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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