"McCance's paintings in the 1920s were unusual in that he was one of the few Scottish artists who embraced the cubist, abstract and machine-inspired arts movements that spread across Europe following the First World War."
That said, my judgment is that he was a journeyman modernist who did little more than follow Modernist stylistic practices as they changed over time. Perhaps you will disagree. My case is stated in the following images.
He was about 22 years old and perhaps completing his art studies.
Modernist background, but otherwise conventional.
Now he is full-bore Modernist.
Probably his wife.
She too was an artist.
A dip into Cubism/Futurism.
... of a sports event? An election?
A late creation. McCance was a pacifist and jailed for that during the Great War.
D.P.—Based on what is posted, I agree with your assessment of McCance’s work. I feel his earlier work shows a lot of talent, especially the second posting, Kimono Study.
ReplyDeleteThe work of similar artists you have featured—artists with solid potential—makes me wonder what could lure them into creating such grotesque work later in their careers. Insane international movements have had unbelievable power over young talent. In cases like this we wind up studying negative and tragic influence.
On a more positive mote, have you considered featuring some of the successful American watercolor masters of the late 1940s through early 70s?
All the best—Paul
Wow, nice comment. What a sad decline into admittedly bold abstraction in his work post "Kimono Study." Glad to see a "contrarian" point of view here, as it mirrored my own thoughts as I looked through the images of his work in historical sequence.
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