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Notes

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In 1946 Colquhoun spent eight weeks in Ireland and the subject matter of Irish people and rural life fed into his work. In the introduction to the 1958 Whitechapel exhibition, Bryan Robertson described these works as, ‘Irish family groups […] welded together into a kind of composite totem pole, with heads facing outwards into space’. In the only interview that Colquhoun gave, he commented, ‘Each painting is a kind of discovery, a discovery of new forms, colour relation, or balance in composition. With every painting completed, the artist may change his viewpoint to suit the discoveries made, making his vision many-sided. Figures and objects in modern paintings may appear distorted. There will be those who seek a factual resemblance of mirror-like reflection.