CAG.2784 Colin Middleton, Winter: Camden Street, 1965, oil on board, 91.5 x 122 cm. Presented to the State, 2012 (AIB Art Collection). © the artist’s estate.

It’s a frosty and festive WORK OF THE WEEK!

Winter: Camden Street (1965) by Colin Middleton is giving us the cold, crisp vibes of the current sub-zero weather. The silvery blues of the upper part of this painting suggest fog or breath in the wintry air.

Within this cool palette, however, are chinks of orange, red, yellow, green, and rich blue that offer a patchwork or pattern that might remind us of seasonal lights and decorations.

Although essentially abstract, Middleton’s subject is Camden Street, located between Lisburn Road and University Road, close to the Ulster Museum and Queen’s University Belfast.

Did you know: this painting is one of 39 artworks presented to the State in 2012 by Allied Irish Banks (AIB) that now call Crawford Art Gallery their home.

Noted for his command of a multiplicity of styles, Belfast-born Colin Middleton (1910-1983) was a painter who responded in a deeply personal way to his subject matter. He was greatly influenced by fellow artists Salvador Dalí, James Ensor, Joan Miró, and Vincent van Gogh, and – as Rebecca Minch has observed – often expressed ‘complex psychological meanings’ in his work. A frequent exhibitor in Belfast, Dublin, London, and at the Irish Exhibition of Living Art, the award of an Arts Council of Northern Ireland bursary in 1970 finally enabled Middleton to focus full-time on his art.

Winter: Camden Street (1965) by Colin Middleton is featured in BEHIND THE SCENES: Collection at Work until 10 April.

Tune into The Arts House with Elmarie Mawe on Cork’s 96FM and C103FM every Sunday morning as Conor Tallon chats with curator Michael Waldron about each WORK OF THE WEEK! Listen back to this week’s chat here:

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