John McLean: Flare
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All works are available to purchase, for prices click 'Enquire' on the relevant artwork or contact us at edinburgh@thefineartsociety.com, +44 (0)131 557 4050.
Part of Edinburgh Art Festival 2022, The Fine Art Society presents Flare, an exhibition of paintings by abstract artist John McLean (1939-2019). Colour, form, and space are the core elements of John's work. From the formal precision of his early work, to the free-flowing painterly expression he later developed, luminosity and rhythm run throughout. In 1981 he made his first visit as a guest artist to the Emma Lake workshop in Saskatchewan, Canada. Critics and artists there had an impact on John’s work, as did the landscape of the North American prairies. Throughout the 1980s John made regular visits to North America, sometimes spending whole summers in the city of Saskatoon to capture the light.
The son of artist Talbert McLean, John was raised in Arbroath and moved to London to study at the Courtauld Institute, spending the 1960s and 1970s at the Stockwell Depot of artists. His first solo exhibition was in 1975 at Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, and he has since had more than forty solo exhibitions worldwide. John’s painting has often been described as lyrical, but these are playful too. Bold strokes of colour are suspended, as if agitating independently. He was once described as "an explorative perfectionist" by Tim Hilton. Nothing in these works is accidental, but such is the apparent freedom with which they have been executed we are lulled into a sense of unconfined possibility.
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John McLeanThunder Bay, 1976signed, titled and dated 1976 versoacrylic on canvas106 x 171.5 cm
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John McLeanSplayed, 1980signed, titled and dated 1980 to stretcher versoacrylic on canvas142 x 175 cm
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John McLeanUntitled, 1981signed with initials; inscribed 1981 versowatercolour and acrylic on paper17.5 x 25 cm
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John McLeanNeponset, 1982signed, titled and dated versoacrylic on canvas170.5 x 109 cm
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John McLeanUntitled, 1982acrylic on canvas165.5 x 109.5 cm
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John McLeanUntitledacrylic on canvas175 x 230 cm
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John McLeanUntitled, 1982acrylic on canvas173 x 129 cm
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John McLeanUntitledacrylic on canvas175 x 110 cm
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John McLeanUntitled, 1982acrylic on canvas96.5 x 202 cm
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John McLeanUntitledacrylic on canvas73 x 177 cm
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John McLeanUntitledsigned with initialswatercolour and oil pastel on paper18.5 x 28.25 cm
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John McLeanUntitledsigned with initialswatercolour and oil pastel on paper15.5 x 28.25 cm
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John McLeanUntitledsigned with initials versoacrylic with metallic pigments on paper27.25 x 17 cm
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John McLeanManitoba, 1984signed, titled and dated 1984 versoacrylic on canvas164 x 104 cm
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John McLeanPiccante, 1989signed, titled and dated 1989 versoacrylic on canvas102 x 135 cm
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John McLeanUntitledacrylic on coloured paper10.5 x 15 cm
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John McLeanAvanti, 2008signed, titled and dated 2008 versoacrylic and collage on canvas20 x 30 cm
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John McLeanUntitledacrylic and collage on canvas25.5 x 30.5 cm
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John McLeanUntitledacrylic and collage on canvas21 x 29.5 cm
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John McLeanBoddin, 2011signed, titled and dated 2011 versoacrylic and collage on canvas20.5 x 25 cm
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John McLeanMannakin, 1979initialled; signed, titled and dated on backboardgouache and oil pastel on paper23.5 x 15 cm
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John McLeanIsthmus, 1981initialled; signed, titled and dated on backboardwatercolour and oil pastel on paper13 x 16 cm
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John McLeanShawmut, 1982acrylic on canvas170 x 105 cm
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John McLeanOrient, 1982initialled; signed, titled and dated on backboardgouache and oil pastel on paper17.5 x 25.5 cm
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John McLeanVerde, 1982initialled; signed, titled and dated on backboardwatercolour and oil pastel on paper20.5 x 13.5 cm
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John McLeanPiero, 1983initialled; signed, titled and dated on backboardgouache and oil pastel on paper16 x 22 cm
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John McLeanUntitledacrylic and collage on canvas30.5 x 30.5 cm