William Gillies RSA
Still Life With Chagall Print, 1933
Oil on canvas
56.0 x 45.5 cm (sight)
70 x 59.9 cm (frame)
70 x 59.9 cm (frame)
From the RSA Collection
The black vase here began appearing in the 1930s after the death of Gillies close friend William Crozier. Gillies would use it as a memento mori from this point forward,...
The black vase here began appearing in the 1930s after the death of Gillies close friend William Crozier. Gillies would use it as a memento mori from this point forward, a symbol reminding of the inevitability of death. The painting also includes an image of Marc Chagall’s painting The Rabbi. The rise of Nazism in Germany and the persecution that surrounded it renewed Gillies’ own fear of war. In 1931, seeing paintings by Edvard Munch had shown Gillies how he could open himself to others through his art.
