Tag: John Bellany

Born into a fishing and sea-faring community at Port Seton in Scotland in 1942, John Bellany went on to study at the Royal College of Art in 1965, his artistic vocabulary, which had previously revolved around the sea-faring environment and the images of shipbuilding, fishing and the fishing communities in which he was brought up. being expanded and enlarged by the experiences of London life. Nevertheless, Bellany was born into Calvinism, and the disciplined religious and moral overtones of this religion continued to permeate his work.

In 1967 he made a moving visit to the remains of the Buchenwald concentration camp, a profound and harrowing experience which unfortunately coincided with the start of a series of personal and emotional breakdowns which occurred over the next decade well. His depression led to self-destruction and serious ill health, reflected in the turmoil of his paintings in this darker period of his life.

The start of the 1980s, however, following a successful liver transplant, saw a reinvigoration in his life and the transformation in his mood was remarkable. To the astonishment of his doctor and surgeon, it inspired a series of paintings supposedly started within mere hours of his regaining consciousness.

John Bellany was awarded the CBE in 1994 and his works are held in major collections across Europe and America, including the National Galleries of Scotland, the Tate collection and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He died in August 2013.