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Lot Essay
The present painting is from the An Orchard of Pears series which Scott started in 1976 and continued into the following year. Each of the seventeen paintings is entitled Orchard of Pears and then numbered sequentially. According to Mary Scott, they enjoyed particularly fine weather throughout the summer and autumn of 1976, and she told a friend, 'William did some lovely paintings - all oils and mostly pears' (Mary Scott, letter to Margot Davies, 9 March 1977, quoted in S. Whitfield, op. cit., p. 196). The inspiration for the group was the fruit from a mature pear tree flourishing outside the artist's studio at Coleford in Somerset. Scott told Walter Moos, in a letter dated 5 January 1978, 'I became a little obsessed with the tree on my studio wall last summer' (William Scott quoted in S. Whitfield, op. cit., p. 196).
The present work was included in the Real Life exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool in 1977. The critic Edward Lucie-Smith wrote a poem entitled 'Five Morsels in the Form of Pears for William Scott and Eric Satie' which followed the list of Scott's paintings in the exhibition catalogue. Throughout the five stanzas Lucie-Smith made many sexual references which encourage the reader to understand the paintings as endowed with symbolic significance (exhibition catalogue, Real Life, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, 1977, p. 23). At the heart of the appreciation of these paintings is recognition of a sensual undercurrent as a foil to the austere subject and composition. Scott said, 'Behind the face of pots and pans there is sometimes another image - it's a private one, ambiguous, and can perhaps be sensed rather than seen. This image which I can't describe animates my forms. It's the secret in the picture' (Scott quoted in A. Bowness, William Scott: Paintings, London, 1964, p. 8). The painter T.P. Flanagan, writing in The Independent on 24 January 1990, said 'As with everything he drew, when Scott concentrated his attention upon them, the pears became endowed with several layers of meaning. He perceived them not only as fruit but as symbols of fruitfulness' (T.P. Flanagan quoted in S. Whitfield, op. cit., p. 196).
Following the Real Life exhibition in Liverpool the series was shown at Gallery Kasahara in Osaka during the winter of 1977. Scott visited Japan for the exhibition and oversaw the hanging of the galleries. He ensured the pictures were positioned in a particular sequence and hung at specific heights to add to their interest as a series. An Orchard of Pears No. 7 was also included in the William Scott. Every Picture Tells a Story exhibition at Gimpel Fils, London, in 1985 and the Modern English Masters exhibition at Bernard Jacobson Gallery in 1989.
The present work was included in the Real Life exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool in 1977. The critic Edward Lucie-Smith wrote a poem entitled 'Five Morsels in the Form of Pears for William Scott and Eric Satie' which followed the list of Scott's paintings in the exhibition catalogue. Throughout the five stanzas Lucie-Smith made many sexual references which encourage the reader to understand the paintings as endowed with symbolic significance (exhibition catalogue, Real Life, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, 1977, p. 23). At the heart of the appreciation of these paintings is recognition of a sensual undercurrent as a foil to the austere subject and composition. Scott said, 'Behind the face of pots and pans there is sometimes another image - it's a private one, ambiguous, and can perhaps be sensed rather than seen. This image which I can't describe animates my forms. It's the secret in the picture' (Scott quoted in A. Bowness, William Scott: Paintings, London, 1964, p. 8). The painter T.P. Flanagan, writing in The Independent on 24 January 1990, said 'As with everything he drew, when Scott concentrated his attention upon them, the pears became endowed with several layers of meaning. He perceived them not only as fruit but as symbols of fruitfulness' (T.P. Flanagan quoted in S. Whitfield, op. cit., p. 196).
Following the Real Life exhibition in Liverpool the series was shown at Gallery Kasahara in Osaka during the winter of 1977. Scott visited Japan for the exhibition and oversaw the hanging of the galleries. He ensured the pictures were positioned in a particular sequence and hung at specific heights to add to their interest as a series. An Orchard of Pears No. 7 was also included in the William Scott. Every Picture Tells a Story exhibition at Gimpel Fils, London, in 1985 and the Modern English Masters exhibition at Bernard Jacobson Gallery in 1989.