Large Coastal Still Life Gouache
Irene Halliday RSW (1931 to 2023) - Gouache on Card
“Large Coastal Still Life Gouache”
A large and beautifully composed gouache on board by Scottish artist Irene May Halliday RSW.
Key Details
Artist: Irene Halliday RSW, 1931 to 2023
Title: Large Coastal Still Life Gouache
Medium: Gouache on card
Signature: Not visibly signed
Inscription: Handwritten “Irene” inscription to rear of mountboard
Labels: Torrance Gallery, Edinburgh label verso; partial exhibition label verso, apparently relating to Manchester
Image Size: 64 × 79 cm (25.2 × 31.1 in)
Framed Size: 88 × 102 cm (34.6 × 40.2 in)
Frame: Mounted, framed and glazed
Condition: Artwork in mint condition. Stain to top mount, lower right. Frame (deliberately distressed) in good condition with light handling wear.
Description
The painting brings together a rich still-life arrangement and a coastal view beyond. Flowers, shells, glass, ceramics and a lobster are set across a tabletop, while the sea, distant hills, harbour boats and shoreline open out behind them.
The result is both decorative and atmospheric, combining the intimacy of a studio still life with Halliday’s deep connection to the Scottish coast.
The palette is especially attractive, with cool blues, soft greens, pale creams and flashes of stronger cobalt, all handled with delicacy and confidence.
This is a particularly strong example because it combines several of Halliday’s most appealing themes: flowers, still life, sea, harbour and memory of place.
About the Artist
Irene May Halliday RSW was a Scottish painter born in Kingsmuir in 1931. She studied at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee from 1948 to 1953, where she was taught by Alberto Morrocco.
Halliday was elected to the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour in 1955. She exhibited widely, including at the Royal Academy in London, the Royal Scottish Academy, the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts and elsewhere in Britain and the United States.
Alongside her painting career, Halliday was also an influential teacher, including work at Didsbury College of Education and Manchester Polytechnic.
Her work is held in several public galleries, including collections in Edinburgh, Bolton, Dundee and Salford. In later life she returned to Arbroath, where the sea coast, harbours and surrounding landscape continued to inspire her work.
Provenance and Notes
Torrance Gallery, Edinburgh label verso. Also with a partial exhibition label verso, apparently relating to Manchester. Handwritten “Irene” inscription to rear of mountboard.
The painting combines two key strands of Halliday’s work: carefully arranged interior still life and the Scottish coastal landscape.
