Scottish Woodland Gouache Painting
Irene Halliday RSW (1931 to 2023) - Gouache on Card
“Woodland Scene”
A signed framed gouache on card by Scottish artist Irene May Halliday RSW, titled here as Woodland Scene.
Key Details
Artist: Irene Halliday RSW, 1931 to 2023
Title: Woodland Scene
Medium: Gouache on card
Signature: Signed lower right
Artwork Size: 35 × 48 cm (13.8 × 18.9 in)
Framed Size: 59 × 72 cm (23.2 × 28.3 in)
Frame: Mounted, framed and glazed
Condition: Artwork appears to have two scratches to surface lower left on the artwork but these are very difficult to spot. Good condition overall. Mount and frame in very good condition.
Description
The composition shows a richly handled woodland view in cool blue, green and ochre tones, with trees, branches and pale light built up through layered washes and lively surface detail.
The pale foreground wall anchors the image, while the upright tree form to the right gives the composition structure.
Halliday’s work often moves between landscape, coast, still life and decorative arrangement. This woodland subject shows the same interest in atmosphere, texture, rhythm and place, with a strong decorative quality and a distinctive Scottish modern watercolour tradition feel.
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. Her paintings and works on paper are admired for their colour, atmospheric handling and lyrical response to landscape, coast, flowers and everyday surroundings.
Provenance and Notes
A signed framed gouache on card by Irene Halliday RSW. The woodland subject sits well within Halliday’s broader interest in landscape, atmosphere and decorative surface. The layered handling and cool palette give the work a quiet, poetic quality, while the framed size makes it a very usable piece for display.
