Images(4)

Abbreviated Chair

Artist Gavin Scobie (Edinburgh, Scotland, 1940 - 2012)

Date1991

Mediumcopper over wood and acid etched glass

ClassificationsSculptures

DimensionsOverall - Height: 175.5 cm, Width: 20.3 cm cm, Depth: 41.4 cm
Glass dimensions - Height: 140 cm, Width: 32 cm, Depth: 0.5 cm

AcquisitionPurchased in 1999 with assistance from the National Fund for Acquisitions, the National Art Collections Fund and the Friends of Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums.

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG013700

Keywords

Abstract

About MeThe art of Gavin Scobie, who died earlier this year, is distinguished by its fundamental qualities of grace, elegance and solidity. His work can be ambiguous; here the etched glass appearing as if someone has walked past it and breathed on it. Scobie found the effect created by etched glass immensely satisfying; 'It's such a beautiful colour, the greenness in the glass...a very contemplative colour.' Indeed this sculpture , whilst enigmatic and perplexing, is at the same time balanced and calming - a work which stimulates the viewer, but creates a sense of peace.

Although Scobie was as concerned with the physicality of a work as in the mood it may create, the finish is not pristine - the muted copper is mottled and these variegated surfaces are alluring. Especially successful in a brightly-lit room, sunlight enlivens the etched glass and creates moving colours on the copper, so that the work, though static, suggests at movement. Even on an overcast day, however, its formal authority gives Abbreviated Chair an undeniable presence. For Scobie, Abbreviated Chair recalled his childhood; 'I was a bit of a dreamer, I spent a lot of time looking through windows.' However, this memory was only a starting point for the sculpture, simply a catalyst which set Scobie's mind to the task.