Maria Donaldson and Ciao

Artist David A. Donaldson (Chryston, Lanarkshire, Scotland, 1916 - 1996)

Date1950-1974

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings

DimensionsOverall: Height: 102 cm, Width: 101.4 cm
Frame: Height: 119 cm, Width: 118.7 cm

AcquisitionPurchased in 1963 with income from the Macdonald Bequest.

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG003176

Keywords

About MeDavid Donaldson was one of the most important and influential figures in post-war Scottish painting. He studied at Glasgow School of Art from 1932 to 1937. He was awarded the title of Her Majesty's Painter and Limner in Scotland in 1977.

This is a portrait of his wife Maria Mora-Szorc whom he married in 1948. The rapid, spontaneous brushstrokes on canvas shows that Donaldson favours a directness of expression, where instinct and imagination are paramount - he never worked from preparatory drawings. The pose of Maria is natural and intimate. She looks out at a spectator who can only be the artist. It conveys a close relationship between two people. Maria is holding her dog, Ciao, an Italian greyhound. Since Antiquity and later the Renaissance period, featuring a dog in portraits was a popular symbol of marital fidelity; an essential quality in a good wife.