View From The Hospital Window

Artist John Bellany (Cockenzie and Port Seton, Scotland, 1942 - 2013)

Date1988

Mediumwatercolour on paper

ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings

DimensionsOverall: Height: 56.7 cm, Width: 77.3 cm

AcquisitionPurchased in 1990 with assistance from the National Fund for Acquisitions.

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG009024

Keywords

About MeJohn Bellany suffered from liver disease and underwent a liver transplant in the late 1980s. This watercolour, painted from his hospital bed, is a tour de force of vivid, bright colour, signalling a renewed zest for life.

Whenever Bellany was hospitalised, staff always made sure that he had a view from a window, so that he had an outward subject to draw and paint. The Cambridge countryside from the window of Addenbrooke's Hospital is rendered in an almost Fauvist medley of the brightest hues of yellow, red and orange.
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Collections Wall

The Cambridge countryside from Bellany's hospital bed at Addenbrooke's, where he had a liver transplant, with vivid colours signifying a renewed zest for life