oil on canvas, signed, titled labels verso
framed

Handwritten label verso
Exhibition label verso: Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow, January 2011
Note 1: The inspiration for this painting and several others is said to be from the French Poet Guillaume Apollinaire and his subject of the Harlequin in ‘Acrobats’. Apollinaire famously first coined the term ‘Surrealism’ and, in its most moderated definition, this may be appropriate to the sensibility of Scott’s work”. Apollinaire was a confidant of Picasso and the Spanish master famously took the Harlequin as his subject in the period 1904 and thereafter. In the book by Ray McKenzie and Tom Normand on Michael Scott’s life and work titled ‘Testament’, it is written: “ It was in Ovid that Scott found many of the source tales for his classical subjects and in Apollinaire that he discovered the non-linear, capricious and whimsical aesthetic that informed his oeuvre”. The poem by Apollinaire ‘Acrobats’ is thought to be the inspiration for "Clowns" together with “The Circus 1995 and The Travelling Players 2002”. A version of "Clowns" features as a full page photograph on page 99 of the book, "Michael Scott, Testament" published in 2010. "
Note 2: Born in Aberdeenshire in 1946, Michael Scott (Mike Scott) studied Political Science at Liverpool before doing a one year's teacher training course in Huddersfield. After moving to Glasgow, Scott took a full-time research post at Glasgow University followed by a lecturing post at the re-named Glasgow Caledonian University. By 1997 demand for his work had become so great that he had to resign his post at the University to paint full time. Awards Include The David Cargill Senior Award, Royal Glasgow Institute. Exhibitions Include 1988~John D Kelly Gallery, Glasgow: 1994~Roger Billcliffe Fine Art, Glasgow ~Contemporary Fine Art, Eton; 1995~Portland Gallery, London; 1997~Fosse Gallery, Stowe on Trent ~Contemporary Fine Art, Eton; 1998~Portland Gallery, London; 2001~Portland Gallery, London, 2004~Portland Gallery, London; 2010~A Memorial Exhibition, Roger Billcliffe, Glasgow. Collections Include Distillers plc, Robert Fleming Holdings Ltd, Spencer Stuart & Associates, Teachers Whisky, Whyte and Mackay and others. To mark the 10th anniversary of Michael Scott's death, The Roger Billcliffe Gallery staged an exhibition of his work 1st April - 30th April 2016. In The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction of 24th October 2021, lot 599 "Echo & Narcissus" a 60 x 60cm oil by Michael Scott sold for £3800 (hammer) and in recent times, other examples in our auctions have more than once achieved prices in excess of £4000 (hammer). In The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction of 23rd December 2021, lot 655 "Dancing The King" sold for £5000 (hammer).