John Maclauchlan Milne RSA

(British, 1885-1957)

Eilean, Iona

Footnotes

Provenance
With Aitken Dott, Edinburgh, 1940.
With The Fine Art Society, London, April 1983.
Private collection, UK; sale, Bonhams, Edinburgh, 17 April 2013, lot 40.
Private collection, UK (acquired at the above sale).

Exhibited
(Probably) Dundee, the artist's studio, Exhibition of Pictures by Maclauchlan Milne, RSA, 12-23 April 1940.

Only 6km long and 2.5km wide, located to the west of Mull, the island of Iona holds a special attraction for artists who have been travelling there for the last 250 years. John Maclauchlan Milne was part of that continuing pilgrimage. His fellow colourists FCB Cadell and SJ Peploe had been repeat visitors before Milne first followed the trail to Iona in 1937. He returned in 1938 and 1939, staying each time at the St Columba Hotel.

Milne's Eilean Iona was most probably part of his studio exhibition in the Nethergate, Dundee in April 1940. The Dundee Courier report of 15 April 1940 tells us that, except for three watercolours,
'....... all are oils, mainly of scenes in Arran and Iona. Mr Milne's handling of paint is always fresh and certain, and his landscapes are full of space and sunshine.'

This exhibition closed on Tuesday 23 April 1940. The painting has labels verso from Aitken Dott & Son Ltd, The Scottish Gallery, with a title and the date 24 April 1940. It is possible that the painting did not sell from his studio exhibition, so he took it the following day to place it with the Edinburgh dealer and the label shows the date when it was received there.

Over subsequent years the handwritten title has been interpreted as Eilean Jura, but there seems no basis for this. The view depicted matches other pictures by Milne and other artists. It is from the beach at the north end of Iona looking north-east, across the neighbouring island of Eilean Annraidh to the larger islands of Ulva and Mull in the distance.

Milne's position as The Fifth Scottish Colourist is becoming recognised by many.

Bonhams thanks Maurice Millar for his assistance with researching this painting. The Missing Colourist is an illustrated biography of the artist and copies are available from www.themissingcolourist.co.uk