ALISON WATT

Speaking of the opportunity to show her work in a Robert Adam designed interior, Alison Watt said: ‘Ramsay was a painter but he was also a writer and a thinker. His friends included some of the great philosophers, painters and architects of his age, Robert Adam among them. Ramsay was known for his love of engaging in lively conversation with his sitters, because for him, conversation was central to his understanding of them. I’d like to imagine that some of those conversations may have taken place in rooms much like those at 6 Fitzroy Square. Perhaps in the very house itself ...’

Watt’s new paintings originate in the artist’s continuing fascination with Ramsay’s portraits and the drawings and sketchbooks from his extensive archive held by the National Galleries of Scotland, to which she was granted special access. In this new body of work, one can observe how the subtle shifts in tone and colour are influenced by Ramsay’s own palette. Watt, best known for her paintings of fabric and drapery, has long been an admirer of Ramsay’s portraits of women, in particular the intensely personal images of his first and second wives, Anne Bayne (d. 1743) and Margaret Lindsay of Evelick (1726-82) respectively. Taking objects that appear in Ramsay’s portraits and drawings—including books, a cabbage leaf, lacework, feathers and roses—as signs or symbols of aspects of the sitter’s life and character, Watt’s new paintings are neither portraits nor still lives, but instead extraordinary hybrids of both genres.

Speaking of the opportunity to work with Watt, Tristan said: ‘I have long been an admirer of Alison’s painting and I am delighted to collaborate on this exhibition with Parafin, in which the conceptual and aesthetic synergy between the artworks and the 18th century architecture will be evident.’

Parafin founders Ben and Matt comment on the chance to collaborate with Tristan: ‘We’re always looking for ways to collaborate with friends and colleagues. In the current moment, it feels good to share resources and opportunities. It’s an honour to work with Tristan and his team to bring this remarkable group of paintings to London and fulfil Alison’s vision for her work.’

A Kind of Longing takes its title from an essay by art historian Dr Tom Normand, who contributed to the exhibition catalogue of A Portrait Without Likeness at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 2021. Normand notes that ‘the physical presence of [Watt’s subjects], resting within their neutral and uncertain ground, is disconcerting. They appear to speak to a connection that is lost, or only half-remembered. A kind of longing.’

The exhibition will open on 3rd February and will continue until 10th March 2023 at 6 Fitzroy Square.