Alasdair Gray, Scottish 1934-2019 - Mr Swan, 1957; oil, ink, gouache and varnish on wooden panel, signed and dated lower right 'Alasdair Gray 1957', 90 x 60 cm (ARR) Provenance: Private Collection, UK, thence by descent. Exhibited: The John Moores...

Alasdair Gray, Scottish 1934-2019 - Mr Swan, 1957; oil, ink, gouache and varnish on wooden panel, signed and dated lower right 'Alasdair Gray 1957', 90 x 60 cm (ARR) Provenance: Private Collection, UK, thence by descent. Exhibited: The John Moores Exhibition Liverpool (label verso). Note: this work is registered in the Alasdair Gray Archive, Glasgow. Scottish artist and writer Alasdair Gray was known for his novel 'Lanark', often viewed as one of the most important pieces of Scottish literature of the 20th century. The artist said the following regarding this painting: ‘My oldest friend is George Swan. Like many Glaswegians he lived before marriage with his parents. Theirs was a one-room-and-kitchen flat in a four-storey tenement with three flats on each floor, shared lavatories on the communal stair. George’s dad, like mine, had fought in World War One. He had been a picture framer. Then grew blind and worked on the production line of the Singer’s sewing machine factory, Clydebank. This gentle, patient man sat for me at home with his back to the kitchen sink. The moonlit tower the central staircase of Duke Street Hospital in Dennistoun, seen from behind and long since demolished. The portrait was drawn with Indian ink on plywood then tinted with enamel and oil glazes. I left some woodwork in the kitchen sink unit almost untouched, and only slightly darkened Mr. Swan’s skin colour. I gave this portrait to the Swan family. It was returned to me with apologies because it made him look old and blind and his wife never thought of him like that.”