Dear Scotland, Love Michael Andrews

By Ilaria Bevan

Dear Scotland, Love Michael Andrews

Michael Andrews (1928-1995) was, and still is, one of the most under-acknowledged and elusive artists working in Britain during the 20th century. As early as 1959, his work entitled A Man Who Suddenly Fell Over (1952) which he painted during his penultimate year of training at the Slade School of Art, London, was bought by the Tate. However, he never gained as much recognition as his contemporaries. This list would include the most important post-war artists of the School of London: Frank Auerbach, Lucian Freud, Leon Kossoff and Francis Bacon. 

A famous, and revealing, photograph taken by the group’s photographer John Deakin in 1963 visualises this story. The photograph, aptly entitled The Last Supper portrays several members of the School of London enjoying a meal at Wheeler’s Restaurant in Soho. On the edge of the group is Andrews - the only member to not be seated in front of a place setting - who appears completely unfazed by his rather more uninvolved position at the lunch table. 

John Deakin, ‘The Last Supper’, Wheelers Lunch, March 1963, 1963. Courtesy of The John Deakin Archive.

Despite working in their shadow, Andrews was well respected and had several solo shows during his lifetime. Unlike his peers, Andrews was less interested in portraiture and the human appearance, so much so that the majority of his paintings created from the 1970s are nearly devoid of people and primarily focus on the landscape genre. However, that is not to say that his pictures are without an implied human presence as Andrews’ carefully crafted compositions that portray the essence of the human figure and their impact on the environment. Five series of landscape and nature paintings would encapsulate this motif: English Landscapes, the River Thames, ‘Schools’ (of fish), Australia and Ayers Rock, and Scotland. 

Whilst all his landscape pictures were of great significance to the artist, it was his experiences in Australia and, more importantly, Scotland that had the most profound impact on Andrews. The artist wrote in 1986 that “It seems to me impossible not to paint religious landscapes of aboriginal Australia just as it is almost impossible not to paint historical landscapes in Scotland.”

Andrews first visited Scotland in 1975 and returned regularly thereafter until his death twenty years later. Intensely curious about the natural world, Andrews was fascinated with the primeval landscapes found in the Scottish highlands and how the presence of human figures impacted this environment. 

Photograph of Michael Andrews in the Scottish Highlands. Courtesy of Gagosian Quarterly, Gagosian.

The Scottish theme in his work began with two paintings depicting the formal gardens at Drummond Castle at Crieff. As suggested by the title of the picture, the stylised garden landscapes occupy the majority of the composition and present a strange, restrained world that appears at odds with modern life. Infiltrating the pictures are four anonymous figures who stand at the sidelines, overlooking the gardens. Dressed in animal costumes, they seem simultaneously at odds, and in harmony, with the garden architecture. 

The most well known pictures from his Scottish paintings are a group of four pictures on the theme of deer-stalking inspired by Andrews’ interests in the behavioural aspects of hunting and the historical connections between the sport and the landscape. Of particular interest to the artist was his own behavioural language, which prompted Andrews to commission a photographer to follow him stalking in the highlands of Scotland. The resulting photographs would form the basis of the four large pictures within the series: Peter’s Day: 3rd Stalk (1979), Alistair’s Day: 2nd Stalk (1980), Alistair’s Day: 2nd Shot (1980), and Running with the Deer (1980). 

Michael Andrews, Alistair’s Day: 2nd Shot, 1980. 

In three of these Andrews depicts himself, which creates an interesting chain of stalking between the spectator, who voyeuristically watches Andrews who is in the act of stalking the deer. The enormous scale of the paintings only enhances this sensory experience and further engulfs the viewer into the timeless beauty of the Scottish landscape. Further studies of deer-stalking and the surrounding landscape painted back in the studio would complete this thematic exploration. 

Michael Andrews, Edinburgh (Old Town), 1990-93.

Several years later Andrews painted several more pictures of the historic Scottish landscape before returning to London in 1992. Informed by experiences from Ayers Rock, which the artist visited in 1983, these pictures appear to be even more mysterious and enigmatic than the earlier deer stalking series. His portrayal of Edinburgh’s imposing architecture in Edinburgh (Old Town) (1990-93) is one such example. 

Set against a gloomy sky, Andrews has a carefully crafted panoramic view of the brooding Edinburgh castle and the Grassmarket in a dark colour palette - the significance is that one looks onto this modern environment, but, as Andrews has, through the lens of history. Thus, in a similar manner to his earlier deer stalking pictures, Andrews pulls the spectator into his eerie world and immerses them in this historical milieu. 

For Andrews, painting was about exploring questions concerned with the rich potential of nature, the diversity of humanity, and the complex relationship between the two. Dwelling on these reflections, Andrews draws his spectators into these mysterious painted landscapes and forces viewers to explore these ideas with him. In doing so, Andrews revises the Scottish landscape in paint and ultimately reinvigorates our perception of its great and long history. 

Bibliography: 

Gagosian. “Michael Andrews.” About Michael Andrew. Accessed October 17, 2021, https://gagosian.com/artists/michael-andrews/. 

Gagosian. “Michael Andrews: Earth Air Water,” Michael Andrews: Earth Air Water exhibition January 20 - March 25 2017 in Gagosian Grosvenor Hill. Accessed October 17, 2021. https://gagosian.com/exhibitions/2017/michael-andrews-earth-air-water/. 

Hayward Gallery, FruitMarket Gallery and Whitworth Art Gallery. Michael Andrews, 1927-1995 - Exhibitions. London: Arts Council of Great Britain. 

Tate. “Michael Andrews: Holiday (1976-1992),” Michael Andrews Tate Britain Exhibition July 19 - October 7 2001. Accessed October 17, 2021. https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/michael-andrews/michael-andrews-room-guide/michael-andrews-holiday.