Jean Arene

Sieste Amoureuse, The Afternoon Nap, Hommage to Matisse

1993

French Mid 20th Century oil on board Fauvist still life, flowers in a vase in an interior scene, by Hyppolite Roger. The painting is signed bottom righ...

Large surrealist contemporary oil on canvas by Scottish artist Frank McLean Docherty R.S.W. This piece whilst wonderfully colourful, playful and erotic is typical of the witty sense of humour this artist displays in all his work. The title 'Hello Hen !' ( Hen being the scottish slang for 'girl' ) is used playfully as a double-entendre. In the image we see the artist has before him a beautiful naked woman and yet chooses to paint the real hen. Also we notice that the plant's flower heads under the woman are wilting and the artist pictured (a self portrait of Docherty), an older man, suggest that the artist's desires are on the wane. Docherty likes to tease us visually and asks questions and presents conundrums to the viewer. Frank McLean Docherty was born in Glasgow , Scotland in 1942. He became a student at Glasgow School of Art in 1960 and graduated from the Department of Printed Textiles in 1964. He taught in a secondary school in the East End of Glasgow for two years, thereafter departing to work in Dublin in the Republic of Ireland as a textile designer (Marks & Spencer, Heals and Liberty of London). He was also an illustrator for a range of newspapers and an Art Director of magazines. In 1973, he was appointed Principal Teacher of Art in a Scottish High School and in 1978 was honoured by the Queen when he was appointed Member of the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolours (R.S.W.) He left education in 1994. Since that time he has developed a vision which is quite unique in Scottish Art. Bank Managers, toucans, lighthouses, penguins, bowler hats, Frank Docherty...