The best visual arts shows to see this week by Aidan Dunne
"Francis Boag’s unabashed relish for colour has served him well through the decades as artist and teacher. His recent work doesn’t break the mould, offering upbeat treatments of floral still life, people, places and everyday life."
"One of Scotland's leading colourists...
Two paintings by artist Francis Boag are to leave a Fife gallery for their new home in America following their sale.
The paintings — I, Catherine Elizabeth and William Arthur — were sold by Fraser Gallery in St Andrews and will be making their way to a gallery in Woodstock, Vermont.
The works, which were commissioned by the gallery to mark the royal wedding, have attracted a huge amount of interest and were sold to a gallery in Woodstock, Vermont over the weekend for £10,000.
"Since the two paintings were hung in the window early last week, we have had an amazing number of people stop and photograph the works," said gallery owner Louise Fraser.
"People love the work of Francis Boag and, whilst he is known for his Scottish-colourist influenced landscapes and still lifes, these two works attracted interest from both those familiar with his work and others — such as the buyers — interested more in the subject matter and the interesting Andy Warhol style used by the artist."
Francis Boag was born in Dundee in 1948 and studied at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in the late sixties when Pop Art was just emerging as a serious art movement.
He was greatly influenced by artists such as Andy Warhol and David Hockney.
In recent years he has occasionally referred back to those times and painted "Pop" versions of some icons of that time such as the Beatles, Bob Dylan and George Best.
"We are delighted to have sold these two iconic works," continued Louise. "Like many of the pieces we sell, they will be travelling to the USA and we are sure they will be a talking point for many years to come.
"The works have generated a lot of interest from students in the town as well who have enquired about commissions from the artist of themselves."
