Colin Middleton RUA RHA (1910-1983) Thisbe -1951 oil on canvas signed lower right, signed,

Colin Middleton RUA RHA (1910-1983) Thisbe -1951 oil on canvas signed lower right, signed, titled & dated September/October 1950 on reverse 24½ x 35cm (9.65 x 13.78in) Provenance: The Tooth Gallery, London (label verso) Private Collection While Colin Middleton's titles in his paintings of the post-war period often contained Biblical allusions and occasionally referred to songs and poems, Thisbe is unusual in its link to classical literature. The emotional nature of the story of Pyramus and Thisbe does, however, connect strongly with the mood of much of Middleton's greatest work of this time, influenced both by specific local mythology as well as the broader mood of post-war Europe. The circus or fairground in the background is also an unusual setting for Middleton and it is immediately reminiscent of the work of Jack Yeats, which he must have known from the Victor Waddington Gallery where they both exhibited, as well as that of another gallery artist, Nevill Johnson, whose paintings of circus subjects such as The Family express a similar sense of both excitement and alienation as Middleton achieves here. Transposed into the modern world, the title suggests a narrative that might well only be intended to create a mood of ambiguity; many of the single figure paintings of this time such as Hallowe'en, painted in the same year as Thisbe, present a girl in a heightened state of being and in a world of great intensity, often surrounded by the darkness of night but shot through with dynamic colour. The expressive use of colour against the rich blues and the energy of the paint surface add to this sense of drama. Rather than being a specific interpretation of a classical story, it is perhaps more likely that Middleton is trying to evoke the fragility and emotion of this young girl, who is used to represent both a powerful personal experience of life and also the broader experience of the turmoil of a world transformed by the war. Thisbe was exhibited in January 1953 as part of 'Today and Yesterday', a notable annual mixed exhibition held at the Tooth Gallery in London, with whom Middleton exhibited on a number of occasions. Dickon Hall, March 2015