ERNI UPTON FRSA,
RHUM & EIGG FROM ARDNAMURCHAN POINT
oil on canvas, signed, further signed and titled verso
image size 76.5cm x 102cm, overall size 96cm x 121cm
Framed.
Artist's label verso.
Note: A Scot, born in Ayrshire in 1936, Erni Upton has been painting since childhood. Schooled at Ayr Grammar & Ayr Academy, much of his youth was spent with the fisherfolk of West Scotland and their boats and he still cruises these waters each year. He trained at Glasgow School of Art, where he studied under Donaldson, Mathieson and Robertson. His work reflects their influences and those of the Scottish colourists who like him, spent much time in the wonderful light and colours of the West Coast. Painting in this tradition, he works with oils on canvas, using both brush and knife. In 1985, after many years in banking, he returned to Art & Design when he established an interior design company in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. He continued to work in oils, mainly commissions for corporate and private clients, but it was not until 1999, when the company was sold, that more time became available for painting. His work is successfully shown in many galleries in England, Scotland and abroad, most recently in Istanbul, where he was invited, as a result of commission work, to have a solo exhibition at the British Embassy, and a subsequent solo at one of the premier galleries in the city. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, London, in November 2004. In recent years exhibition venues have included: Rowles Fine Arts, Strathearn Gallery, Greens & Blues Gallery, Morningside Gallery, Annan Gallery, Iona House Gallery, Alpha Gallery, Queens Gallery, Gigha Gallery, Holyrood Gallery and Frames Gallery. In The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction of 9th May 2021, two Iona paintings by Erni Upton (lots 787 & 789) sold for prices of £2000 & £2800 (hammer).