| Description: Archibald Kay was almost exclusively a landscape painter, and worked most frequently in the Western Highlands, Arran and Iona.Furnace Quarry, a favourite subject, is situated on the west shore of Loch Fyne, a little south of Inveraray. Named after an earlier iron-smelting works on the site, it was established in 1841 to supply granite for Glasgow's needs. The title of the work confuses the viewer's expectations, since we expect heavy industry to be based in a city, not in rural Scotland. This painting is looking at the quarry as a place of work and as the origin of a natural resource. There is just a sliver of untouched landscape in the top right corner. So this is not a conventional landscape painting, seeking to represent the beauty of a natural scene. Rather, this painting shows the destruction of a natural landscape in the name of progress. Kay has still managed to make the scene quite dramatic - what do you think his attitude is to the quarry's intrusion in the landscape?Kay's energetic handling of the paint and his bright, expressive palette gives this painting great vitality. The chalky colour scheme and pale tonal balance is offset by the lush green grass and the distant hillside - the only reminders of how the landscape may once have looked.The repeated use of diagonal lines in the composition adds to the energy and businesslike atmosphere of the scene. Kay has used the train tracks to lead the eye out of the picture, suggesting the removal of the valuable granite to the distant city. At first glance the rocky outcrops could almost be mountains themselves. Would this image have the same power if it was composed of mostly horizontal rocks and lines? |
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