The Shape of the Night, 1939
The Shape of the Night is one of the paintings acquired by the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in 2013. Here's what they said about it:
"This is one of Lucas's first oil paintings. The curious imagery (the triangular forms to the left of the bird are upside-down ice-cream cones) and title almost certainly derive from the work of the Belgian surrealist, Rene Magritte. Surrealism was widely exhibited in Edinburgh in the late 1930s, with works by De Chirico, Dali, Picasso and Ernst shown at the annual Scottish Society of Artists exhibition in 1937 and others shown in 1938 and 1939."
"This is one of Lucas's first oil paintings. The curious imagery (the triangular forms to the left of the bird are upside-down ice-cream cones) and title almost certainly derive from the work of the Belgian surrealist, Rene Magritte. Surrealism was widely exhibited in Edinburgh in the late 1930s, with works by De Chirico, Dali, Picasso and Ernst shown at the annual Scottish Society of Artists exhibition in 1937 and others shown in 1938 and 1939."
This was one of the first paintings in what Edwin called his "flirtation with Surrealism". As stated above, it seems greatly influenced by Magritte, but Edwin soon developed his own style. He stopped regarding himself as a Surrealist within just one or two years and later he was to say he was "strongly opposed to being regarded as a representative of any particular mode".
However, his flirtation with Surrealism got him started on a wonderful journey towards unorthodox, experimental work, much of which is unlike anything his contemporaries were doing. The five paintings now in the National Collection present an impressive precis of that journey.
However, his flirtation with Surrealism got him started on a wonderful journey towards unorthodox, experimental work, much of which is unlike anything his contemporaries were doing. The five paintings now in the National Collection present an impressive precis of that journey.