This afternoon in Barga, a year to the day after John Bellany passed away, his widow, Helen held a remembrance event in the city which very neatly kept the same interests and emotions which drew John to this area at its very core.
No serious speeches, flag waving or heavy thoughts but instead an afternoon amongst friends at the Villa di Riposo G.Pascoli with guitar, violin and accordion playing in the background.
As Helen herself mentioned, “John’s favourite music”
His presence was also there for those with an eye for detail or colour as Helen was wearing round her waist one of John’s less flamboyant ties
John Bellany was one of the most influential Scottish painters since the war, and had re-established a native, figurative art at a time when Modernism and abstraction seemed invincible.
Bellany was born in Port Seton in Scotland and studied at Edinburgh College of Art and later at the Royal College of Art in London.
He grew up in a small fishing village where his father was a fisherman and many of the symbolic images he uses come from the sea: boats, birds, fish and other sea creatures. Animals also appear in this symbolic language, sometimes with traditional meaning (Artist as Monkey), sometimes personal (Self portrait as Dog). Fate is represented by a clock or playing cards.
Throughout his career Bellany portrayed, directly or obliquely, events in his own life. Portraits, especially self portraits, were central to his work, and include a series done in 1988 following his liver transplant operation.
Bellany’s transplant was a watershed. The first time he was allowed out of hospital after the operation he donned a tuxedo in celebration. (article here to celebrate 20 years after his successful transplant )
As the 1990s dawned and his health improved, his palette became hotter. He turned increasingly to water-colour as a medium and he and his wife, Helen spent more and more time in Italy, eventually buying a home in Barga in 2000.
Bellany loved the place for its people, its food and its climate, but most of all for its timelessness.
“You get the feeling with the people in the village we live in that it could be 1520 or it could be last Thursday. OK it’s part of the 21st century, but the way they live their lives is exactly the same as it was 200 or 300 years ago.”
He exhibited his work in Barga many times – here, here and here – He was made a Royal Academician in 1991.
Article about a film made his life by his son Paul can be seen here