Douglas Percy Bliss: Satires of Highland Gatherings; 'Heavy Events' at the Strathbannock Highland Gathering, circa 1935

Douglas Percy Bliss: Satires of Highland Gatherings; 'Heavy Events' at the Strathbannock Highland Gathering, circa 1935 - on Art WW I

Enquire

Douglas Percy Bliss:
Satires of Highland Gatherings; 'Heavy Events' at the Strathbannock Highland Gathering, circa 1935
Framed (ref: 7849)
Signed and titled

Pencil, gouache and watercolour on paper

10 1/2 x 9 1/2 in. (27 x 24 cm)

Tags: Douglas Percy Bliss pastel watercolour sport Sporting Greats

Provenance: The Artist's Daughters

Literature: Gargoyles & Tattie-Bogles: the lives and work of Douglas Percy Bliss and Phyllis Dodd, Fleece Press, 2018.

A group of six satirical watercolours dated 1935 puncture the shortbread, haggis and bagpipe clichés of his countrymen. Games in Full Swing, Heavy Events, Dancing and Piping, March of the Clansmen, Highland Society and The Wedding of the Chief, all at the fictional Strathbannock Highland Gathering, are reminiscent of the cartoonist H.M.Bateman in their ability to deflate social pretentions. Douglas submitted them to Punch but they were rejected as ‘too severe’.