 William Irvine:
At Home
William Irvine believes that every artist is born with a small set of poems to express, and this unique collection of narrative paintings explores his signature motifs. Lending grace and delight to daily activities, his paintings show women celebrating spring with forsythia, calling in their cats at dusk, gossiping, planting trees, or sunbathing sans clothing. Men sip their morning coffee, repair windows, gather fishing gear and wait for the fog to lift. Mermaids, sheep, and sleeping sailors populate rugged, elemental scenes. And always, soaring overhead in the seascapes for which Irvine is best-known, there are gulls, whose cries, soaring flights, and calculated stillness captivate the painter. Irvine moved to Maine in 1968 and was immediately drawn to the fishing villages of Corea and Jonesport, whose tidy houses reminded him of the white farms dotting the green hills of Scotland, where he grew up. William Irvine: At Home joins William Irvine: A Painter’s Journey in establishing Irvine as a Maine and American master.Click for more info. |
 William Irvine:
A Painter’s Journey
Courthouse Gallery Fine Art will host a book launch, signing, and informal talk for William Irvine and Carl Little at the gallery on Wednesday, July 23, 2014 from 5–7pm. The event will celebrate the launch of Carl Little’s new book William Irvine: A Painter’s Journey. The book chronicles the life and career of artist William Irvine, whose journey in art began in the town of Troon on the Scottish coast where he was introduced to modern art through the collection of whiskey magnate Johnnie Walker.
Click for book sample |
 William Irvine:
A Walk By The Sea 2019
I grew up by the sea. it has been a constant presence in my life. When I walk by the shore, it is like being on a tight rope: keeping my balance until I fall into the magic beyond the ordinary, when you feel connected to the infinite.
It’s difficult if not impossible to explain a painting; words tend to be colorful, grand, and insufficient. We can talk about technique, we can describe the objects in a painting, but that spark, that thing that makes a painting come alive, that we cannot describe.
I can mention my gulls, my clouds, the boats, the islands, the waves, but these are just letters in a personal alphabet that I use, hoping to bring to life that moment of wonder that I experienced while walking.
— William Irvine
Download exhibition catalogue (PDF) |
 WILLIAM IRVINE:
Walk the Line, 2017
Irvine likes to cite a fellow painter friend, Robert Colquhoun (1914–1962), who said, “Paint with love and keep it simple.” He is quick to note that the simplicity is not the same as naiveté. Indeed, behind his painting lies a broad knowledge of art— the language of art—and what makes a painting work. . . . Friends have said his paintings of green hills with white houses and churches remind them of Scotland, yet Irvine’s sense of place is not about a point on a map. He seeks to represent something universal, “a place where we feel we have been before, a place we recognize in our psyche.”
—Carl Little
Download exhibition catalogue (PDF) |
 WILLIAM IRVINE:
Sea Change, 2016
As distances go, it’s not far: out the front door, past the seckel pear and Asian pear trees, and then you’ve reached the studio. No more than thirty yards. But that’s as far as you get. The studio door is closed; entry is by invitation only, for my husband, William Irvine, is a solitary painter. Neither I nor anyone else has actually observed him at work, save for our Shetland Sheepdog, Tam o’ Shanter, who sleeps on the paint-spattered floor at the foot of the easel. The studio has no clock on the wall, no radio on a shelf. From inside, one would hear only birdcall and the movement of the wind in the trees and the waves on the beach; from outside, one hears only the sound of footsteps, pacing. I call it the Magic Kingdom. Whatever dross enters—bait bags, fog banks, lobsterman’s gloves—transmutes, Rumpelstiltskin-like, into gold. How this works, I do not know. I only know that this treasure, unlike cold metal, gives warmth and joy to my days.
— Margery Irvine
Download exhibition catalogue (PDF) |
 WILLIAM IRVINE:
American Morning, 2015
One evening, looking across the sea at a Maine sunset, with its bands of color, I was reminded of the American flag, old glory and the feelings it evokes. And so I painted “American Sunset.” And then I thought some people might attach a political meaning to the work. To correct this misinterpretation, I lightheartedly thought I should paint an American sunrise, but I dismissed the thought as just a humorous idea, not to be taken seriously. The idea kept nagging me, though, until one early morning, looking out of my window, I saw the flag again, the sea, pale in the dawn light, and that nagging urge brought to the fore carried me back into the studio. And that is how “American Morning” came to light.
— William Irvine
Download exhibition catalogue (PDF) |
 WILLIAM IRVINE:
Ebb and Flow,
06 Jan 2016 – 30 Jan 2016
William Irvine is now, to all intents and purposes an American painter; he moved to Maine over forty years ago, having had his formal education at the Glasgow School of art. Those who discover him will find a painter already kindred with a Scottish tradition of gentle expressionism, in tune with nature but highly personal enjoying a golden homecoming.
The Scottish Gallery
16 Dundas Street
Edinburgh EH3 6HZ
E mail@scottish-gallery.co.uk
Download exhibition catalogue (PDF) |
 WILLIAM IRVINE:
Ebb and Flow,
July 23–August 17, 2014
Courthouse Gallery
William Irvine, who has been painting for over sixty years, shows no signs of slowing down with his new body of semi-abstract seascapes. His signature clouds are bigger and bolder, dominating the horizon with monolithic shapes, or they’re elongated bands traversing brilliant blue skies. This exhibition will highlight many of Irvine’s most popular motifs, including seascapes, tipped-up tables, white houses, nudes, fishermen, and Scottish harbors.
Click for catalog |
WILLIAM IRVINE: Videos
August 1, 2012
Artist’s Talk with Maine Painter William Irvine
at Courthouse Gallery Fine Art.
For more information, and to see more of Irvine’s work, visit:
www.courthosuegallery.com
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WILLIAM IRVINE: At Home 2019
Book Launch for “William Irvine: At Home”
(Marshall Wilkes 2018), a new book highlighting a collection of William Irvine’s small “white house” paintings. Irvine gave a talk about his work and read the poems he wrote for the book.The following poets and writers made contributions to the book, which they read at the Launch: William Carpenter, Deborah Joy Corey, Carl Little, Elizabeth Rees, Dindy Rosyter. The Book Launch was held in conjunction with a solo exhibition for William Irvine (July 18–August 12, 2018) at Courthouse Gallery Fine Art, Ellsworth, Maine. William Irvine’s delightful narrative paintings capture the grace and delight of daily activities—women celebrating spring with forsythia, calling in their cats at dusk, gossiping, planting trees, and sunbathing sans clothing. Men sip their morning coffee, repair windows, gather fishing gear and wait for the fog to lift. The book “William Irvine: At Home” is available at Courthouse Gallery. |