James J. H. Cumming R.S.A., R.S.W. (1922-1996)

James Cumming said of his paintings, 'The still-lives include vessels of every description which have been in the studio for a lifetime; I collect them on the table-top, vary them, memorise their structures. Then their precise forms and colours are observed in different lighting conditions, before a synthesis is made. For a long time it has been my practice to follow this with a linear definition on the canvas, before colour transposition in innumerable layers, sometimes taking several months to complete; some dozen paintings are worked at a time.' (Exhibition catalogue, James Cumming: retrospective exhibition: paintings 1984-1987, Middlesbrough, Middlesbrough Art Gallery, 1987, unpaginated).