In honor of an odd couple

A double portrait of a cult figure and the woman who became his adventurous patron.


Scottish born, long- time London resident  Craigie Aitchison is a cult figure his fame is inversely proportional to the love and admiration people had for him and his paintings. He died in December, 2009 and so many attended the memorial party for him at the Royal Academy that scores were turned away because the rooms were filled to beyond capacity. His work was bought by Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover, the designer Sir Paul Smith and television personality Anna Ford all of whom counted him as friends. Yet his is not a household name or even terribly well known. Maybe the show of almost fifty works now at the WaddingtonCustot gallery in London will change that not by diminishing he ardour of his fans but by introducing more people to his paintings.The entire show of almost fifty works were bought by Sheelagh Cluney, an Irish born, woman with a rich husband who had just returned from years in Japan when they met in 1978. Her acquisitions made a big and positive difference to both their lives. On her side, she became friendly with an exceptional man she otherwise would not have known
; on his he had the financial and emotional support that helps any artist flourish. Craigie hated doing commissioned portraits yet reluctantly if not surprisingly, he agreed to paint one of Sheelagh. It isn't a physical likeness but it reveals Sheelagh's forceful nature...

 Craigie was shy yet on the interior he was self assured; he never tried to be or paint like anybody else. May this self-portrait of the the artist when young, recently acquired by the National Portrait Gallery in London, is the best introduction to him.

. The drawing is borderline naive but the use of colour is sophisticated and potent: Everything is painted black except for the head and neck of the subject and the bright red collar of the pullover he is wearing.  The portrait is touching but also shocking; it is criss-crossed in slash marks.No stranger vandalised the painting; that was done by the artist himself. It was his response to the comment of a visitor to his studio who said the portrait was flattering. Aitchison was allergic to what might appear to be self-promotion Yet he did not discard the painting and eventually even agreed to have it restored provided that the scratch marks were left in. To judge by the results rather than what he said, the only artist who seems to have influenced him, was Odilon Redon, and then only early on—the years before he met Sheelagh Cluney. Afterwards his focus was sharper and his colours brighter—vivid pinks, emerald greens, luminous oranges acid yellows—sometimes all all together as in a winning still life of Liquorice Allsorts painted in 1980., a year of their fateful first encounter.

Sheelagh and Craigie

They met in 1979 in Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge where Aitchison was having an exhibition. Sheelagh Cluney, Irish- born, had just returned with her rich husband from years in Japan where he worked. She was outspoken (some would add arrogant). Graham Snow, an arts entrepreneur and artist who was a friend of both, took her to the show and introduced them.. After the Beaux Arts gallery closed Craigie showed with the Marlborough and Knoedler but this was a financial low point in his life. Mind you the only  apparent sign of this was the quality of the booze he served and consumed.  Cluney bought one painting: A portrait of his young friend Francis Fry. The profile shows him with pink lips and coppery hair, wearing an even pinker suit and tie. As it happens, it was one of the best pictures he ever painted.

  Cluney went on to buy landscapes of Scotland and Holy Island off the west coast of Scotland where he went for childhood holidays;  portraits of birds, his Bedlington terriers, models whose looks appealed to him;  still lifes of flowers in vases (he particularly liked freesias); candlesticks, trinkets,a pomegranate and religious images of saints and especially crucifixions. Always Cluney bought only from the artist or his dealers; never at auction or from previous owners. She wanted him to benefit directly from her money. Neither before they met nor after did she collect anyone else. As a collector she was as much a one off as he was as a painter.

. Aitchison paintings covered the walls of Cluney's Eaton Square flat and in her last years  (she died in 2011) they went with her to her house in Edmunton, Canada. Until now the public was able to see only a few loaned to retrospective shows. Leslie Waddington boldly bought the lot of them—well all but two—from her son, Gregory. He kept that first portrait of Francis Fry and a green crucifixion which, if this writer’s memory is accurate, hung in her Mayfair bedroom. 

  Waddington has hung the show with great visual flair Still lifes are grouped together as if they were jewelled portrait miniatures although they are larger in size.  A big painting of Holy Island, the sky red; the pointy island  amethyst, the water a streak of deepest  blue, the foreground rusty brown, occupies the far wall opposite the door. It is the first thing first thing a visitor sees on entering. It is also a memorably radiant and brooding goodbye to the artist and his patron.

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