Provenance:

London, Gimpel Fils Gallery Ltd (label on the reverse).

Zurich, Gimpel & Hanover Galerie (label on the reverse).

Exhibitions:

Genoa, Rinaldo Rotta Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Alan Davie. Mostra personale (stamps on the reverse);

Edinburgh, International Festival 1972, Royal Scottish Academy, Alan Davie, Paintings 1952-72, 19 August-17 September 1972;

Braunschweig, Kunstverein Braunschweig & V. Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Alan Davie, Paintings 1952-72, 5 November-22 December 1972; and

Karlsruhe, Badischer Kunstverein e V., Alan Davie. Paintings 1952-72, January 1973.

Davie's abstract painting has always been concerned with a complex range of imagery and 1971 saw significant changes to the structure and content of his paintings which became much more clearly structured, compartmentalised and more precise. This is a new take on the heavily impasto works of the early 1950s where he presented us with mysterious rooms in paintings such as Between Screens, 1953. Now the room is much clearer and the colours brighter and more separate. Walls, doors and windows are used to create an enclosed universe in which the signs and symbols are clearer to divine and possess their own distinct presence and existence.