Hainault work celebrated in show
A new exhibition beginning tomorrow at Shetland Museum will celebrate the work of artist June Hainault, who developed a great love of the isles.
Ms Hainault (1924-2007) exhibited all over Britain for 30 years and for the last decade of her working life she painted and drew inspiration from Shetland, in particular the area west of Walls.
She was an abstract colourist, pulling from the clouds, land and sea the essence of the drama and exhilaration that the ever-changing light of Shetland suggested. Her son Simon Mundy, who will give talks to illustrate the exhibition, has named it The Velocity of Colour.
The main pictures are paintings that she completed in Shetland but had not yet exhibited at the time of her last illness. However, they are presented here with a few of her earlier sketches and prints, along with her tools and materials, to show the context within which she worked.
Museum exhibitions officer John Hunter said: “Probably few people in Shetland will have realised that June Hainault had a distinguished career as an artist. After a well-travelled life June found the West Side of Shetland fulfilled her need for isolation and freedom from distractions.
“The main body of work in this exhibition is the large expressive paintings that are full of liberation and energy. They are done by a painter using very direct painting techniques who disposed of narratives and figuration. She uncluttered her art to produce fresh, vibrant and confident works.”
During the first week of the exhibition Mr Mundy will give talks on 1st and 4th June at 2pm, about his mother’s work and extraordinary life that took her from America to Mozambique and Ulster to Sussex before she found the serenity she needed in Shetland.
The exhibition runs until 28th June.
