1. Name:
Anthony Armstrong.
2. Profession:
Painter.
3. What are you wearing from Walker Slater?
A well oiled Walker Slater navy painter jacket and robust cords, also an old rust canvas sample from about 8-9 years ago.
4. You have traveled the world and painted many different places, which country has won your heart?
I felt perfectly at home in Venice and very much enjoyed the way of life. I would go for four or five weeks, preferably off season. I preferred to live where the Venetians lived: either in a small flat near the Rialto or in the area where the “artisani” reside next to the”Giardini”, the site of the “Biennale”. More recently I spent time on the Lido, the island opposite Venice, and many of my of my later works of figures on the beach are inspired by that time. This is where the film ”Death in Venice” was filmed. Of course my paintings are more than beach scenes: they have a deeper, underlying meaning which the discerning will observe.
5. What is it about the Scottish landscape that inspires you the most?
As much as I love the Scottish landscape and enjoy living surrounded by it, it is extremely difficult to capture its essence.
We contemporary artists are ”small beer” when it comes to grandeur. Take, for example, the 19th century artist Horatio McCulloch. His view of The Clyde, a large work, seen from above Dumbarton is sublime. His paintings of the highlands capture the grandeur of mountain and glen which I love so much.
6. We see from the picture you've worn out your Walker Slater painter jackets, completely adorned in oil paints. What has been the best bespoke or off-the-peg garment you’ve had made?
I have a WS three piece suit in Elgin tweed which is 8 or 9 years old. Recently, on coming out of the art galleries in Glasgow, a young woman with two children, a complete stranger, commented that she had seen me walking round the gallery and complimented me on how smart she thought the suit I was wearing was.
7. Tell us a little bit about the energy back in 1953 when you attended the GSA - when did you decide you wanted to be a painter?
On going to the Glasgow school of Art my original intention was to be a designer. From a very early age I had been interested in poster design which had been very powerful during the war; also in furniture and later architecture: the Mckintosh building was the ideal sitting. However after six months there I discovered that my true interest lay in a painting career. At that time the residue of ex- service men on government grants embodied a wild group of mature students. The intake just before I arrived in 1953 included such figure as Alan Fletcher, Sandy Goudie and Alasdair Gray. Our intake seemed young and naïve by comparison with the older men one of whom would drive around wildly in a jeep while only having one arm, the other lost in the war. However we settled in and spent much of our free time either in the State Bar or in the Cafe above the Art cinema at Charing Cross. It was very much a cafe culture; and it also included afternoons-instead of classes- in Ma Browns (M+A Brown's) downstairs, smoke room where the wee waitress Jean kept us all in check and where one couldn't tell the difference between the coffee and the tea and there was no point in complaining.
8. What is one of the most exciting portrait or paintings you have been commissioned for?
Not so much exciting as intriguing. A young woman-very attractive-asked me to paint her in the nude - apparently a present for her boyfriend! She was delighted with the outcome.
9. If you had to give a book a title about your life, what would it read?
My partner Brigitte says ''A Multi-phrenic Painter", but let's not publish that. It's an intriguing question, but I simply think I have far too many scandalous stories to give it only one title.
10. What is your favourite Scottish word?
Gosh my dear, that is like making me decide which of my four children I like the most; I adore the Scottish language and use far to many words to mention only one.
Thank you for Choosing Walker Slater, Anthony, and thank you for inviting us into the heart of your studio!
Photographs by Robbie Dickson
Public works hang in the Huntarian, the Transport museum and The Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow and in the Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh. Private commissions, besides portraiture, include landscapes and domestic subjects such as houses and work related pursuits e.g. ship building on the Clyde, for a naval architect. Corporate commissions include BP, the BBC, STV, and the RAC.
His work covers a wide spectrum. Portraiture and landscape, with cityscapes being of special interest - still life's and places where people come together in the streets and cafe culture; an abiding interest in the human figure and an understanding of human nature. A rich and varied “oeuvre” which appeals to both the private art lover and the professional collector.