Patrick Heron 1920-1999
Scarlet and Orange with Yellow Discs, 1965
oil on canvas
48¼ x 59 ins




From the mid 1960’s Patrick Heron’s painting underwent a series of significant developments as he began to experiment with stronger, purer colours (often straight from the tube), clearer divisions between colours and larger, simpler areas of single colours. This painting, dating from 1965, displays all these new elements to dazzling effect; Heron had discovered that by running a clear if irregular line between two areas of colour it 'changes the colour of the colour on either side of it', making them cooler or hotter, in this case more intensely orange, red and yellow. It also allowed each colour ‘shape’ to retain its integrity while still forming a crucial part of the jigsaw of the overall composition - massive, simple parcels of fierce colour vibrating in simple harmony with each other - that confirm Heron’s position as one of the most significant colourists within British post-war abstract painting.