Ian Scott made enough paintings to be the life's work of a dozen or more highly prolific artists. Indeed, within his oeuvre, there are such dissimilar series of paintings that many have been surprised to learn they were all by the same person. The sheer reach and ambition makes Scott an exceptional figure in late-twentieth-century (and a little bit of twenty-first century) New Zealand art history. And the intensity of his vision for a new kind of New Zealand painting puts him, in my book, at the top of the tree over that period.
In the Milford Galleries exhibition, , we see five paintings from the early part of Scott's career. During 1966 to 1967, he was at art school—'New Realism' was the title of his Elam Honours year thesis—although in 1966 he was also happy to enter in the Kelliher Art Awards for 'traditional' landscape painting, a competition loathed by modernist-inclined artists such as Colin McCahon, who was one of Scott's tutors. From 1967 to 1970, Scott concentrated on what came to be known as his 'Girlie' series. Two examples are in (1968) and (1970). 'Girlie' only refers to some of the paintings of that period; a significant number do not feature female figures, although they are of the same ilk (meticulously painted, abstracted landscapes). 'New Realism' neatly covers the lot.
