Title: Infused with Place
Subtitle: The Translation of Scotland's Geography in Paintings of the Sea
Subject Classification:  Arts, Society and Culture  
BIC Classification: AB, JF
BISAC Classification: ART015000, ART060000, SOC015000
Binding: Hardback, eBook
Publication date: 20 Nov 2025
ISBN (Hardback): 978-1-83711-073-5
ISBN (eBook): 978-1-83711-074-2

To view a sample of the book, please click here

e-books available for libraries from   Proquest  and   EBSCO   with non-institutional availability from  GooglePlay

For larger orders, or orders where you require an invoice, contact us  admin@ethicspress.com

Description

Paintings of the sea have an emotional resonance with many people. This book blends Scottish art with Scotland's geography to engage that interest, and to compliment and challenge the central canons of art custodians and experts, that art is analysed and understood most often in terms of who (the artist was/is) and when (the work was created). Where (the creative act occurred) is seldom considered as significant.

However, human understanding of the world depends on spatiality as well as temporality. The book develops a conceptual framework of spatiality that is applicable to any painting, illustrates a suite of methods to situate painter, painting and geography, and finally applies the framework and methodology in a case study of the Scottish paintings of one artist, American Jon Schueler. The overall conclusion is that just as place is a necessary and definitive constituent of an artist's identity, so too is place a necessary and definitive constituent of a painting's identity.

In building this place-based concept, the book constructs an important addition to the understanding and criticism of art. It carries an extensive bibliography of relevant articles and books to support the methodology.

Biography

Author(s):  Joe Boyd is an Education and Development consultant, trainer, advisor and writer. In 2023, he completed a PhD in Art History at the Universities of St. Andrews and Lincoln.

Reviews

"This is an illuminating book about the personal responses of artists to sea, sky and climate. Adopting a mix of scientific and philosophical methods, Joe Boyd demonstrates the many complexities of defining spatiality in the Scottish seascape, and presents us with a wide range of case studies from the paintings of Morris Grassie, William McTaggart and Joan Eardley and many others to the American-born ‘abstract’ painter Jon Schueler. Dr Boyd’s investigation is grounded in deep research in libraries, field visits and interviews and the application of the fascinating ‘colour palette extractor’ software specially developed for him by St Andrews University computing staff. Well-illustrated, the study is bookended with discussions of the values of ‘Scottishness’."
- Dr Elizabeth Cumming, Independent Art Historian