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Album Da Disegno 'Spirale'; Florence, 1956 [Townscapes, Donkey, Carts and Traders]

Artist: McClure, David, RSA · 1926-1998Papermaker: Fabriano · b. 1264

Album Da Disegno 'Spirale'; Florence, 1956 [Townscapes, Donkey, Carts and Traders]

On completion of his studies at Edinburgh College of Art in 1955, McClure was awarded the Andrew Grant Travelling Scholarship. He used the award to…

On completion of his studies at Edinburgh College of Art in 1955, McClure was awarded the Andrew Grant Travelling Scholarship.

He used the award to live and work in two very different island resorts; Millport on Great Cumbrae off the west coast of Scotland, and Casteldaccia on the northern coast of Sicily in the Mediterranean.

McClure, alongside his wife Joyce and the couple's baby son, Robin, broke their travels with a few months stay in Florence between May and November 1956, after leaving Millport, and before reaching Sicily .

The sketchbook is commercially manufactured probably by the firm of paper manufacturers, Fabriano and the sketches on the first two leaves are dated November 1956, indicating that McClure lost no time after his arrival in getting started.

The original quota of leaves is not given but only fifteen remain intact, five of which are completely detached from the spiral binding.

The collation is as follows;
front cover: thin brown card printed in brown ink
leaf 1 (recto) landscape format sketch of a townscape looking across the River Arno with foreground lamp posts and buildings beyond
leaf 1 (verso) blank
leaf 2 (recto) landscape format sketch of an ornate town house with a 'No Entry' road sign and trees
leaf 2 (verso) blank
leaf 3 (recto) landscape format sketch of a harnessed donkey in profile, its back covered in a cloth and with a nosebag fitted
leaf 3 (verso) blank
leaf 4 (recto) landscape format landscape sketch of a harnessed donkey front on with a nosebag fitted and two sketches of a man wearing a waistcoat and hat
leaf 4 (verso) blank
leaf 5 (recto) [DETACHED] landscape format sketch of a donkey harnessed to a two-wheel cart on which sits a crate attended to by two men, buildings behind, with a random study of a pot plant
leaf 5 (verso) blank
leaf 6 (recto) [DETACHED] landscape format sketch of a seated plump woman wearing a short sleeved dress and a hat
leaf 6 (verso) blank
leaf 7 (recto) [DETACHED] landscape format sketch of a donkey in profile with nose bag fitted and a striped cloth covering its back, and studies of two parasols
leaf 7 (verso) blank
leaf 8 (recto) [DETACHED] landscape format sketches (x2 of) of men carrying loads on their shoulders
leaf 8 (verso) blank
leaf 9 (recto) landscape format sketch [unfinished] of the elevation of a building with a four-arched loggia on its ground floor
leaf 9 (verso) blank
leaf 10 (recto) landscape sketch in black conte of a building with a roadside shrine built into one wall, a wall to left and a street to right
leaf 10 (verso) blank
leaf 11 (recto) landscape format sketch in black conte of a building with an arched doorway and shuttered windows with colour notes
leaf 11 (verso) blank
leaf 12 (recto) landscape format sketch of the rear view of a man wearing a vest and trousers, possibly on horseback
leaf 12 (verso) blank
leaf 13 (recto) landscape format sketch of a landscape with foreground vines, buildings and trees beyond with colour notes
leaf 13 (verso) blank
leaf 14 (recto) portrait format sketch of the rear view of a man wearing a waistcoat and hat, his hands by his side
leaf 14 (verso) blank
leaf 15 (recto) portrait format sketch in black conte of the rear view of a balding man wearing an apron and carrying a box with bundles of reeds or grasses on his back
leaf 15 (verso) landscape format sketch in black conte of a tree lined village square with a prominent church tower and distant hills at top left with colour notes
inner rear cardboard
rear cover

RSA Archives holds a small group of original correspondence relating to McClure's Florentine trip.

The sketchbook was manufactured by the long established Italian papermaking firm of Fabriano

© The Royal Scottish Academy