The Badminton Game by David Inshaw
This painting evokes the beauty and mystery of an English summer. It has a haunting quality, enhanced by the juxtaposition of light and shade. The dense trees appear to overwhelm the players: there is something almost sinister about them. The painting draws you in, but I think I might feel a little intimidated if I found myself in such a setting. When I was a child, there was a huge cedar tree in my grandparents’ garden; I was fascinated by it, yet could not bring myself to go near it. I feel the same fascination for this work. Above all, I love the way the painter has captured the scene. One can almost hear the thwack of the racquets, feel the heat of the sun and perhaps catch the aroma of scones for tea. It shows a perfect summer’s day. It’s simply glorious
Charlotte Mullins comments on The Badminton Game
THERE’S a surreal clarity to David Inshaw’s The Badminton Game that gives it the intensity of a dream. It’s as if a charged moment has been frozen, so the shuttlecock will never reach the young woman’s racquet as she reaches to return it. In his early 1970s paintings, he strove to create order from chaos, but the result is tense and febrile.
Mr Inshaw moved to Devizes in 1971 an
