Giuliana Lanotti – Away From It All

Giuliana Lanotti (20th Century) - Away From It All

A charming late 20th-century acrylic on canvas by the little-documented artist Giuliana Lanotti, depicting an isolated whitewashed cottage set beside the sea. Signed at the lower right and titled Away From It All to the reverse, the painting combines the familiar architecture of the Scottish coast with a particularly bright and expressive use of colour.

The composition is dominated by the low white cottage, its thick thatched roof spreading almost the full width of the canvas. Lanotti reduces the building to a series of strong, simplified forms: brilliant white walls, small dark windows, a shadowed doorway and tall chimney stacks rising at either end. The roof is worked in layered ochres, greens, browns and charcoal tones, suggesting the varied colour and texture of an old weathered thatch.

Around the cottage, the foreground is painted with considerably greater freedom. Loose passages of green, turquoise, yellow, orange, red and blue suggest rough coastal grasses and wild vegetation, punctuated by a simple line of reddish fence posts. The brushwork becomes increasingly animated towards the lower edge of the composition, lending the landscape a lively, almost tapestry-like richness.

Beyond the cottage stretches an expanse of intensely blue water, while a long low island or headland rises across the distant horizon. Above, broad passages of blue, grey, cream and muted pink create a softly changing coastal sky. The restrained horizontal treatment of sea and distant land provides an effective counterpoint to the more energetic handling of the foreground.

Lanotti's approach is deliberately simplified rather than topographical. Perspective and architectural detail are subordinated to colour, pattern and atmosphere, giving the painting a distinctly modern, naïve-influenced character. The cottage becomes almost emblematic: an isolated dwelling surrounded by grass, sea and open sky, perfectly complementing the evocative title Away From It All.

The subject belongs to a long tradition of Scottish coastal painting in which isolated crofts and cottages are used to convey remoteness and a close relationship between domestic life and the surrounding landscape. Lanotti's unusually vivid palette, however, gives the scene a particularly cheerful and decorative quality. The brilliant blues of the sea and sky contrast strongly with the whitewashed walls, while the warmer ochres of the roof and foreground prevent the composition from becoming cool or austere.

Little biographical information presently appears to be available for Giuliana Lanotti, and the artist remains comparatively little documented on the secondary market. The painting nevertheless appears consistent with late 20th-century Scottish decorative landscape painting, particularly in its simplified construction, heightened colour and expressive treatment of the coastal environment.

The reverse retains a label from The Framing Workshop, 1620 Clarendon Place, St George's Cross, Glasgow, providing an additional Scottish association. The original stretcher is stamped 12 x 10, corresponding to the approximate dimensions of the canvas.

Presented under glass in an attractive broad silver and cream-toned frame with a pale inner slip. The restrained frame complements the brilliant coastal palette particularly well and gives this relatively intimate painting considerable presence when displayed.

A very appealing Scottish coastal scene, combining the enduring imagery of the whitewashed cottage with an unusually colourful and expressive handling of sea, sky and vegetation. The evocative title, compact scale and strong decorative quality make Away From It All an especially attractive example of Lanotti's work.

Artist: Giuliana Lanotti
Title: Away From It All
Date: Circa late 20th century
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Signed: Signed lower right; titled verso
Framed size: 44cm x 38cm
Provenance / Labels: The Framing Workshop, St George's Cross, Glasgow label retained to the reverse
Condition: Good vintage condition overall, with minor age-related surface wear consistent with its age. Presented framed and under glass.