Who's the painter

[fittie]

It says on the back of the painting Douglas Bisset, 5,Moorland Rd, Hemel Hempstead.

And, Fishery Lock, Boxmoor, Herts. (Bridge 148).

Did he do others? Anyone know anything.

[alan_fincher]

He obviously didn't spend too long looking at what a set of top gates at Fishery lock actually looked like!

The left hand balance beam apparently has no depth, and looks more like a thin plank!

[fittie]

There are lots of things that I really don't like about this picture but it has been a part of my life for about 40+ years and I have seen worse.

[alan_fincher]

23 minutes ago, fittie said:

There are lots of things that I really don't like about this picture but it has been a part of my life for about 40+ years and I have seen worse.

Oh, I have seen worse!

Trying to be more helpful then, if you have not checked it out, the artist could hardly have been more local to their subject.  Moorland Road runs parallel to the canal, and not far behind it.

I have lived most of my life within no more than 10 miles from that lock, (and my son was born within a couple of hundred yards of it), and I have never seen any other similar picture or heard of Douglas Bisset.

How did you acquire it?

Edited April 2, 2018 by alan_fincher

[fittie]

It was bought by my grandmother in the 70s and she gave it to me when she down-sized, so I have known this picture from my early teens. Haven't boated down that way since about '74 or '76. I don't think that I have boated south of Stoke Bruerne since '85. 

[mark99]

At least the scene is recognisable.

[ScottWatson]

Doug Bissett was my uncle.

 

He was originally from Dundee where he worked as an artist for the publisher DC Thomson, before he and his family moved down south. I think he wanted to be near London because he saw that as the centre of the art world, and he had ambitions as an artist.

 

He painted plenty of landscapes of the Hemel area and of Scotland, as well as sketches/painting of London landmarks.

 

Unfortunately he died of cancer very young in the 1970s.

 

 

Edited October 30, 2018 by ScottWatson

[zenataomm]

Not wishing to disrespect your late uncle's creativity, I'd love to be able to paint and certainly couldn't equal it let alone improve.

I'm afraid if I lived with that painting I wouldn't be able to stop my eyes being drawn to the black blob in the middle of the canal.

 

Even more so as it has the approximate silhouette of the wide beam house boat that was against the bank for years. 

[Derek R.]

Looks more like a fully tarpaulin'd cruiser adrift to me ,but the location is immediately recognisable even so. It has the quality of an 'artists impression', especially the way the people on the towpath are leaning toward the boat 'adrift'! I think the balance beam would appear to have more 'bulk' if you consider it ar having only the end painted white, which is where the handle is spiked in. Perhaps the artists is seeing exactly that - a quick sketch, then back home to flesh it out. I'd be happy with it if it were my quick effort, but I'd prefer more details to be honest.

[fittie]

I have lived with it for a great many years and I must say that it does my head in but...

after taking it down and putting it away I decided to not get rid of it and put it back on the wall.

It's a love hate thing really.

[ScottWatson]

6 hours ago, fittie said:

I have lived with it for a great many years and I must say that it does my head in but...

after taking it down and putting it away I decided to not get rid of it and put it back on the wall.

It's a love hate thing really.

Hi Fittie,

 

If you did ever decide you don't want it anymore please don't throw it away - I'd be glad to take it off your hands. You can contact me at scottdundee@gmail.com

 

Thanks ,

[jon Williams]

I have a painting by him. Lovely - beautiful details.