Every Picture Tells A Story

About

Artist William Scott CBE RA (1913 — 1989) was a key figure in European and American art and is considered one of the most influential British painters of the 20th century. The subject of a number of centennial exhibitions and events across the UK (including at Tate St Ives, the Jerwood Gallery Hastings, The Hepworth Wakefield and National Museums Belfast), 2013 sees the first major survey of the acclaimed artist's work for over 20 years. As part of this year long celebration, the BFI Southbank's 'Projecting the Archive' series are hosting a special centenary screening of James Scott's Every PictureTells A Story on Thursday 9th May. Son of the celebrated artist, filmmaker James Scott made this idiosyncratic portrait of his father's early years and his entry into the world of art. In Every Picture Tells A Story (UK 1984), the quasi-abstract canvasses are neatly linked with their domestic source material. Scott senior contributes occasional remarks and a heartbreakingly young Natasha Richardson makes her first credited screen appearance as an art tutor. Director James Scott has enjoyed a diverse career, ranging from early documentaries about key 60s art figures such as Richard Hamilton, R B Kitaj and Claes Oldenburg, to work with the radical Berwick Street Collective, independent features and the Oscar-winning short A Shocking Accident, based on the short story by Graham Greene. Greene said of the short that it was the ‘best adaptation of my work outside of my own'. The archive screening on 9th May also includes Scott's short, In Separation (UK 1965) as well as an introduction and post-screening discussion with the director in attendance to talk about his filmmaking and his father's work. The Scott centenary screening of Every Picture Tells A Story also ties in with the release of an exclusive and much anticipated Catalogue Raisonne of William Scott's work, published in limited edition by the William Scott Foundation, in partnership with Thames & Hudson. The comprehensive four-volume edition, edited by Sarah Whitfield, will feature almost 1,000 of the artist's oil paintings, created between 1928 - 1986, as well as unpublished letters, lecture notes and detailed documentation. The Catalogue Raisonne special launch event is at the Royal Academy of Arts in London on 8 May. Every Picture Tells A Story is a unique and intimate portrait of the life and early work of Scott senior, and is an integral part of the ongoing celebrations for the Scott Centenary taking place in the next couple of months. There will be an introduction and post-screening discussion with James Scott.