Lavery on Location

Went to see the Lavery exhibit at the RSA first thing. Some grand paintings, some good portraits, location sketches, romantic seascapes, WW1 reporting (biplanes, Herndon airfield), scenes from Morocco. Six rooms in the main ground floor galleries; lots of good work. There are also a couple of walls with 'wallpaper images', hugely enlarged copies of the originals onto walls and one fabric screen. Exhibition 

This picture : 
Princes Street, Edinburgh, 1921 Oil on canvas
This dramatic view of Edinburgh city centre was painted in the years following the First World War. 
The high viewpoint looking towards the Scott Monument, its spire silhouetted against a clearing sky and reaching towards the heavens, creates a sense of optimism. It also emphasises the relative insignificance of the people going about their daily life below.
The use of strong shadows and steep perspective adds to the intensity of the scene, creating a feeling of the sublime.

Went out again after supper down Leith Walk and past Pilrig park. 18C high, light East wind, sunny and dry all day.