Olives of St Rocco (oil on canvas)

Thomas Garvie's view of olive trees in bright sun is characteristic of many areas of Italy. Like many British artists of this period, Garvie had absorbed influences from French Impressionist landscape paintings. He has used little marks of separate colour to create the sparkling effect of light reflected from the silvery undersides of the olive leaves. Small touches of blue in the grass add to the sensation of light, even in the shaded areas. This picture was exhibited at the Palace of Art in the North East Coast Exhibition in 1929. This was a specially built, large exhibition complex.