In 1941, Olivier Messiean premiered his most significant composition, Quartet for the End of Time. The piece was scored for the unusual combination of violin, clarinet, cello and piano, for those were the only instruments available to Messiean, who wrote and performed the quartet whilst an inmate at a German prisoner-of-war camp. Its eschatological nature is surely only to be expected given the circumstances; and yet its very existence speaks to a great sense of humanity, and indeed, beauty. When surveying the work that comprises Nigel Swift’s latest show, Halcyon, one is not surprised to learn that Quartet for the End of Time provided the soundtrack for much of its production, for the same tension between desolation and beauty, lies at the heart of both. Following on the heels of Nigel’s two previous exhbitions with Eames Fine Art, Genesis (2020) and Eden (2021), it is fitting that Messiean’s work takes its ultimate inspiration from the Book of Revelation:
And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire [...] and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth .[...] And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever [...] that there should be time no longer: But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished.
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Like many of us, Nigel was aware that whilst he was at work on these prints and paintings, much of the world was either on fire or flooding, and yet what he has accomplished in this show, is a turning away from this destruction and calamity, without ever denying its occurrence. What he has envisaged for us, are the halcyon days of the world itself. When we look at, or as it were, look into these landscapes, we are confronted with a weightlessness, a sense of infinite space, and, depending perhaps on our mood, or the time of day, we respond with awe, or else find in these images respite. There is solace to be found in this other, elusory time and place, which is why, for all their ostensible simplicity, Nigel’s works are so captivating. It is not difficult to lose oneself in that infinite space they suggest.
Of course, much of this quality of the work is owed to Nigel’s use of colour. Messiaen, who had synaesthesia, added notes such as ‘blue orange chords’ to the quartet’s score; here we encounter a similar complement of hue and feeling. For Nigel, it is often the colours that come first, a particular lilac or crimson demanding a certain sense of serenity or fervour. Compositional experiments see Nigel playing with the horizon, via reflection, with some works featuring colour blocks reminiscent of the paintings of Mark Rothko. Birds and supermoons recur throughout, whilst other pieces focus on the diffusion of the sun’s light. All present us with a world which is both ours and is not, a world sometimes alluring, sometimes ever so slightly unsettling, but always resplendent.
- Luke Wallis, 2022
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Paintings
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Nigel SwiftUntitled no. 14, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftUntitled no. 17, 2021£540.00
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Nigel SwiftUntitled no. 60, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftUntitled no. 72, 2021£540.00
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Nigel SwiftUntitled no. 73, 2021£540.00
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Nigel SwiftUntitled no. 75, 2021£540.00
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Nigel SwiftUntitled no. 25, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftUntitled no. 31, 2021£540.00
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Nigel SwiftUntitled no. 34, 2021£540.00
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Nigel SwiftUntitled no. 20, 2021£540.00
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Nigel SwiftUntitled no. 48, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftUntitled no. 44, 2021£650.00
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Nigel SwiftUntitled no. 9, 2021£650.00
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Nigel SwiftUntitled no. 13, 2021£650.00
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Pastels
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Nigel SwiftRock and Ice, 2019£890.00
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Nigel SwiftDesert Rock, 2019£890.00
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Nigel SwiftUntitled (pastel), 2021£700.00
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Nigel Swift, Night Sea, 2019
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Nigel SwiftUntitled (pastel), 2021£790.00
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Nigel SwiftUntitled (pastel), 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftUntitled (pastel), 2021£700.00
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Nigel Swift, Morning Light, 2019
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Prints
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Nigel SwiftNight Sun, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftMoon, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftMoon and Birds, 2021Sold
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Nigel Swift, Between Clouds, 2021
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Nigel SwiftCrimson Sky, 2021£500.00
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Nigel SwiftBurnt Sky, 2021£500.00
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Nigel SwiftMoonlight, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftDying Sun, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftDark Birds, 2021Sold
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Nigel Swift, Cloud, 2021
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Nigel SwiftDeluge, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftEscape, 2021£640.00
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Nigel Swift, Desert Night, 2021
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Nigel SwiftMoor, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftFlock, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftBirds above Moon, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftBig Moon, 2021£500.00
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Nigel SwiftDark Sea, 2021£500.00
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Nigel Swift, Desert Birds, 2021
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Nigel Swift, Flames, 2021
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Nigel SwiftBlack Sun, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftMoon, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftRed Moon, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftBreeze, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftDusk, 2021Sold
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Nigel Swift, Desert Shadows, 2021
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Nigel SwiftBlack Sun, 2021£500.00
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Nigel SwiftMoon, 2021Reserved
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Nigel Swift, Sea Storm, 2021
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Nigel SwiftNight Arrives, 2021£500.00
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Nigel Swift, Rain, 2021
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Nigel SwiftNight Hawks, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftQuiet, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftForest, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftFeint Sun, 2021Sold
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Nigel Swift, Pale Light, 2021
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Nigel SwiftMagenta Moon II, 2022£500.00
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Nigel SwiftMagenta Moon I, 2022£500.00
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Nigel SwiftMagenta Moon III, 2022Sold
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Nigel Swift, Red Haze, 2021
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Nigel Swift, Night Birds, 2021
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Nigel SwiftSetting Sun, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftFlight, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftSand, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftSea, 2021Reserved
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Nigel Swift, Sea Birds, 2021
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Nigel Swift, Snow, 2021
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Nigel Swift, Shower, 2021
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Nigel SwiftWinter Sun, 2021£500.00
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Nigel Swift, White Birds, 2021
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Nigel SwiftTempest, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftBirds, 2021£500.00
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Nigel Swift, Storm, 2021
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Nigel Swift, Escape, 2021
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Nigel Swift, Moon Light, 2021
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Nigel SwiftYellow Sun, 2021£640.00
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Nigel SwiftSun and Birds, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftMauve Moon IV, 2022Sold
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Nigel SwiftMauve Moon I, 2022Sold
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Nigel SwiftDusk, 2022Sold
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Nigel SwiftRed Sky, 2022Sold
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Nigel Swift, Pink Moon Reflection, 2022
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Nigel SwiftRed Moon Rising, 2022Sold
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SMALL PRINTS
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Nigel SwiftUntitled 741, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftUntitled 742, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftUntitled 743, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftUntitled 740, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftUntitled 745, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftUntitled 746, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftUntitled 747, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftUntitled 749, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftRock, 2021£220.00
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Nigel SwiftGentle Waves, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftAlone, 2021Sold
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Nigel SwiftBeach, 2021Sold
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