Burning Stubble, an expressive landscape by Scottish artist Duncan Shanks (b. 1937), captures the raw energy of the countryside through bold, gestural brushwork and a richly layered surface. Sweeping and vivid strokes of ochre, green, and deep red suggest scorched fields and rising heat, while flashes of blue and pale tones evoke an unsettled sky above. The composition is semi-abstract, with forms dissolving and re-emerging, creating a sense of movement and tension that likely reflects the transformative act of burning the land after harvest. Born in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, and continually inspired by the natural landscape surrounding his home in the Clyde Valley, Shanks studied at the Glasgow School of Art, where he later taught for several years before committing himself to full-time painting. Throughout his career, his work has been exhibited widely across the UK and is held in numerous public and private collections.

Duncan Shanks, born 1937

Painter Duncan Shanks, RSA, RSW, and RGI, was born in Lanarkshire in 1937. He is best known for his paintings that are influenced by the Scottish countryside near his house in the Clyde Valley. His peers at the time held him in great regard as an artist. In the 1950s, he trained at The Glasgow School of Art under David Donaldson and received a post-diploma travel scholarship that allowed him to spend a year in Italy. In 1961, upon his return to Scotland, he accepted a part-time teaching and lecturing post at GSA, which he held until 1979. His use of vivid colour and thickly applied paint to depict the seasons' changing patterns and the powers of nature. His works also look at the enduring tasks and customs of rural culture. Stirling University held Shanks' first solo exhibition in 1974. Since then, Roger Billcliffe Fine Art in Glasgow and The Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh have been representing him and he has participated in numerous solo and group shows. The University of St. Andrews, the Arts Council Collection, the Southbank Centre, and the Fleming-Wyfold Art Foundation are just a few institutions that own Shanks' artwork. In Glasgow, the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery has a collection of more than 100 of his sketchbooks.