Coats behind the Door by Victoria Crowe (b. 1945) is a still life that depicts coats hanging on a door and beyond the doorway as well. The door is ajar, and light filters in from the room beyond. Crowe shows her technique of layering paint and adding darker details to create texture here through the attention paid to the wallpaper pattern, with dark brown branches in repetition against the lighter wash. This is also present on the door, where multiple strokes of brown watercolour build up to the richer brown of the door and create the lines that would be present in the wood. This contrasts with the light tan jacket on the door, which appears to be only a few layers of paint with Crowe adding shading with thin, dark strokes later. The choice of a bright turquoise colour and a green coat in the room over helps create the illumination appearing to come through the doorway and evokes an interesting theme of dark versus light in the piece. 

Crowe was well known for her watercolour paintings and still lifes, receiving awards for her work such as the Daler/Rowney Prize for Watercolour in 1982. It is possible that this piece depicts a cottage in Kittleyknowe, where Crowe lived from 1970-1980. Other works by Crowe also often depict a scene that involves being inside and looking out, with other paintings presenting an interior still life that looks through a window into a wintry landscape. In this work, that is captured with the door remaining ajar, so the viewer can look into the room beyond. 

Victoria Crowe OBE ARSA RSW FRSE, born 1945

Born in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, Crowe studied from 1961 to 1965 at Kingston School of Art and the Royal College of Art in London. She has lived in Scotland since 1968, when Sir Robin Philipson invited her to become a part-time lecturer at Edinburgh College of Art, where she has taught ever since. She lives in the Borders with her artist husband, Mike Walton. A painter of still lifes, interiors and landscapes, she is also an accomplished portrait painter. Among her sitters have been the Earls of Wemyss and March, Tam Dalyell MP, Tom Morgan, Lord Provost of Edinburgh, and Tom Johnston, Principal of Heriot-Watt University.
Crowe's work, whether oil painting, watercolour or drawing, is instantly recognizable. Her distinctive palette and themes have been enriched by visits to Italy, Madeira, Egypt and India.