La Ravine de la Casse de L'Obiou by James Morrison (1932-2020) depicts a singular barren pine tree standing tall against a blurred background with fuller, dark green pine trees. Morrison uses wide, blended strokes of oil paint to blur the muted green with the grey of the background. This blurs together the dark green to black of the group of pine trees in the background. Only a few of them have smaller, thin strokes of paint to identify them. The tree of primary focus is painted with these thin, precise strokes of paint, with white to provide highlights on the barren branches. 

Morrison was well known for depicting landscapes of dense forests, often depicting the wintry landscapes of Canada which may be depicted in this piece. He focused often on singular natural subjects, such as this barren tree. His work also contained a characteristic blurring effect for natural scenes, with muted colour tones as well. 

James Morrison RSA RSW, 1932-2020

Born in Glasgow, Morrison studied at Glasgow School of Art under David Donaldson from 1950 to 1954. He taught part-time there until 1958, when he moved to Catterline, near Stonehaven, Kincardineshire. He was visiting artist at Hospitalfield in Arbroath, Angus, in 1962-63. In 1965 he became a teacher at Duncan Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee. He visited Greece on an Arts Council travelling scholarship in 1968 and has travelled widely in France. In 1987 he resigned as Head of Department to concentrate on his painting. 

Morrison is best known for his panoramic landscapes, particularly of Angus and Canada, many spectacular cloud formations. He is also noted for his paintings of Glasgow's Victorian tenements and terraces, which he started as a student and continued until about 1980.