Alexander Reid, 1914 - 1982. Poet, playwright and editor
About this artwork
Reid was the author of two major plays, The Lass wi' the Muckle Mou and The World's Wonder, the former an undoubted classic of Scottish drama. He was also an accomplished poet, editor (of The Saltire Review) and adaptor of other writers' works for radio. The film director John Grierson has said of Reid: '... we have a wonderful voice in our midst - a Scots voice, the kind we all deeply need to hear ...' Reid is shown against a background of Gauguin's Vision of the Sermon (Jacob Wrestling with the Angel). The artist, who was a friend of Reid, explains it as a reference to the playwright's interest in spiritual conflict and the dramatisation of legend.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Nigel McIsaac (1911 - 1995) Scottish
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title:Alexander Reid, 1914 - 1982. Poet, playwright and editor
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date created:Dated 1954
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materials:Oil on canvas
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measurements:Image: 68.30 x 48.60 cm; Framed: 76.20 x 55.24 x 5.08 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Given by the executors of the Alexander Reid's widow 1993
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accession number:PG 2920
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gallery:
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depicted:
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subject:
Nigel McIsaac
Nigel McIsaac
Born in Portobello, McIsaac trained at the Edinburgh College of Art between 1930 and 1934, where he was taught by Scottish Colourist Samuel Peploe, whose style had a lasting influence on McIsaac’s still-lives and interior paintings. Whilst teaching art during the 1950s, McIsaac wrote widely on...
