Press office
The main aim of the National Galleries of Scotland’s press office is to achieve positive coverage for the Galleries' art collection, exhibitions and activities in the widest range of media. The press office team works with a range of press, broadcast media and public body contacts in pursuit of constructive and informed public debate about the National Galleries.
The press office is the first point of contact for journalists seeking information. As a result, the team are in regular contact with all departments so as to maintain a constant awareness of current events.
The department holds regular press views for new exhibitions, liaises with journalists to achieve favourable and sometimes exclusive coverage of exhibitions, events or people within the Galleries, commissions and works with film-makers for specific projects and publicises new acquisitions. The press office also provides press releases, images and interviews for exhibitions and events.
Press releases 2019
15 November 2019
Monumental Vulcan Gets a Makeover
Vulcan, the 7.4m high sculpture by Eduardo Paolozzi, at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two) in Edinburgh is undergoing a thorough clean and dusting off. The work is being done whilst the Gallery is temporarily closed to allow the café to be refurbished and a new exhibition installed.
Modern Two reopens on 23 November with the start of Paula Rego: Obedience and Defiance, the first major retrospective of the artist’s work to be shown in Scotland and Vulcan will be back on display when the café reopens in December.
Specially commissioned for the Gallery’s Great Hall, Vulcan is a 7.4m high sculpture, spanning two floors of the Gallery, looming above the diners in the café with its head skimming the ceiling of the second floor. A team of skilled conservationists from National Galleries of Scotland is undertaking this epic cleaning task over the course of three days where they will carefully wrap and unwrap different areas in protective layers and use a variety of tools and solutions to restore the Vulcan to its original glory.
Inspired by the Roman god of fire Vulcan and Hephaestus, his Greek counterpart, Paolozzi’s monumental sculpture is constructed of welded steel. Vulcan was lame, which is the reason he is aided by a support here. In Paolozzi's work, Vulcan is shown swinging his hammer and marching across the Great Hall. He is half-man and half-machine - a monument to the modern age.
Born into an Italian-Scots family Sir Eduardo Paolozzi grew up in Leith, Edinburgh, later moving to London. He is considered one of the most versatile sculptors in post-war Britain. Throughout his career, Paolozzi combined his work as an artist with teaching in art colleges in Britain and, for periods, in Germany. He had an enthusiastic and encyclopaedic variety of interests in the world and this was reflected by his frequent changes of media and styles in which he worked.
Studying in Edinburgh and London he also spent two years in Paris from 1947, where he produced enigmatic, bronze sculptures reminiscent of those by Giacometti. During the same period he made a series of Dada and Surrealist-inspired collages in which magazine advertisements, cartoons and machine parts are combined, thus becoming a pioneer of Pop Art. He also continued to develop his printmaking and sculpture. Paolozzi was particularly interested in the mass media and in science and technology.
Originally built as the Dean Orphan Hospital in 1833 by Thomas Hamilton, Modern Two was converted into a gallery by Terry Farrell and Partners in 1999 in order to show the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art’s extensive collection of Dada and Surrealist art and also to house a generous gift by Paolozzi, in 1994, of a large collection of his work. Modern Two also has a recreation of Paolozzi’s London studio, giving an unprecedented insight into the man and the source of his ideas. The studio is divided into areas for different types of activity: desks for reading and working with paper, shelves of reference books, a large central table for modelling, and working with plaster casts, and a bunk for resting. Paolozzi was interested in a number of themes and by seeing his studio, visitors are able to get an idea of the ways he worked and the inspiration he drew from the world around him.
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Notes to Editors
Working alongside catering partner, Heritage Portfolio an extensive refurbishment programme will be carried out of the Modern Two café over the next few weeks.
When the Modern Two café reopens its doors in December, it will be known as Paolozzi’s Kitchen.
Modern Two reopens on 23 November with the start of Paula Rego: Obedience and Defiance, the first major retrospective of the artist’s work to be shown in Scotland. The exhibition confronts topical issues such as gender discrimination, poverty, abortion, female genital mutilation, political tyranny and the death of civilians in war. Further works in the exhibition begin with memories of the artist’s childhood in Portugal and other lived experiences, often responding to stories from literature, cinema, folklore, mythology and art history.
24 October 2019
ART COMPETITION FOR SCHOOLS 2020
Entry: open now until Friday 24th April 2020
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
#ArtCompSchools #ScotModern
The National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) art competition for schools 2020 is now open for entries. It is a yearly event run by NGS for schools and nurseries across Scotland. The 2019 competition, the 16th year it has been running, received over 8,600 entries from schools and nurseries across 31 local authorities and had 53 winners across six categories – Nursery, P1-3, P4-7, S1-3, SEN and Group entries.
The Art Competition for Schools, supported by player’s of People’s Postcode Lottery, aims to encourage nursery and school children to interact with and be inspired by art works in the national art collection. The competition and its themes contribute to the teaching of the curriculum for excellence and inter-disciplinary learning and designed with age groups in mind. As well as an inspiring theme to engage learners, each category has further resources based on the national art collection to support teachers and inspire students to talk about, look at and create their own artwork that they can enter into the competition.
53 winners will be chosen by a panel of judges who are looking for: originality and creativity; confident handling of materials; and boldness and impact. Every winning artwork will be exhibited at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (SNGMA) and every winner is invited to a special prize ceremony and will receive a prize of art materials. As well as seeing their work in the SNGMA, a selection will have their works featured in a calendar that will be sent to every school in Scotland and is available for sale in the gallery shop.
When submitting their entries, teachers can also apply to win art supplies or an artist-led workshop for their class. A total of twelve £100 vouchers for materials and twelve workshops are up for grabs.
Kim Tremlett, art teacher at George Watson’s College in Edinburgh, said “I've submitted work by children in my school over the past eight years and it's been a wonderful experience as a teacher to see how much the children enjoy taking part.
The themes have consistently been inspiring and I've had so much fun helping children rise to the challenge of making great visual responses to the brief. The National Galleries Competition for Schools is a key part of my annual art plans and I always look forward to what a new year taking part again will bring.”
Debbie Wood, Head of Art at St Mary’s Melrose, said “As a teacher I always enjoy this competition. The themes are always stimulating and allow for lots of creative thinking from the children.”
How to enter:
You can get involved in the Art Competition for Schools 2020 by following this link. All you need to do is find the right category for your class, read through the theme and requirements, and then set your creative students to work. Information on how to submit your entries and the terms and conditions are available via this link. The closing date is Friday 24th April 2020. The schools who have winners will be contacted following the closing date.
See the 2019 Art Competition for Schools:
The response to the 2019 art competition was overwhelming. The submitted work covered a range of media, from pen and paper, paint, pastel, photography, mixed media and more. Such as Ben Brown’s winning entry (below) which involved mixing paint and newspapers for a fantastic fish n’ chips.
Ben’s mother, Karen Brown, said “We were so proud of Ben and his achievement. He worked really hard on his painting. Ben did so well on the day of the Award Ceremony to go up and receive his prize - it really shows how much he has progressed with the help of his school, Kilmaron, and the input of the staff there. It really is a testimony to how they recognise a young person's talent and allow it to develop. After Ben won, everyone was so pleased for him and he has received letters of congratulations from his local MP Stephen Gethins and from Fife Council. The art contest has been a wonderful and rare opportunity for Ben to take part in something alongside his peers and has been a hugely positive experience for him and us as a family.”
Sholto Key, St Mary's Melrose school, was awarded Special Merit in Category B for this fantastic artwork on ‘dragons’. It’s an inventive, expressive and brilliant interpretation of the theme.
“We loved seeing all the children’s artwork (wow, there is some amazing young talent out there) and especially enjoyed seeing Sholto’s painting on display. We had a memorable day and, at the tender age of 5, Sholto has no idea how special it will be in adulthood to say he has exhibited at the National Galleries of Scotland!” said Sholto’s mother, Viv Key.
Ellie Stewart, Belmont House School, received a Special Merit in Category C for her brilliant collaged piece interpreting the theme ‘Spark, Flicker, Flame’.
“My daughter, Ellie received a merit award for Primary 4-7 category. I think winning this award has been a great boost for Ellie’s confidence, and I am sure it will only encourage her to explore her imagination further for future art projects.
Other family members and friends, who may not necessarily go to an Art Gallery, are going to visit this summer also, which is good to hear it has encouraged others to visit this beautiful gallery,” said Ellie’s mother, Heather Stewart.
Simon Groom, Director of Modern and Contemporary Art at NGS, said “The great artist Pablo Picasso always maintained that ‘Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once grown up.’ We are proud to show and celebrate the amazing creativity of children from across Scotland at Modern One, and we can’t wait to see what wonderful pieces are produced in 2020.”
Laura Chow, Head of Charities at People’s Postcode Lottery, said “We are proud that players of People’s Postcode Lottery are supporting the National Galleries of Scotland Art Competition for Schools. Children at schools across the length of Scotland will have the opportunity to unleash their creativity, taking inspiration from the national collection to make masterpieces of their own. We hope many children will be inspired to take part and look forward to seeing the entries!”
Siobhan McConnachie, Head of Learning and Engagement at NGS, said “When we look at the work that has been submitted we can see the enjoyment that the young people have had in creating their wonderful art - that is the great pleasure of being involved in the art competition. It’s wonderful that so many schools take part and I hope many more do this year.”
The winning entries for 2019 are currently on display at The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall until 2 January 2020 and will go from there to Borders General Hospital between 8 January – 30 April 2020. This follows the exhibition at the SNGMA over the summer between 1 June – 22 September 2019.
- ENDS -
Notes to Editors
Further information about the National Galleries of Scotland Art Competition for schools can be found via this link.
18 October 2019
Paula Rego: Obedience and Defiance
23 November 2019 – 19 April 2020
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two)
73 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DS
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Tickets: £11.50-£10.50 online (Concessions available)
25 & under: £7.50-£6.50 | Free for our Friends
The first major retrospective of Paula Rego’s (b.1935) work to be shown in Scotland is to be held at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art this winter. The exhibition, Paula Rego: Obedience and Defiance, confronts topical issues such as gender discrimination, poverty, abortion, female genital mutilation (FGM), political tyranny and the death of civilians in war. Further works in the exhibition begin with memories of the artist’s childhood in Portugal and other lived experiences, often responding to stories from literature, cinema, folklore, mythology and art history.
Rego is one of the most important artists living in Britain today. She is celebrated for her outstanding and suggestive story-telling abilities. Obedience and Defiance spans over fifty years of her international career, from the 1960s to the 2010s. It features more than 80 works, lent from public and private collections, including gifts from the artist to her friends.
Rego is admired for her courageous exploration of moral challenges to humanity. Current affairs have led to some of her most powerful works, such as the 1998 referendum on legalising abortion in Portugal, the invasion of Iraq in 2003 by the United States and its allies and, from 2008, FGM. This will be the first time paintings addressing political and social repression in Portugal in the 1960s, under the dictatorship of António de Oliveira Salazar, will be shown in Scotland.
Highlights of the exhibition include:
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Salazar Vomiting the Homeland (1960) which protests against the authoritarian regime of Salazar, prime minister of the country between 1932 and 1968
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Dancing Ostriches (1995) inspired by Walt Disney’s 1940 film Fantasia and the comic sequence of animated ostriches, hippos, elephants and alligators ballet-dancing. Rego’s sweaty protagonist drawn from a surrogate self-portrait, her assistant Lila Nunes, appears 18 times.
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Angel (1998), is Rego’s imagining of the revenge of the Father Amaro’s disgraced girlfriend, Amélia, in the controversial Portuguese novel of 1875, The Crime of Father Amaro by José Maria de Eça de Quierós and indeed, all women thus wronged.
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Untitled No. 4 (1998) from Rego’s Abortion series, made in response to the failure of Portugal’s 1998 referendum to legalise the procedure; a second referendum in 2007 was successful.
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War (2003), triggered by a newspaper photograph taken after a bomb explosion in Basra, Iraq, employing disfigured, hybrid animal-humans
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Painting Him Out (2011) which reverses the traditional relationship between a male artist and his female muse
Paula Rego: Obedience and Defiance has been curated by the distinguished art historian and former director of the Whitechapel Gallery, London, Catherine Lampert, who has been friends with Rego for thirty years. It comes to Scotland following a very successful run at MK Gallery in Milton Keynes and will tour from Edinburgh to IMMA (Irish Museum of Modern Art) in Dublin.
Speaking about the exhibition, Curator, Lampert, said: “It is tempting to focus on the moral, political and narrative significance and the meaningful details of a single work or a series, however, seeing Paula Rego’s paintings on the wall, to me they appear so grand and museum-like, more like nuanced, mesmerising portraits of the people closest to her.”
Speaking about Rego, Simon Groom, Director of Modern and Contemporary Art at the NGS, said: “We are delighted to be showing this major body of work by one of the world’s most extraordinary artists. Over the course of her lifetime, Rego has shown herself to be an unflinching witness of her times, and one of the most imaginative and compelling image-makers of her generation. She is one of the few artists that consistently speaks of and for her times.”
Rego has generously made a limited edition print from her Abortion series available for sale during the exhibition, to support NGS. A major new publication will accompany the exhibition with texts by Catherine Lampert and the American writer and novelist Kate Zambreno, published by ART/BOOKS, see nationalgalleries.org for further details.
-ENDS-
Notes to Editors:
An exhibition organised by MK Gallery, Milton Keynes with the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh and IMMA, Dublin
The exhibition will tour to IMMA, Dublin (keep an eye on imma.ie/ for dates) where it will be the first ever survey of the artist’s work in Ireland.
Please note that this exhibition addresses challenging subjects, including abortion, female genital mutilation (known as FGM) and gender discrimination; it also includes images of a suggestive and / or graphic nature. Parental and carer discretion may be required.
In 2017 Rego’s son, Nick Willing, released an award-winning documentary about his mother called Secrets and Stories. It will be shown as part of the exhibition.
Paula Rego: Obedience and Defiance related events can be found via nationalgalleries.org/whats-on?
Born in Lisbon in 1935, Rego trained at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. She is one of Europe’s most influential contemporary figurative artists. A contemporary of Frank Auerbach and David Hockney, Rego’s work is represented in many public collections including the Tate Gallery, British Museum, National Gallery, London, the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon and the Serralves Museum, Porto. A museum dedicated to Rego, Casa das Histórias, opened in Cascais, Portugal in 2009. She is represented by Marlborough Fine Art.
18 October 2019
Scotland’s Photograph Album: The MacKinnon Collection
16 November 2019 – 16 February 2020
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1 Queen Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1JD
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission free
An exceptional collection of historic photographs that captures a century of life in Scotland will be showcased in a special exhibition at the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) in collaboration with the National Library of Scotland this autumn, with a plan to tour the collection to three venues around Scotland in 2020/21.
Acquired jointly with assistance from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Scottish Government and Art Fund, Scotland’s Photograph Album: The MacKinnon Collection celebrates Scottish life and identify from the 1840s through to the 1940s. The collection, which was acquired by photography enthusiast Murray MacKinnon, began when he ran a successful chain of film-processing stores in the 1980s, starting from his pharmacy in Dyce, near Aberdeen.
Showcasing a century of dramatic transformation and innovation, the exhibition features more than 100 selected images from MacKinnon’s collection which brilliantly transports the audience back to a period of changing rural communities, growing cities and enduring historic sites.
The chronicle of Scotland’s culture during the mid-19th to early 20th centuries is inseparable from its leading role in the early history of photography itself. Many of the first practitioners and visionaries who pushed the medium forward were based in Scotland or were inspired by Scottish subjects. The exhibition includes photographs by William Henry Fox Talbot, David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson, Julia Margaret Cameron, Thomas Annan, Roger Fenton, George Washington Wilson, and others who created stunning images of Scotland’s people and places and established precedents for photographers worldwide.
National Galleries of Scotland, Director General Sir John Leighton, said: “Scotland’s Photograph Album: The MacKinnon Collection allows audiences the chance to be transported back to a century of change and growth. It is not only a fascinating look at historical Scottish life that sits just on the edge of living memory, but also an important showcase of the innovative progression of photography in Scotland.”
National Librarian, Dr John Scally, said: “Scotland has a special relationship with photography which dates back to the work of early pioneers such as David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson in the 1840s. The remarkable MacKinnon collection tracks that unique connection between Scotland and photography through its 14,000 pictures spanning 100 years. The exhibition presents a stunning selection of images which will spark memories and emotional connections in every visitor. It is truly Scotland’s photograph album.”
Caroline Clark, Scotland Director of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, added: “Taken in the pioneering days of photography, these historical images allow us a first glimpse of our ancestors going about their daily lives. This fascinating exhibition opens the week we celebrate 25 years of The National Lottery, one of the thousands of projects celebrating and exploring Scotland’s rich heritage made possible by National Lottery players.”
While photography is known for its reproducibility, many of the artworks contained within the collection are unique, including daguerreotype portraits and hand-made albums. Highlights of the exhibition include:
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Original photographs from the pioneering days of photography featuring work from David Octavius Hill (1802-1870) and Robert Adamson (1821-1848), James Ross (d.1878) and John Thomson (d.1881), Cosmo Innes (1798-1874) and Horatio Ross (1801-1886)
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Work from Thomas Annan (1829-1887) and his son, James Craig Annan (1864-1946) including examples of their photographs of Glasgow
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Images from George Washington Wilson (1823-1893) and James Valentine (1815-1880), who travelled across Scotland photographing its people and places
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An exquisite view of Loch Katrine by William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877), who travelled to Scotland in the autumn of 1844. Talbot was the inventor of the calotype, a negative-positive paper process that was patented around the world, except, importantly, in Scotland, allowing for free use and experimentation
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Portraits of Scottish regiments from the Crimean War by Roger Fenton (b. 1819-1869)
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A series of albums and prints depicting life in the main Scottish towns and cities from the late 1800s and early 1900s
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Studies of farming and fishing communities in remote villages and hamlets
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Scenes of shipbuilding, railways, herring fishing, weaving, whisky distilling, dockyards, slate quarries and other working environments
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Notes to Editors:
Acquired jointly with the National Library of Scotland with assistance from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Scottish Government and Art Fund.
The National Library of Scotland will also display a selection of images from The MacKinnon Collection at its George IV Bridge Building, curated to chime with Scotland’s themed Year of Coasts and Waters (2020). At the Water’s Edge opens to the public on Saturday 16 November and runs until Sunday 16 February 2020. Admission is free.
The National Library of Scotland
The National Library of Scotland is a major European research library and one of the world’s leading centres for the study of Scotland and the Scots – an information treasure trove for Scotland’s knowledge, history and culture.
The Library’s collections are of world-class importance. Key areas include rare books, manuscripts, photographs, maps, music, moving images, official publications, business information, science and technology, and modern and foreign collections.
The Library holds more than 30 million physical items dating back over 1000 years in addition to a growing library of e-books, e-journals and other digital material. Every week the Library collects around 5,000 new items. Most of these are received free of charge in terms of Legal Deposit legislation.
www.nls.uk / @natlibscot / facebook
National Lottery Heritage Fund
Using money raised by the National Lottery, we Inspire, lead and resource the UK’s heritage to create positive and lasting change for people and communities, now and in the future. www.heritagefund.org.uk.
Follow @HeritageFundUK on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLotteryHeritageFund
Art Fund
Art Fund is the national fundraising charity for art. In the past five years alone Art Fund has given £34 million to help museums and galleries acquire works of art for their collections. It also helps museums share their collections with wider audiences by supporting a range of tours and exhibitions, and makes additional grants to support the training and professional development of curators.
Art Fund is independently funded, with the core of its income provided by 151,000 members who receive the National Art Pass and enjoy free entry to over 240 museums, galleries and historic places across the UK, as well as 50% off entry to major exhibitions and subscription to Art Quarterly magazine. In addition to grant-giving, Art Fund’s support for museums includes Art Fund Museum of the Year (won by St Fagans National History Museum near Cardiff in 2019) and a range of digital platforms.
Find out more about Art Fund and the National Art Pass at www.artfund.org
10 October 2019
Visitors shopping for Christmas gifts at the National Galleries of Scotland this year will experience a newly refurbished flagship store at the Scottish National Gallery on the Mound.
The new look shop opened at the beginning of October, along with a new Gardens entrance. This forms part of the major redevelopment of the SNG to create brand new, light-filled gallery spaces for the nation’s unrivalled collection of Scottish art, and to ensure the galleries and East Princes Street Gardens are accessible for all, with the introduction of new paths and landscaping.
The newly opened shop stocks Scottish gifts, art prints, stationery, fashion accessories, craft, design and exclusive products featuring images from the nation’s world-class art collection. There is an enhanced book area promoting our own NGS publications and a wider range of art books.
As a shopping destination this Christmas, shoppers can seek out art-inspired gifts which represent the rich culture and heritage of Scotland. Visitors shopping for Christmas gifts can browse and buy greeting cards, prints, scarves, mugs and other classic gallery mementos carrying well-loved images from Scottish artworks including the Skating Minister, Monarch of the Glen and Lady Agnew.
Whilst construction work continues within the Scottish National Gallery, gallery shoppers can enter via the newly landscaped entrance and accessible path at the East Princes Street Gardens level of the Gallery, in the heart of Edinburgh’s bustling city centre.
Patricia Allerston, Co-director of ‘Celebrating Scotland’s Art’: The Scottish National Gallery Project, said: “The fabulous new Gallery Shop, along with the beautifully refurbished Scottish Cafe & Restaurant are fantastic assets to the Scottish National Gallery, and easily accessible via the new Gallery entrance. A smart, new self-service café, Espresso is also available at the upstairs door of the Gallery accessible from the precinct.
“We are keen to ensure that Scotland’s art and East Princes Street Gardens are both readily available for all. As part of our major redevelopment, we have created a new, accessible path. This makes it much easier for everyone to explore the Gardens. It also enables visitors to enter the Scottish National Gallery via the Gardens level and enjoy our new shopping and catering offer.”
Notes to editors
Once construction of the new gallery spaces is completed in 2021, the Gardens entrance will become the main point of entry for the Scottish National Gallery, offering instant access to the world’s largest collection of Scottish art.
In August, a refreshed The Scottish Cafe & Restaurant opened its doors, revealing stylish new interiors and a delicious menu using the best Scottish produce.
All purchases from the gallery shops help the National Galleries of Scotland continue their work to care for, develop, research and display the national collection of Scottish and international a
3 October 2019
A DAZZLING END TO NOW: HUMANITY, TIME AND THE COSMOS
Don’t miss the sixth and final instalment of the ground-breaking NOW Series – featuring dazzling work about the relationship of humankind to the cosmos and time. It includes the first major showing in Scotland of Scottish artist, Katie Paterson, whose incredible works are made possible through extensive collaborations with scientists, specialists, writers and others in the forefront of their fields. She translates complex ideas into physical, often poetic, works of art.
This exhibition will premiere a completely new moving image work by Paterson, commissioned especially for NOW by the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) with support from the Future Library Trust. This new piece relates to the artist’s extraordinary and expansive 100-year-work, Future Library 2014-2114. For Future Library Paterson has planted a forest in Norway, which will supply paper for a special anthology of books to be printed in 2114. From 2014 until then, one writer a year will contribute a text, with the writings held in trust (unread and unpublished), until the hundred years has passed. The manuscripts will be stored in a specially designed room in the new Oslo Public Library. Writers to date include Margaret Atwood (2014), David Mitchell (2015), Sjón (2016), Elif Shafak (2017), and Han Kang (2018).
The exhibition will also include Paterson’s work Totality (2016): a large scale mirror ball created from almost all known images of solar eclipses ever captured; Light Bulb to Simulate Moonlight (2008): 289 bulbs providing a lifetime’s supply of moonlight based on the average lifespan of a human and Ara (2016): a string of festoon lights in which each bulb produces a luminosity relative to the brightness of each star in a constellation.
Born in Glasgow, and a graduate of Edinburgh College of Art and Slade School of Fine Art, London, Paterson is considered one of the leading artists of her generation with an extensive international reputation. Her works are the result of long periods of research and involve collaborating with specialists in scientific and other fields. Paterson was the first Artist in Residence at the Physics and Astronomy Department, University College London in 2014. The resulting spectacular artworks are a stunning conduit for intricate ideas across a range of disciplines.
NOW will trace Paterson’s exploration of deep time, the cosmos and the place of humans in relation to these phenomena – themes that have been central to the artist’s work for more than a decade. Delving into the theme of time further will be artists Darren Almond, Shona Macnaughton and Lucy Raven.
Darren Almond is a British Artist who in 2005 was shortlisted for the Turner Prize. He was born August 1971 in Appley Bridge, Lancashire and studied fine arts at Winchester School of Art. He works in a variety of media including photography, film, installation, sculpture and painting. NOW will focus on his evocative series Fullmoon, a collection of long exposure photographs made by the light of the full moon. Time is a central aspect of the creation and subject of these ethereal works.
Shona Macnaughton is an artist based in Glasgow who completed her MFA at Edinburgh College of Art in 2009. Her practice is rooted in performance, writing and film, as well as questions of technology, subjectivity and labour. Her work is responsive to the political conditions around specific architectures, which can be both physical and virtual spaces. Progressive 2017 brings together a script, photographic documentation and props from a performance made by the artist in the east end of Glasgow in 2017. Performed when she was nine-months pregnant, the work responded to the politics of change embedded in regeneration projects, as well as the changing nature of the pregnant body.
Lucy Raven is an American artist born in Tuscon in 1977 with a BFA in studio art and a BA in art history from the University of Arizona and an MFA from Bard College’s Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts in New York. Raven’s work focuses on animation and moving image, incorporating multiple disciplines including still photography, installation, sound and performative lecture. In her short video work The Deccan Trap, 2015, Raven animates collaged photographic images to explore image-making through time, from the prosaic computer screens and technology used to develop 3D imaging for Hollywood films, back to ancient carved reliefs, opening up questions about what and how we see.
The NOW programme is being made possible thanks to the support of the NGS Foundation, Kent and Vicki Logan, Walter Scott and Partners Limited, Robert and Nicky Wilson, Boris Yeung and Amy Ng, and other donors who wish to remain anonymous. Katie Paterson’s presentation is generously supported by the Katie Paterson Exhibition Circle (Robert Devereux, Geoff Ainsworth and Johanna Featherstone, Francis H Williams, Alistair and Susan Duff, Anthony and Jean Harrison and Chris O’Hare), and Ingleby Gallery.
Katie Paterson said: “I have visited the galleries at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art my whole life, and I’d never once imagined my artwork being shown here. This exhibition means so much to me. It brings together a decade of work spanning subjects from the colours of the early universe to the sound of music beamed from the moon. I hope it creates meaningful and lasting experiences for visitors.”
Simon Groom, Director of Modern and Contemporary Art at NGS, said: “NOW has offered the opportunity to over half a million visitors to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art to experience the incredible variety and range of work being made by some of the world’s leading artists today. We are delighted to be bringing a major show of such a key figure in contemporary art to a public institution in Scotland for the first time. NOW finishes on a triumphant high with this exhibition that features a series of works that are literally out of this world.”
NOW is part of our new season of exhibitions opening across NGS this autumn. Look out for our exhibitions overview with details of our upcoming shows, such as the incredible Scotland's Photograph Album: The MacKinnon Collection, an unparalleled collection of Scottish photography recently acquired and shared by NGS and the National Library of Scotland and Paula Rego: Obedience and Defiance, an ambitious retrospective of the Portuguese artist’s work that brings politics to the fore.
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
NOW is a dynamic programme of six exhibitions at the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS), which brings together some of the most innovative and exciting contemporary art from the UK and beyond. It is part of NGS’s ambition to share contemporary art with a wider audience. The NOW series in total will have featured 37 artists across six exhibitions over three years.
NOW Opening Talk: Katie Paterson 'in conversation' will take place at the Scottish National Gallery on Saturday 26 October 2019 at 12-1pm.
In the Mind's Eye: NOW will take place at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) on Tuesday 21 January at 12:45-1:15pm.
Further NOW-related events can be found via this link.
12 September 2019
Scotland's national art collection gifted powerful Damien Hirst sculpture
A powerful and poignant sculpture by one of the world’s leading living artists, Damien Hirst (b.1965), has been donated to Scotland’s national art collection by the artist’s business manager of two decades, Frank Dunphy, it is announced today.
Wretched War (2004) shows a poignant and moving bronze sculpture depicting a pregnant woman whose body has been fractured and decapitated. It is partly based on anatomical models, while the pose is borrowed from Edgar Degas’s famous sculpture, Nude Study for 'The 14-Year-Old Dancer' (c.1880), a bronze cast of which is in the National Galleries of Scotland’s collection. The sculpture encapsulates the theme which has been central to Damien Hirst's art: life versus death. It has been given to the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) through the Cultural Gifts Scheme, administered by the Arts Council, by Frank Dunphy.
Hirst first came to public attention in 1988 when he conceived and curated Freeze, an exhibition staged in a London warehouse which featured his own work, and work by his friends and fellow Goldsmiths College students. In 1991 he gained worldwide fame when, at the Saatchi Gallery in London, he exhibited a shark preserved in formaldehyde (The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living) and A Thousand Years, a vitrine containing a cow's head, maggots and flies. In these works, and ever since, Hirst has tackled the great historical themes of art: birth, life, death and the fragility of existence.
Between 1995 and 2015 Frank Dunphy was Hirst’s business manager and financial advisor. During that time, Dunphy revolutionised the market in contemporary art. He conceived the auction sale of the artworks in Hirst’s Pharmacy restaurant at Sotheby’s in 2004 and in 2008 went further, sidestepping the traditional Gallery route and taking Hirst’s new work direct to auction. The sale at Sotheby’s in London made over £100million and changed the art world forever. Hirst told the Wall Street Journal that “every artist should have someone like Frank.” During their professional relationship, Dunphy and his wife, Lorna, assembled a collection of Hirst’s work, including gifts from other artists and works acquired through galleries and auctions.
Frank and Lorna are long-term supporters and Patrons of NGS. Based in London and West Sussex, they have been regular visitors to Edinburgh and the NGS for more than twenty years. They have generously placed works from their collection, including Wretched War, on long-term loan to us over the years.
Simon Groom, Director of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “We are enormously grateful to Frank for gifting this incredible sculpture to the Galleries. It originally came on loan in 2007 and has been seen in many different displays over the years. It’s one of the most popular works we have. I am thrilled that our visitors can continue to see this iconic sculpture and that it finds its permanent home here.”
Speaking of the gift, Frank Dunphy said: “We have had a long association with the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art and felt that this was an appropriate home for Wretched War. We are very grateful that the Gallery, through the Cultural Gift Scheme, have accepted this work.”
Edward Harley OBE, Chairman, Acceptance in Lieu Panel said: “This arresting and thought-provoking sculpture has been at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art for over a decade, and I am delighted that it will continue to have pride of place there. I hope that this generous gift will encourage others to use the Cultural Gifts Scheme to enrich public collections throughout the UK.”
Introduction on Damien Hirst
Damien Hirst was born in Bristol in 1965 and grew up in Leeds. He studied at Goldsmiths’ College of Art, London, from 1986-89. While still a student he organised a series of exhibitions which launched the generation of artists who became known as ‘YBAs’ (Young British Artists). He won international fame when in 1991 he showed works including a shark preserved in formaldehyde (The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living) at the Saatchi Gallery, London. He is the most prominent British artist of his generation.
Introduction on Frank Dunphy
Dunphy was Hirst’s financial advisor and business manager for twenty years, conceiving the celebrated Sotheby’s sales of Hirst’s work, and playing a major role in the development of the YBA art market from the mid-1990s. He was also financial advisor to artists including Rachel Whiteread and Tracey Emin. He retired in 2016. Since then, Frank and Lorna have donated major works from their collection, via the Arts Council of England’s Cultural Gifts Scheme, to Pallant House Art Gallery, in Chichester, West Sussex, and to the British Museum in London.
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
The acceptance of this gift generates a tax reduction of £90,000 for the donor.
Cultural Gifts Scheme
The Cultural Gifts Scheme was launched by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport in March 2013 as an important element of its expanding programme to encourage philanthropy for the arts. It is administered by the Arts Council and enables UK taxpayers to donate important objects to the nation during their lifetime. Items accepted under the Scheme are allocated to public collections and are available for all. In return, donors will receive a reduction in their income tax, capital gains tax or corporation tax liability, based on a set percentage of the value of the object they are donating: 30 per cent for individuals and 20 per cent for companies. For more information please go to the Arts Council website.
Arts Council England
Arts Council England is the national development body for arts and culture across England, working to enrich people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to visual art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2018 and 2022, we will invest £1.45 billion of public money from government and an estimated £860 million from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. artscouncil.org.uk
30 August 2019
Spellbinding surrealist painting becomes first Dorothea Tanning work acquired for Scotland's national art collection
This new addition to the collection has been purchased with assistance from the Henry and Sula Walton Fund and Art Fund.
A captivating painting by Surrealist painter Dorothea Tanning (1910-2012), created at a turning-point in her career and kept in her possession for the remainder of her exceptionally long life, has become the first of the artist’s works to enter Scotland’s national art collection, the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) are thrilled to announce today.
One of the world’s greatest collections of Surrealist art now welcomes Tableau Vivant, an outstanding painting with a rich and fascinating history. It has been purchased with help from Art Fund and the Henry and Sula Walton Fund and follows the Galleries’ acquisition of major artworks by Surrealists Leonora Carrington, Salvador Dalí and René Magritte. It will go on immediate display at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (SNGMA).
Tableau Vivant, painted by Tanning nearly sixty years ago, featured in the artist’s first exhibition in France at the Galerie Furstenberg, Dorothea Tanning: Peintures 1949-1954 (7-30 May 1954). Tanning had inscribed the title L’Etreinte on the verso, which can be translated as ‘The Embrace’ or conversely ‘The Grip’ or ‘The Stranglehold’. A few months later it was crossed out and substituted with Tableau Vivant. Under its new title, Tableau Vivant was included in the artist’s first exhibition in Britain, at the Arthur Jeffress gallery, London in 1955.
In the late 1940s and 1950s in Paris, Tanning made her first etchings in the printmaking studio of Georges Visat. Here, she began to introduce the image of the giant dog, Katchina, who belonged to her and her husband, the Surrealist artist Max Ernst (1891-1976). Numerous Surrealist artists took animal avatars which play the role of alter-ego in their work: Ernst took a bird, Leonora Carrington (1917-2011) chose a horse; Tanning took Katchina. Unlike most artists’ avatars, Tanning’s was a specific animal – her own pet. Moreover, Katchina appears in Tanning’s work, not necessarily as an embodiment of the artist; sometimes witness, sometimes protagonist, the dog assumes different roles in different works. These pieces marked Tanning’s shift away from the meticulous, controlled, illustrative technique which was the hallmark of her Surrealist work. Instead, she began to opt for a much looser, softer, more painterly brushwork and her colour switched from bright, intense primaries to ashes and ochres.
An elliptical comment on power, love, the erotic, the humorous, the dream and the nightmare, Tableau Vivant unites key moments in the artist’s life and career. It was a painting that Tanning held very dear and it was included in virtually every major show of her work, notably her solo shows in Brussels in 1967, Paris in 1974, and the Malmö Konsthall and Camden Art Centre in 1993. She kept it for the remainder of her life until 2012, when she died at the age of 101, nearly sixty years after painting it. Towards the end of her life, she specified it as one of a small number of works reserved only for sale to a museum. It was purchased through the Alison Jacques Gallery, London.
Speaking of the acquisition, Simon Groom, Director of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Galleries of Scotland said: “We’ve been looking for a major painting by Dorothea Tanning for many years. This was one of her favourite works: she kept it for more than sixty years, hanging it above her desk in her apartment in New York. It’s a stunning addition to the Galleries’ world-famous collection of Surrealist art.”
Sarah Philp, Director of Programme and Policy at Art Fund, said: “Tableau Vivant is an astonishing work with a fascinating biography and we are proud to help National Galleries of Scotland purchase this painting for their outstanding Surrealist art collection.”
Introduction on Dorothea Tanning
Dorothea Tanning was born in 1910 in Gaelsburg, a provincial town in Illinois, to Swedish parents. She left home in 1930 for Chicago, and briefly attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Art but was largely self-taught, before settling in New York in 1935. The exhibition Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism, held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York the next year, had a profound effect upon her. She earned her living at the time as a commercial artist, producing magazine advertisements, but also began painting in a Surrealist manner. She visited Paris in August 1939 armed, she recalled, with letters of introduction to Max Ernst, Joan Miró, Yves Tanguy and Salvador Dalí, but by the time she arrived they had all fled the city ahead of the outbreak of the Second World War that September.
In 1941 Julien Levy signed Tanning on for his gallery, which specialised in Surrealist art. It was there that she came to the attention of Peggy Guggenheim who was, at the time, organising an exhibition of thirty women artists, to be held at her newly-opened Art of this Century gallery in New York. Amongst the advisors for the exhibition was Guggenheim’s then husband Max Ernst, who visited Tanning’s studio in 1942. Tanning was a late addition to the show, now titled Exhibition by 31 Women, which opened in January 1943. Ernst moved in with Tanning shortly after. Guggenheim later lamented that she should have kept the number of artists in her exhibition to thirty. When she and Ernst separated, Guggenheim recalls, ‘Max rushed downstairs and seized our dog Kachina from my arms as though she were the child in a divorce.’ Taking this Lhasa Apso terrier with him to live with Tanning, Katchina (sometimes spelt Kachina) was to become a recurrent motif in Tanning’s art, even appearing in her later works, long after the dog’s death.
First appearing in Maternity (1946-47), where she lay at the feet of a mother-and-child group and was given a child’s face, Katchina also featured sporadically in other paintings from around that time. Across 1953-54, however, Katchina featured prominently in almost every one of Tanning’s works. In a 1953 etching, the giant dog was imaged dancing a tango with a naked woman. A second etching with aquatint, Red Drama (1954), takes the scene a step further: here the dog seems to dominate the woman. In The Blue Waltz and Tableau Vivant (both 1954) Tanning’s brushwork is looser, more painterly, and her palette is muted. These works – both the etchings and the paintings – impart a commentary on relationships and absurdity, and part of their appeal lies in their ambiguity: each presents an unclear power dynamic.
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
Breakdown of funding for the acquisition:
Henry and Sula Walton Fund £75,000
Art Fund £60,000
National Galleries of Scotland £70,000
TOTAL £205,000
Art Fund
Art Fund is the national fundraising charity for art. In the past five years alone Art Fund has given £34 million to help museums and galleries acquire works of art for their collections. It also helps museums share their collections with wider audiences by supporting a range of tours and exhibitions, and makes additional grants to support the training and professional development of curators. Art Fund is independently funded, with the core of its income provided by 151,000 members who receive the National Art Pass and enjoy free entry to over 240 museums, galleries and historic places across the UK, as well as 50% off entry to major exhibitions and subscription to Art Quarterly magazine. In addition to grant-giving, Art Fund’s support for museums includes Art Fund Museum of the Year (won by St Fagans National History Museum near Cardiff in 2019) and a range of digital platforms.
Find out more about Art Fund and the National Art Pass at www.artfund.org
The Henry and Sula Walton Fund
Henry Walton (1924-2012) and Sula Walton (1924-2009) were prominent and highly-regarded figures in Edinburgh academia for more than fifty years. Married in 1958, they moved to Edinburgh in 1962. They worked in the field of psychiatry, Sula as a child psychiatrist at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Henry at the University of Edinburgh. Passionate about the arts, they left their art collection to the National Galleries of Scotland and also established a Fund to help support acquisitions made by the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Important works by Picasso, Toyen, Carrington, Dalí and Jenny Saville have been bought with help from the Walton Fund.
12 July 2019
Outstanding Georges Seurat painting to be shown in Scotland for first time
An important painting by Post-Impressionist and Pointillist pioneer Georges Seurat (1859-1891) will soon go on display in Scotland for the first time, having been loaned to the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) from one of Europe’s most significant collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, The Courtauld Gallery, it is announced today.
Young Woman Powdering Herself, which has never previously been shown north of the border, was painted between 1888 and 1890 and is an unusual portrait depicting Seurat’s mistress Madeleine Knobloch (1868-1903). Knobloch’s identity was kept concealed even after this artwork was first exhibited in 1890, and their clandestine relationship, which included having a child together, remained a secret to all but the artist’s closest friends until after the Seurat’s premature death in 1891.
Visitors to the Scottish National Gallery have until the autumn of 2020 to view the painting, which The Courtauld has lent to the Galleries whilst the London-based institution is in the midst of a two-year transformation project, Courtauld Connects.
The Courtauld’s substantial collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art is one of the most important in Europe, thanks to the generosity of the textile tycoon Samuel Courtauld, who acquired outstanding examples of the work of Claude Monet (1840-1926), Vincent van Gogh (1853-90), Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) and others during the 1920s.
Speaking about this loan, Christopher Baker, Director of European and Scottish Art and Portraiture at the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “This exceptional and very generous loan provides a fascinating complement to the major Post-Impressionist paintings in the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland. A deeply personal portrait, executed in Seurat’s distinctive and shimmering technique, it gives a glimpse of the private bohemian world of 1880s Paris. It also demonstrates the skills of one the most experimental artists of the age, who celebrated modern subjects and so carefully calibrated every aspect of his mesmeric works.”
The National Galleries of Scotland also has an impressive Impressionist collection and Young Woman Powdering Herself will enhance the small group of Seurat works currently held in its collection. This includes two works related to the masterpiece with which the French artist made his name, The Bathers, Asnières, now in the collection of the National Gallery in London.
Even though he died tragically early at the age of just 31, Seurat was the inventor and leading exponent of the scientific style of painting known as Neo-Impressionism, whereby the paint is applied using small dots of colour, often referred to as ‘pointillism’.
Like the Impressionists, Seurat painted landscapes and modern urban subjects: people walking in the park, at the circus or at the musical hall. Unlike the Impressionists, however, Seurat preferred to work in the studio, often building up his finished compositions from a series of drawings and oil studies made out of doors. His manifesto painting, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of the Grande Jatte (Art Institute of Chicago) was exhibited at the eighth and final Impressionist exhibition in 1886, where it caused a sensation.
Seurat was interested in optical physics and was influenced by the theories of, among others, Eugène Chevreul (1786-1889), Ogden Rood (1831-1902) and Charles Henry (1859-1926). He experimented with colour contrasts and optical mixing, as well as exploring the emotional impact of colour and line.
In Young Woman Powdering Herself, Seurat has built up the composition in areas of light and shade, exploring contrasts between rounded and more angular forms. His mistress is portrayed in a humorous way, her curvaceous figure contrasted with the tiny table at which she is seated. She is applying make-up, and the painting and its laborious technique can be read as a conceit; a satire on the artifice of modern urban life.
An x-ray reveals that Seurat originally painted a face (said by some to be a self-portrait) in the frame on the wall, but was persuaded by a friend to paint it out and replace it with a vase of flowers.
Young Woman Powdering Herself joins two studies for his large-scale The Bathers, Asnières: a drawing called Seated Nude: Study for 'Une Baignade' and a small preparatory oil study of the artwork, as well as a third entitled La Luzerne, Saint-Denis, 1884-5, a larger oil painting and an excellent example of the artist’s move towards Neo-Impressionism.
The first owner of Young Woman Powdering Herself was the well-known critic and art dealer Félix Fénéon. There exists an interesting parallel with La Luzerne, which was owned by the English critic Roger Fry, one of Courtauld’s chief advisors and the man who invented the term ‘Post-Impressionism’.
The painting’s arrival also coincides with the opening of our Bridget Riley exhibition. Riley was profoundly influenced by Seurat’s work and it was her early encounters with the artist’s paintings in the Courtauld collection in the late 1950s that inspired her journey towards abstraction.
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
Young Woman Powdering Herself by Georges Seurat will be on show at the Scottish National Gallery from the end of June until October 2020.
4 June 2019
Beyond Realism | Dada and Surrealism from the National Galleries of Scotland
From 15 June 2019
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One)
75 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DR
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission FREE
#NGSBeyondRealism
Fantastical works by Leonora Carrington (1917-2011), Salvador Dalí (1904-1989), René Magritte (1898-1967) and many others will go on show as part of an expanded display of Dada and Surrealist work opening at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Modern One (SNGMA) this June. Beyond Realism | Dada and Surrealism from the National Galleries of Scotland acts as a brilliant accompaniment to the SNGMA’s major summer exhibition Cut and Paste | 400 Years of Collage, providing insight into the time and place which formed the backdrop for so many experimental collage works of the early 20th century.
Normally displayed at Modern Two, the new room at Modern One gives the Dada and Surrealist collection twice the space, allowing visitors to appreciate the extraordinary depth, range and quality of our world-class holdings.
Founded by the poet André Breton in 1924, Surrealism was one of the most radical art movements of the 20th Century. It sought to challenge conventions through the exploration of the subconscious mind, invoking the power of dreams and elements of chance with unexpected and fantastical juxtapositions.
The germ of Surrealism lies in Dada, which sprang up in several cities almost simultaneously during the First World War. Dada artists discussed their passion for the irrational and the nonsensical in terms of a rejection of the bankrupt political, cultural and nationalistic values which, they argued, had created the war in the first place.
With over 40 works by 17 artists, Beyond Realism explores the two principal forms of Surrealist work. The first form is unpremeditated art that relies upon chance effects such as random mark-making and scraping – the type of work practiced by artists like Joan Miró (1893-1983). The second form is the creation of apparently irrational images that occurred to the mind, particularly in dreams, in a realistic style. This route was favoured by artists like Toyen (1902-1980) and Paul Delvaux (1897-1994). Other artists like Max Ernst (1891-1976) combined both approaches in their work.
The National Galleries of Scotland’s holdings of Dada and Surrealism were transformed in 1995, with the acquisition of part of the celebrated collection formed by the Surrealist artist Roland Penrose; a few months later came the bequest of Gabrielle Keiller’s magnificent collection of Dada and Surrealist art and her library of rare books and archival material. The addition of the Penrose and Keiller holdings made the Gallery’s collection of Surrealism into one of the best in the world. We have recently made several major acquisitions of works by Leonora Carrington, Salvador Dalí, René Magritte and Toyen, thanks to support from the Henry and Sula Walton Fund, the Art Fund and the Estate of Drue Heinz.
Simon Groom, Director of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Galleries of Scotland said: “This new display will give our visitors an intimate view of one of the world’s finest collections of Dada and Surrealist art, and an opportunity to discover new additions to the National Galleries of Scotland collection, with iconic works by Dalí and Magritte. It also provides a fantastic context for the often mind-bending works explored in the accompanying exhibition at Modern Two, Cut and Paste: 400 years of Collage.”
Notes to Editors:
Cut and Paste | 400 Years of Collage
29 June – 27 October 2019
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two)
75 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DR
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Monday – Friday - £11 (£9 concessions)
Saturday – Sunday - £13 (£12 concessions)
#NGSCutPaste
Consisting of work by anonymous amateurs, famous artists and forgotten figures alike, Cut and Paste | 400 Years of Collage is the first survey exhibition of collage ever to take place anywhere in the world. This wide-ranging exhibition dispels the myth that collage is a 20th Century invention set in motion by cubist artists such as Pablo Picasso and Juan Gris, and points to a richer and much more diverse history.
14 May 2019
Decades-spanning survey of one of the most original artists of our time to open at National Galleries of Scotland
BRIDGET RILEY
15 June – 22 September 2019
Royal Scottish Academy
The Mound, Edinburgh EH2 2EL
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Tickets: £15 to £13 (Concessions available)
25 & under: £10-£8.50 | Free for our Friends
#NGSRiley
Part of the Edinburgh Art Festival 2019
Supported by Players of the People’s Postcode Lottery and Our Friends
The work of one of the most original artists of our time will be celebrated at the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) this summer with a decades-spanning survey of the stunning paintings of Bridget Riley (b. 1931), in what will be the Galleries’ major summer and Festival blockbuster.
Over the course of a remarkable career, which has spanned seven decades, Bridget Riley has developed a unique visual language, making dazzling and compelling abstract paintings which explore the fundamental nature of our perception. Her earliest abstract works were closely associated with the emergence of Op Art, one of the last modern movements in art, which appeared in the mid- 1960s. In the following 50 years she forged a singular path, extending her means in new and ground-breaking ways, and her work has been exhibited and collected across the world. She is one of the most distinguished and internationally renowned artists working today.
Bridget Riley will be the first major survey of Riley’s work to be held in the UK for 16 years, and the largest ever Bridget Riley exhibition to be staged in Scotland. Organised by the NGS in close collaboration with the artist herself, and presented in partnership with Hayward Gallery, London, the exhibition will be shown first in Edinburgh, in the Royal Scottish Academy, from June to September 2019, before travelling to Hayward Gallery in London, where it will be shown from October 2019 until January 2020.
Through her observations of nature and the world around us, her careful study of the work of other painters – in particular Georges Seurat (1859-91), Claude Monet (1840-1926), Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), Henri Matisse (1859-91), Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) and Paul Klee (1879-1940) – and through her own sustained experimentation, Riley has made a long and penetrating investigation into the art of picture-making, and how we see. Her work explores the ways in which we learn through looking, using a purely abstract language of simple shapes, forms and colour to create sensations of light, space, volume, rhythm and movement.
This exhibition will place particular emphasis on the origins of Riley’s work, and will trace pivotal, decisive movements in her acclaimed career. It will feature early paintings and drawings, iconic black-and-white paintings of the 1960s, expansive canvases in colour, wall paintings and recent works, as well as studies that reveal Riley’s working methods.
Highlights will include early paintings inspired by the work of Georges Seurat, such as Pink Landscape (1960); Riley’s first abstract paintings, Kiss and Movement in Squares (both 1961); and other iconic works of the 1960s and 1970s, including Fission (1963) and Current (1964), from the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Paean (1973) from Tokyo’s Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition will also include Drift 2 (1966), and Late Morning (1967-8) and Rise 1 (1968), both key, large-scale colour paintings first shown at the 1968 Venice Biennale, where Riley won the International Prize for painting, the first British contemporary painter to do so.
The exploration of colour’s relativity has been the driving force of Riley’s work, and the exhibition will trace the development of this interest: from her early vertical and horizontal stripe paintings; through her twist and curve paintings of the 1970s such as Persephone 2 (1970), Aubade (1975) and Clepsydra (1976); the second series of stripe paintings using her ‘Egyptian’ palette, such as Ra (1981); through to the introduction of the diagonal in the vibrantly orchestrated ‘rhomboid’ paintings and curvilinear paintings of the 2000s. Recent developments in Riley’s practice will be presented, including her re-engagement with black and white in Cascando (2015), shown with Tremor (1962), a recent series of disc paintings, entitled Measure for Measure, and a new painting made this year, Intervals 2 (2019).
A feature of the exhibition will be the bringing together of a number of key works in a series, which offer fascinating insights into how Riley has developed, as she says, through ‘the spirit of enquiry’. Riley makes many preparatory studies and drawings en-route to a painting, relying essentially upon her eye to judge the unfolding of a motif as she works, constantly making decisions about scale, format and colour, in order to arrive at the resolution of tensions and tempo which mark a completed work. As well as paths followed and developed, the exhibition will show some areas of enquiry, which the artist chose not to follow, for example, Continuum (1963/2005), her only 3 dimensional work.
The exhibition will bring together some 50 major paintings from public and private collections around the world, as well as a large number of works on paper, including a selection of works from Bridget Riley’s early years, many of which are being shown for the first time.
Speaking about the exhibition, Simon Groom, Director of Modern and Contemporary Art at the NGS, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be bringing together so many major paintings from across Riley’s long and distinguished career to show the radical development and constant creative evolution of work by an artist who has been at the forefront of the international avant-garde since the early 1960s. In pioneering such a distinctive body of work, Riley has expanded the possibilities for painting, as she has profoundly changed the way we think about – and look at – art.”
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
Exhibition dates:
Royal Scottish Academy
National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh
15 June to 22 September 2019
Hayward Gallery, London
23 October 2019 to 26 January 2020
For press information about the Hayward showing, please contact: Isabelle Finn at Sutton PR at [email protected].
Survey exhibitions devoted to Riley’s work have been held at:
Hayward Gallery, London (1971)
Musée d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris, France (2008)
Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), Sydney Australia (2004-5; with tour to City Gallery Wellington, New Zealand and Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau, Switzerland)
Tate Britain, London, UK (2003)
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9 May 2019
Antony Gormley sculptures to be reinstalled along Edinburgh's Water of Leith
Work will begin this coming Saturday (11 May) to reinstall Turner Prize-winning artist Antony Gormley’s (b. 1950) 6 TIMES along the Water of Leith in Edinburgh. This multi-part sculptural project was originally installed in 2010, and having resolved the complications leading to the removal of four elements of the work installed in the Water of Leith itself, we are now reinstalling these sculptures in their original locations.
Commissioned by the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS), 6 TIMES consists of six life-sized figures positioned between the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (SNGMA) and the sea. Four of the figures are sited in the Water of Leith itself, acting as gauges for the height of the river as it swells and recedes. This enigmatic, provocative and stimulating work conveys a sense of mystery and quiet monumentality, and draws attention to the important natural environment of the Water of Leith, which runs through the heart of Edinburgh.
The first figure is located within the grounds of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (SNGMA). Although a full-length cast, it is buried in the ground up to neck-level. The next figure will be reinstalled within a basin of the river immediately behind the gallery, where it will look up, out of the valley. A further three figures will be reinstalled at separate points downstream in Stockbridge, Powderhall and Bonnington, looking progressively down, right and left. The final figure, situated at the end of an abandoned pier in Leith Docks, looks out to the point where the river course finally meets the sea.
The National Galleries of Scotland has worked closely with the City of Edinburgh Council to resolve the issues relating to the removal of elements of 6 TIMES in 2012, and has received permission to reinstall the four sculptures at Cauldron Weir, Stockbridge, Powderhall and Bonnington.
Modifications have been made to the fixings so that the sculptures are now permanently fixed to their mounts. The original design allowed them to tilt and submerge when the river flow reached certain levels.
Work will be undertaken by Caldive Ltd., expert marine contractors, and is due to be completed by early summer 2019.
A number of stakeholders have been consulted during the re-installation process including: Scottish Natural Heritage, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, Local Wildlife Crime Officers, City of Edinburgh Council, The Honorary Water Bailiffs of the Water of Leith and the Water of Leith Conservation Trust to ensure that works will be undertaken with as little disruption to the environment as possible.
The reinstallation of 6 TIMES was made possible by an anonymous supporter who recognises the Work’s importance to the city of Edinburgh.
The National Galleries of Scotland will cover costs associated with conservation and debris maintenance.
Antony Gormley said: “It was a privilege to make these works for Edinburgh and now they are coming back to stay — I’m delighted”.
Simon Groom, Director of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Galleries of Scotland said: “We are thrilled to announce the reinstallation of Antony Gormley’s 6 TIMES, which captured the imagination of so many locals and visitors alike when it was first installed in 2010. We are extremely grateful to Antony, his studio, Edinburgh City Council and everyone else who has played such an active part in ensuring the success of the project. This is a meditative and reflective work, which brings art out into the wider community along Edinburgh’s beautiful Water of Leith”.
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
Artwork credit:
Antony Gormley (b. 1950)
6 TIMES, 2010
Six cast iron figures, each 191 x 50 x 36 cm
Commissioned by the National Galleries of Scotland, with support from the Art Fund, The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, The Patrons of the National Galleries of Scotland, Claire Enders and The Henry Moore Foundation
Permanent installation, Water of Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland
Photograph by Keith Hunter
© The artist
Artist’s Biography
Born in London in 1950, Antony Gormley has had a number of solo shows at venues including Uffizi Gallery, Florence (2019); the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia (2019); Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge (2018); the Long Museum, Shanghai (2017); National Portrait Gallery, London (2016); Forte di Belvedere, Florence (2015); Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern (2014); Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (2012); Deichtorhallen Hamburg; State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg (2011); Kunsthaus Bregenz (2010); Hayward Gallery, London (2007); Kunsthalle zu Kiel; Malmö Konsthall (1993); and Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen (1989). A major solo exhibition of his work will be presented at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in September 2019. Permanent public works include the Angel of the North (Gateshead, England), Another Place (Crosby Beach, England), Exposure (Lelystad, The Netherlands) Chord(MIT – Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA). He has also participated in major group shows such as the Venice Biennale and Documenta 8, Kassel, Germany. Gormley won the Turner Prize in 1994 and has been a member of the Royal Academy since 2003. He was made an Officer of the British Empire in 1997 and knighted in 2014.
For further details see: http://www.antonygormley.com
5 May 2019
First survey exhibition of collage ever to take place anywhere in the world at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
Cut and Paste | 400 Years of Collage
29 June – 27 October 2019
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two)
75 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DS
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Monday – Friday - £11 (£9 concessions)
Saturday – Sunday - £13 (£12 concessions)
#NGSCutPaste
Consisting of work by anonymous amateurs, famous artists and forgotten figures alike, Cut and Paste: 400 Years of Collage is the first survey exhibition of collage ever to take place anywhere in the world. This wide-ranging exhibition dispels the myth that collage is a 20th-Century invention set in motion by cubist artists such as Pablo Picasso and Juan Gris, and points to a richer and much more diverse history.
The word ‘Collage’ comes from the French verb ‘coller’, meaning ‘to glue’, and it is often associated with cut-and-pasted paper, photographs, newspaper cuttings, string etc. However, with Cut and Paste, curator Patrick Elliott sets out to challenge traditional definitions, and expand our understanding of collage, both in visual art and as a practice that has influenced all forms of creativity in the 20th Century, from literature to punk.
Cut and Paste presents a huge range of styles, techniques and approaches – spanning a period of more than four centuries and including more than 250 works. From sixteenth-century anatomical ‘flap prints’, to computer-generated images; from collages by children to revolutionary cubist masterpieces by Pablo Picasso and Juan Gris; from nineteenth-century do-it-yourself collage kits to Cindy Sherman’s playful collage film Doll Clothes (1975). Highlights of the exhibition include a three-metre-long folding collage screen, purportedly made in part by Charles Dickens; a major group of Dada and Surrealist collages, by artists such as Kurt Schwitters, Joan Miró, Hannah Höch and Max Ernst; Henri Matisse’s exquisite Jazz series; and post-war works by Robert Rauschenberg, Louise Nevelson, Andy Warhol and Peter Blake, including source material for the cover of the Beatles’ album Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
The importance of collage as a form of protest in the 1960s and ’70s will be shown in the work of feminist artists such as Carolee Schneemann (her Body Collage film, 1967, shows her covered in wallpaper paste and leaping about in shredded paper), Penny Slinger, Nancy Grossman, Annegret Soltau and Cindy Sherman; punk artists, such as Jamie Reid, whose original collages for the first Sex Pistols’ album and posters will feature; and the famously subversive collages of Monty Python founder Terry Gilliam. The exhibition also features the legendary library book covers which the playwright Joe Orton and his lover Kenneth Halliwell doctored with collages, and put back on Islington Library’s shelves – a move which landed them both in prison for six months. Collage’s ability to juxtapose seemingly disparate images and ideas accords perfectly with the role of political tool, with artists such as Linder and Hannah Wilke revisiting and reinventing the traditional female pursuits of cutting, pasting, stitching and patchwork (represented in Cut and Paste in Victorian-era works by Kate Gough, Sarah Eliza Pye and many others) to create subversive and highly political artworks.
Cut and Paste highlights the playful, experimental nature of collage, finding antecedents to the absurdist creations of Dada and Surrealist artists in the scrapbooks and crazy collages of 19th-century amateurs. The process of manipulating, swapping, lifting and testing to create unexpected and sometimes bizarre images runs right through the exhibition, from Mary Watson’s puzzling collage scrapbook of engravings, handwritten notes and fragmented words cut out from newspapers (1821); to Kate Gough’s Gough Album (1875-80), in which the artist stuck portrait photographs of bewhiskered Victorian gentlemen onto a watercolour of apes in response to Darwin’s recently published theories on evolution; to Sarah Eliza Pye’s exquisite Crazy Patchwork (1897); to Hannah Höch’s weird, hybrid figures, Hausmann’s satirical, cut-and-paste portraits and Max Ernst’s dreamlike collages. Cut and Paste also features work by children, including a child’s bedroom door, covered with stickers, and Elsie Wright and Frances Griffith’s famous Cottingley Fairy photographs, in which the two girls copied book illustrations, added wings, and collaged the fairies onto themselves, for a time unintentionally duping the world into believing in fairies. These works form part of a section on photography and the vogue for ‘composite’ images in the Victorian period.
Cut and Paste demonstrates how collage continues to inspire artists working today and includes recent collage works by Adrian Ghenie, Deborah Roberts, Chantal Joffe, Christian Marclay, Jake and Dinos Chapman and many others. Owing to the fragility of much of the work, the exhibition will not tour: it can only be seen in Edinburgh, at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.
Simon Groom, Director of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Galleries of Scotland said: Cut and Paste is, surprisingly, the first survey exhibition of collage ever to take place anywhere in the world. Collage has a rich and varied history that is not often told: it embraces cut-and-pasted paper, photography, film, patchwork, modern-day stickers and computerised Photoshop – Cut and Paste explores this highly creative, utterly subversive and often overlooked art form in a way that it has never been explored before. And you can only see it in Edinburgh!
Laura Chow, Head of Charities at People’s Postcode Lottery, said: We are excited that players of People’s Postcode Lottery are supporting the first survey exhibition of collage ever to take place in Britain and that their support has enabled the National Galleries of Scotland to realise this ambitious project.
Notes to Editors:
Cut and Paste: 400 Years of Collage is part of the Edinburgh Art Festival 2019.
Cut and Paste: 400 Years of Collage will be accompanied by an exhibition book: Cut and Paste: 400 Years of Collage, available for purchase in all National Galleries of Scotland shops or online.
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Beyond Realism 15 June – October 2020
Scottish Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One)
75 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DR
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission FREE
#NGSBeyondRealism
A brilliant accompaniment to Cut and Paste and running for the entire length of the exhibition (and beyond), this display will bring together some of the finest examples of Surrealist art from the National Galleries of Scotland’s collection. Featuring works by artists such as Leonora Carrington, Salvador Dalí and René Magritte, Beyond Realism will present the Surrealism collection in an expanded display at Modern One, providing an opportunity to view our world-famous collection in greater depth.
Artists mentioned in this press release:
Adrian Ghenie (b.1977) Andy Warhol (1928 - 1987) Annegret Soltau (b. 1946) Carolee Schneemann (1939 – 2019) Chantal Joffe (b. 1969) Charles Dickens (1812 - 1870) Christian Marclay (b. 1955) Cindy Sherman (b. 1954) Deborah Roberts (b. 1962) Frances Griffith (1907–1986) Hannah Höch (1889 - 1978) Hannah Wilke (1940 - 1993) Henri Matisse (1869 - 1954) Jake and Dinos Chapman (b. 1966 and 1962) Jamie Reid (b. 1947) Joan Miró (1893 - 1983) Joe Orton (1933 - 1967) and Kenneth Halliwell (1926 – 1967) Juan Gris (1887 - 1927) Kate Gough (1856 – 1948) Kurt Schwitters (1887 - 1948) Linder (b. 1954) Louise Nevelson (1899 - 1988) Max Ernst (1891 - 1976) Nancy Grossman (b. 1940) Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973) Penny Slinger (b. 1947) Peter Blake (b. 1932) Robert Rauschenberg (1925 - 2008) Sarah Eliza Pye (1857-1934) and Elsie Wright (1901 - 1988) Terry Gilliam (b. 1940)
- ENDS –
30 April 2019
Spectacular installation of 10,000 fresh red roses to take centre stage at new contemporary art exhibition
Press View: Friday 31 May 2019, 10:00-11:30hrs
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One), Edinburgh.
Supported by the Henry Moore Foundation and Fluxus.
NOW featuring
ANYA GALLACCIO
PELES EMPIRE
ANYA GALLACCIO
CHARLES AVERY
AURELIEN FROMENT
ROGER HIORNS
ZINEB SEDIRA
1 June – 22 Sep 2019
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One)
75 Belford Road, Edinburgh EH4 3DR
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission FREE
#NGSNow
A spectacular installation of 10,000 fresh red roses which wilt over time are set to stimulate visitor’s senses as the centrepiece of an entralling new exhibition this summer at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (SNGMA) in Edinburgh.
NOW is a dynamic three-year programme of six exhibitions at the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS), which brings together some of the most innovative and exciting contemporary art from the UK and beyond.
For the fifth instalment, which opens on 1 June, Anya Gallacio’s iconic sculpture Red on Green - in which 10,000 fresh blooms are left to decay over a period of months - will be shown as part of a major survey of the artist’s work. Gallaccio was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2003 and is one of the UK’s most prominent artists, emerging from the group known as the Young British Artists (YBAs) in the 1990s. She is renowned for her use of organic materials, from which she creates temporary works that change over time as they are subjected to natural processes of transformation and decay.
For a short while Red on Green, which was first made in 1992, is a gorgeous and enticing display of velvety flowers, but during the course of the exhibition, this display gradually decays, transforming into something different altogether.The Paisley-born artist will also present a series of existing pieces and new works specially commissioned for NOW which further explore her fascination with the effects of time on her materials.
Exploring other threads on the theme of transformation, NOW will also feature the work of British artists Roger Hiorns (b.1975) and Charles Avery (b. 1973); French artist Aurélien Froment (b. 1976) and French-Algerian artist Zineb Sedira (b.1963); and a newly commissioned installation from Peles Empire, a collaborative project created by the artists Katharina Stöver (b. 1982) and Barbara Wolff (b. 1980).
As in previous years, there will be a family-friendly play area in the beautiful grounds of Modern One for visitors to the exhibition.
Simon Groom, Director of Modern and Contemporary Art at NGS, said: “From the smell and sight of 10,000 red roses slowly decaying to an exploration of our obsession with sugar, NOW 5 offers new ways of seeing and thinking for everyone curious about the world around them. We want to create a playful, anarchic, thought-provoking experience for visitors, so expect to see the use of rope, ceramics, x-ray machines, sugar, obsidian, photography and live performances.
“We’re a place for art-lovers, the curious, experience-seekers and families. We’ll have our temporary playpark for children once again over the summer period next to the spectacular Landform by the artist Charles Jencks, so we are a great free day out for everyone”.
Roger Hiorns works with a range of media and unlikely materials to create surprising transformations of existing or ‘found’ objects, including a decommissioned X-Ray machine, a jet engine and an ordinary park bench, which will be intermittently ‘activated’ through the presence of a naked man and a small fire. Alongside these sculptures Hiorns will present a series of works on panels and canvas. These works resemble paintings but are actually made from varying materials, including copper sulphate crystals and bovine brain matter, the latter exploring themes around BSE, or ‘mad cow disease’. These works are on one side extremely beautiful, sparkling shards of blue crystal and on the other, defiantly ugly, with abstract brown brush strokes of diluted brain matter smeared across the panel.
Aurélien Froment, who is now based in Edinburgh, works with books, performances, video, photography and objects, creating multi-layered works which often reference feature films, early film technology and literature. He will be showing two new works here: The Apocalypse, a film collaboration with the Canadian poet Steven McCaffrey which documents the deterioration of France’s oldest surviving medieval tapestry, the Tapestry of Angers (which famously depicts scenes from the biblical Book of Revelation); and One, an installation comprised of a 200-metre length of rope which changes colour imperceptibly from one end of the spectrum to the other.
In 2004 Charles Avery embarked on a project called The Islanders, a painstakingly detailed and diverse description of the flora, fauna and culture of an imaginary island, which Avery vividly conjures into life through drawings, paintings, sculptures and texts. NOW will present a sculptural installation and accompanying 16mm film by Avery, which follows the flight of the one of the island’s curious creatures - the Dihedra – an ephemeral butterfly-like being that cannot be contained by the boundaries of the physical world. This fascinating installation was recently acquired by the NGS, and is being shown here for the first time.
Zinebs Sedira uses photography, film and installations to explore language, memory and history. In NOW, Sedira exhibits a selection of photographs from her Sugar Routes and Sugar Surfaces series, which highlight the massive scale of the sugar industry by exploring the way sugar is produced, distributed and consumed. These images, which show new ‘landscapes’ - mountains of sugar in siloes and warehouses - will be exhibited alongside cast-sugar sculptures which touch on the dark history of human displacement, slave labour and colonisation that underlie this global business.
Katharina Stöver and Barbara Wolff’s ongoing collaborative project Peles Empire will have its latest showing in NOW. The duo will transform a room at the SNGMA into an installation that fuses photocopied imagery of the remarkable interiors of the nineteenth-century Peles Castle in Romania, with parts of the building here, creating an immersive environment in which the original and the copy are intertwined and blurred.
The NOW programme is being made possible thanks to the support of the NGS Foundation, Kent and Vicki Logan, Walter Scott and Partners Limited, Robert and Nicky Wilson, The Henry Moore Foundation, Fluxus and other donors who wish to remain anonymous.
—ENDS—
25 April 2019
Scottish National Gallery development East Princes Street Gardens works update
East Princes Street Gardens, where a new accessible path and landscaping are being created by the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS), and the Mound precinct are scheduled to re-open to the public in time for the start of the 2019 Festival in August.
A refurbished Scottish Café & Restaurant, which is housed within the Princes Street Gardens level of the Scottish National Gallery, will also open its doors to customers at the same time.
The work in East Princes Street Gardens is part of a wider redevelopment project by NGS that will transform former office, storage and display spaces in the Scottish National Gallery into a new world-class set of galleries that, for the first time, will be entered directly from the adjacent East Princes Street Gardens. They will showcase NGS’s amazingly rich collection of historic Scottish art, which contains masterpieces by Sir Henry Raeburn, The Glasgow Boys, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Scottish Colourists, as well as giving direct access to the rest of the Scottish National Gallery’s international collection. The project is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Scottish Government.
The new accessible path will greatly help those with mobility impairments, wheelchairs and prams. Without this new path, the east gardens would remain accessible only via steep gradients or the flight of stairs.
The creation of the path and the landscaping has been a complex engineering feat which has taken slightly longer than programmed. The intention was to complete the works by Spring 2019 and the NGS team and contractors have been working very hard to complete the works as close to that as possible.
After the summer the construction works are largely focused on the interior and grounds of the Scottish National Gallery. The public will have access into East Princes Street Gardens and the Mound precinct as normal. To enable excavation works to the galleries directly beneath, the Playfair Steps and walkway, at the rear of the Scottish National Gallery, will continue to be closed for the duration of the building work.
The Edinburgh Marathon in May will still run through East Princes Street Gardens and the Mound precinct as a route will be cleared for them to use.
As previously announced, 22 trees will be planted around the new accessible path as part of the construction works. These trees will be between 4.5 metres and 6.5 metres in height.
NGS has also been working closely with Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust and the City of Edinburgh Council on the planting of a further 30 trees in other areas of East Princes Street Gardens, West Princes Street Gardens, Lauriston Castle and Saughton Walled Garden. The Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust and the City of Edinburgh Council Parks department led on the selection and planting of the additional 30 trees.
John Leighton, Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland said: ‘I want to extend a big thank you to the residents and visitors of Edinburgh during the construction works in East Princes Street Gardens. We apologise for any inconvenience and we appreciate you bearing with us whilst we make these transformative changes.
‘As previously announced, the overall project is on schedule to be complete in early 2021. By then we will be ready to reveal an amazing new suite of galleries, bursting with light and colour with new views out into Princes Street Gardens. Previously only one in six visitors found their way to the dark and tucked away Scottish Galleries, so this will transform the presentation of the world’s greatest collection of Scottish art.’
-ENDS-
Notes to Editor:
The vision for the SNG project has been driven by the National Galleries’ ambition to ensure that the widest number of people can enjoy our art and activities. The displays in the new galleries will be directly informed by extensive research into the needs of existing and potential audiences.
For the first time in a generation, there will be new displays drawn from the Scottish and international collection. This fresh approach will allow us to say much more about Scotland’s art and to highlight the international significance of pioneering figures such as Allan Ramsay, Gavin Hamilton, Sir David Wilkie and Phoebe Anna Traquair.
The scope of the new displays, which will be revealed when the new galleries open in early 2021, will also be broader, encompassing the work of early 20th-century artists such as Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Stanley Cursiter, Jessie M. King, Phyllis Mary Bone and the Scottish Colourists S J Peploe and F C B Cadell.
The project will create a beautiful new space in the heart of Edinburgh, which will be free for everyone to use and enjoy. A series of large windows will punctuate the façade and fill the galleries with light and colour, and offer spectacular views over East Princes Street Gardens. Extensive new landscaping in the gardens will radically improve access to this much-loved part of the city, and the project will also create a larger shop, brand-new café and more accessible restaurant.
Specific activities on completion of the project include a dedicated family day one day a week, more volunteers in the galleries to connect visitors with our new offer and new audience-focused interpretation.
The SNG redevelopment has been designed by one of Scotland’s leading architectural practices, Hoskins Architects, which has been widely praised for a number of high-profile designs in the arts and cultural sector.
A fly-through animation of the Scottish National Gallery Project is available to view here.
Read more on the Scottish National Gallery Project changes on our website here.
Funding figures from Scottish Government and National Lottery Heritage Fund:
Scottish Government: £5.5 million.
National Lottery Heritage Fund: £4.94 million.
18 April 2019
National Galleries of Scotland and Victoria and Albert Museum purchase spectacular Zucchi portrait of architect James Adam
The National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) have jointly acquired the most ambitious and splendid surviving portrait of a member of the Adam family, the great eighteenth-century Scottish architectural dynasty.
The portrait of James Adam (1732-94) by the Italian artist Antonio Zucchi (1726-95) becomes the third outstanding artwork to be jointly-acquired by the V&A and NGS after together securing two exceptional sculptures, Antonio Canova’s The Three Graces (purchased 1994) and Lorenzo Bartolini’s The Campbell Sisters (purchased 2015). The Zucchi portrait has been purchased thanks to a major grant from national charity Art Fund.
The newly acquired portrait of James Adam will be shown among the great eighteenth-century collection at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (SNPG), Edinburgh before going on display in the V&A’s British Galleries in London later this year. It will remain on display at the V&A for one year before returning to be shown in Edinburgh. Thereafter, it will be shown at each institution for a period of seven years, on rotation.
Christopher Baker, Director of European and Scottish Art and Portraiture for the National Galleries of Scotland, commented: “James Adam’s portrait is a work of great swagger and refinement that demonstrates the confidence of the Scottish Adam family as seminal taste makers for eighteenth-century Europe. It represents a splendid addition to the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland and we are immensely grateful to both the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Art Fund for making its joint purchase possible.”
Julius Bryant, Keeper of Word and Image at The Victoria and Albert Museum, said: “Zucchi’s portrait of James Adam depicts one of the leading Scottish exponents of the European Neoclassical movement who played a formative role in developing British architecture. It is an ideal portrait for the Neoclassicism section of the V&A’s British Galleries. We are delighted that it joins the V&A’s collection, together with the two sculptures previously purchased with the National Galleries of Scotland. We are enormously grateful to both the NGS and Art Fund for enabling this joint acquisition.”
Stephen Deuchar, Director of the Art Fund, added: “We are very pleased to be helping both National Galleries Scotland and the V&A in acquiring this fine and important portrait of James Adam. It is fitting addition to both collections, marking the sitter’s legacy as a highly influential Scotsman with great significance to the history of British architecture and design, and we know it will enjoyed by a wide public in both locations.”
The painting depicts James Adam during his grand tour of Italy in 1763, before he returned to London to work with his brother, Robert Adam (1728-92). Dramatically posed and luxuriously dressed, he is surrounded by objects that refer to the study of the ancient world that inspired the neo-classical designs for which the Adam were renowned.
Robert and James Adam, along with their brothers John and William, were the sons of the mason-architect and entrepreneur William Adam (1689-1748). Together the family enjoyed the status of being Scotland’s foremost architects of the eighteenth century. Their role as designers of neo-classical buildings and interiors was to prove profoundly influential not only in Edinburgh and London but all across Europe, North America and Russia.
Robert and James established their architectural practice in 1758. They not only excelled at designing elegant Palladian buildings but also entire interior decorative schemes, including furniture, so ensuring a unity to their immensely popular neo-classical vision. Between 1773 and 1779 the brothers published The Works in Architecture of Robert and James Adam which played a key role in spreading knowledge of their work internationally.
James undertook a Grand Tour of Italy, to seek inspiration for his work, between 1760 and 1763. This impressive portrait was painted in the final year of his tour. It refers to his profession as an architect, and sees him hold dividers in one hand and paper in the other. However, he is also presented as a man of wealth and discrimination, dressed in a silk and fur trimmed gown, at ease with his knowledge of the remains of the classical world that surround him. This type of magnificent portraiture was commonly associated with travelling aristocrats, rather than architects.
The portrait has the distinction of being the only known work of such a subject by the painter Zucchi, who was born in Venice and later worked on a number of decorative paintings for major interior schemes designed by the Adam brothers, before marrying the painter Angelica Kauffmann (1741-1807) in 1781 and settling with her in Rome.
The sculptures depicted in the painting behind James include the Medici Vase and a variant of the Giustiniani Minerva – revered examples of ancient art which could be studied in Rome and, it was felt, could inspire contemporary design. Panels of so-called grotesque ornament frame the niche in which Minerva stands.
The most significant object depicted is the capital (the sculpted top of a column) in the foreground, on which James rests his left arm. It looks at first like a work from antiquity, but is in fact taken from a sculpture design by James Adam. While in Italy he made detailed plans for re-building the Houses of Parliament in London in a neo-classical style, a project that was never realised. As part of this scheme, he produced detailed drawings for a new British architectural order of columns, and combined on them the Scottish unicorn (clearly visible here) with an English lion. The drawings he made were used as the basis for creating a model made of wax that was coloured bronze – and it is this object, which sadly no longer survives, that is depicted by Zucchi. It acted as an extraordinary advertisement for Adam’s ingenuity as a designer and through the prominence of the unicorn, reminded his clientele of his Scottish heritage.
Until now James Adam has only been represented in the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland through a modest and informal drawing by Allan Ramsay (1713-84), while Robert Adam is the subject of two paste medallions by James Tassie (1735-99).
Zucchi’s unique painted portrait complements his work as an engraver and decorative painter held in the V&A’s collection.
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
The portrait of James Adam has been acquired for £480,000. The purchase price was raised with £150,000 from the Art Fund, with the remaining contributions from the V&A and NGS.
About the V&A:
The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) is the world’s leading museum of art, design and performance with collections unrivalled in their scope and diversity, spanning 5000 years of human creativity. It was established in 1852 to make works of art available to all and to inspire British designers and manufacturers. Today, its purpose is to champion creative industry, inspire the next generation, and spark everyone’s imagination.
vam.ac.uk
Art Fund
Art Fund is the national fundraising charity for art. In the past five years alone Art Fund has given £34 million to help museums and galleries acquire works of art for their collections. It also helps museums share their collections with wider audiences by supporting a range of tours and exhibitions, and makes additional grants to support the training and professional development of curators. Art Fund is independently funded, with the core of its income provided by 151,000 members who receive the National Art Pass and enjoy free entry to over 240 museums, galleries and historic places across the UK, as well as 50% off entry to major exhibitions and subscription to Art Quarterly magazine. In addition to grant-giving, Art Fund’s support for museums includes Art Fund Museum of the Year (won by Tate St Ives in 2018) and a range of digital platforms.
Find out more about Art Fund and the National Art Pass at www.artfund.org
1 April 2019
Audrey Grant, Norman McBeath and Val McDermid star in new exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery
THE LONG LOOK
25 May – 27 October 2019
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1 Queen Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1JD
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission FREE
#NGSLongLook
The private world of portrait making is revealed in a beguiling new exhibition opening this spring at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. The Long Look – The Making of a Portrait explores the creative collaboration that grew between Edinburgh-based artists Audrey Grant (b.1964) and Norman McBeath (b.1952), and the award winning crime-writer Val McDermid (b.1955), when Audrey asked Norman and Val to sit for portraits.
Audrey Grant began to draw photographer and printmaker Norman McBeath in charcoal at her studio in the Stockbridge area of Edinburgh in December 2015. Audrey would create a portrait drawing of Norman over many sittings – the process could take weeks, months or even years, because at the end of each sitting Audrey would erase her work. This fascinating long-term aspect of Audrey’s practice allows her to get under the skin of her subject – looking anew with each sitting, seeking to evoke a sense of the sitter’s presence, and constantly creating and destroying what has come before.
Describing this process, Audrey said: “The charcoal, the eraser and the rag enabled this process, allowing me to constantly apply, remove, reapply, find and re-find, while leaving the ghosts of erased images. These, in turn, will give essential weight to the final version of the drawing.”
Audrey asked Norman to photograph the drawing at the end of each session to chart her progress. Norman soon became fascinated by the way Audrey was working, which led him to create photographs of the process as a reflection on his experience of sitting for a portrait – the paint-spattered surfaces of her studio, her charcoal covered hands, the chair on which he sat for hours.
Speaking about the process, Norman said: “I became fascinated by the sheer physicality of Audrey’s drawing: the constant back and forth to the easel, the scrapes, rubs and wipes of the charcoal and cloth on the paper, the sharp snap of a new piece of black willow…From my static position, unable to see anything of the front of the easel, I found myself trying to interpret this information as a way of imagining the progress of the portrait.”
The Long Look features the drawings, photographs and objects that Audrey and Norman produced during sittings, giving us a unique opportunity to explore the art of portraiture, and what it means to really look at another person.
In addition to two portraits of Norman, Audrey also completed two charcoal portraits of the award-winning crime writer Val McDermid. Much like Norman, Val found that the many sittings over a long period inspired her own creative practice. Sessions with Audrey allowed Val time to let her mind roam, exploring thoughts and ideas that might otherwise have been crowded out by her busy life.
Speaking about her experience, Val said: “It’s a gift in my busy life to have two hours where no distraction is permitted. And letting go of the immediate need to deal with any one of the many demands on my time allows my mind to range randomly far and wide. It’s a chance for my subconscious to make itself heard, and the end result is all sorts of sparky creative moments.”
The Long Look gives visitors a unique opportunity to explore the nature and intimacy of portraiture and places you in close proximity to the various and subtle layers of looking and building a dialogue which occur as part of the process of making a portrait, in this case through drawing and photography.
Speaking about the exhibition, Deputy Director & Chief Curator of Portraiture at the National Galleries of Scotland, Imogen Gibbon said: “The Long Look is unlike anything displayed before at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and presents an unmissable opportunity to explore portraiture at its core. The work on display shows portraiture at its most compelling in that it hides nothing and discloses everything."
Notes to Editors:
The Long Look will be taking place as part of the Edinburgh Art Festival.
The Long Look will be accompanied by an exhibition book: The Long Look: The Making of a Portrait, available for purchase in all National Galleries of Scotland shops or online.
The Long Look-related events can be found via this link here.
—ENDS—
26 March 2019
Monumental self-portrait by important Scottish artist to star in new display at National Galleries of Scotland
A large, powerful self-portrait by one of the finest and most singular Scottish artists of the 20th century has been acquired by the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS), where it will go on display for the first time this week. Womb from Womb by William Crosbie (1915-99), will be included in the Modern Portrait display, which re-opens at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh on Saturday 30 March.
Painted in 1941, in a style which reflects the artist’s interest in international surrealism, Womb from Womb was the most ambitious painted portrait of the artist’s career, and is a major addition to the national collection’s already-outstanding series of 20th-century Scottish self-portraits.
The impressive painting joins a significant group of Crosbie’s works in the NGS collection, which include drawings and paintings of figurative and abstract subjects. It has been purchased from the artist’s estate via the Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh, in what is the twentieth year since the artist’s passing at the age of 84.
William (Bill) Crosbie is one of the most respected Scottish painters of the 20th century. His work is represented in many major Scottish museums and galleries, the British Museum in London, and in private collections throughout the United Kingdom and abroad.
He was born to Scottish parents in Hankow in China, where his father was an engineer working on a harbour on the Yangtze River. The family moved to Glasgow in 1926 and Crosbie studied at the Glasgow Academy and Glasgow School of Art. He won a number of scholarships, including the Haldane Travel Scholarship in 1935.
Crosbie travelled to Paris in 1937 and enrolled there in the influential French art school, the École des Beaux-Arts, where he became familiar with the latest trends in European painting, most especially the work of artists such as Fernand Léger (1881-1955) and Aristide Maillol (1861-1944). He stayed in the city for two years and would later describe his time studying under Léger as, “one of my proudest experiences”.
At the end of his scholarship, Crosbie ventured to Egypt to work with the Royal Archaeological Institute on an expedition to the newly-excavated Temple of the Bulls and Temple of Saqqara, the burial grounds for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. There, Crosbie copied the four thousand year old friezes on the temple walls.
The artist returned to Scotland in 1939 and found work painting murals (including for the Festival of Britain in 1951), altarpieces, book illustrations and scenery designs for the ballet. Initially setting up a studio on 12 Ruskin Lane in Glasgow, Crosbie found himself the centre of what he once described as ''a little local Renaissance'', which included contemporaries such as the painter J D Fergusson (1874-1961), poet Hugh MacDiarmid (1892-1978), playwright James Bridie (1888-1951) and architect Basil Spence (1907-76). He was later elected a member of the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) and throughout his life, regularly exhibited with the Royal Glasgow Institute.
Crosbie painted Womb from Womb during the Second World War, in 1941. It is a monumental self-portrait demonstrating Crosbie’s increasing interest in surrealism. The painting was made five years after the International Surrealist Exhibition in London, which was hugely influential on the art of many English and Scottish painters. Such surrealist work was however a rarity among the relative conservatism of the Scottish art scene of the period, and so demonstrates Crosbie’s innovative and highly inventive outlook.
Womb from Womb was an outstanding inclusion in the exhibition A New Era, organised by the National Galleries of Scotland in 2017.
Christopher Baker, Director, European and Scottish Art and Portraiture at the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “Crosbie’s impressive self-portrait is a significant addition to the National Galleries’ unrivalled collection of Scottish art. It’s a complex and thought-provoking work which combines three fascinating elements – the artist himself, glimpses of his wartime studio, and an intriguing painting in progress on the easel. With rich decorative and lighting effects and elements of spatial ambiguity, it’s an unnerving portrait that pays homage to European surrealism, but in a wholly distinctive and individual manner.”
—ENDS—
19 March 2019
Diane Arbus, Robert Mapplethorpe and Francesca Woodman exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery
ARTIST ROOMS:
SELF-EVIDENCE – PHOTOGRAPHS BY WOODMAN, ARBUS AND MAPPLETHORPE
6 April – 20 October 2019
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1 Queen Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1JD
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission FREE
#NGSSelfEvidence
ARTIST ROOMS: Self Evidence – Photographs by Woodman, Arbus and Mapplethorpe explores how three of the twentieth century’s most influential photographers addressed issues of self-expression, performance and truth. This new exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery includes over 40 outstanding works, from Francesca Woodman’s experimental images, to Diane Arbus’ raw, compassionate documentary photography, and the touching self-portraits that track the final years of Robert Mapplethorpe’s life.The works in ARTIST ROOMS: Self Evidence are drawn from ARTIST ROOMS, a touring collection of over 1,600 works of modern and contemporary art jointly owned by the National Galleries of Scotland and Tate on behalf of the nation. The collection is displayed across the UK through a touring programme, supported by Arts Council England, Art Fund and Creative Scotland.
Francesca Woodman (1958-81) began exploring self-expression through photography at the age of thirteen and continued to experiment and develop her practice in the following decade. From her teenage years until her early twenties (Woodman died at the age of 22) she produced an astonishing body of work in which she was simultaneously the creative force and the ultimate subject. This blurring of the lines between artist and subject is brought to the fore in the work Woodman produced while studying photography at the Rhode Island School of Design in the 1970s. Woodman worked in an abandoned house near the campus, producing thoughtfully staged photographs of herself that experimented with slow exposures, blurred movement, shadows and reflections. She further developed her practice in a year of study abroad in Italy in 1977-78, using carefully chosen locations, lighting, clothing, props and her own body to produce innovative works including the lyrical Eel Series, one of which shows the photographer positioned alongside a fish, her torso curving and echoing its circular forms. Woodman’s work exquisitely balances performance and self-exposure, paving the way for later artists who used photography to explore issues of identity, such as Cindy Sherman and Nan Goldin.
ARTIST ROOMS: Self Evidence will include a very rare portfolio of original prints by Diane Arbus (1923-71), A Box of Ten Photographs (1969-1971), which Arbus produced shortly before her death by suicide in 1971. These works were carefully chosen to encapsulate the themes that obsessed Arbus, and include some of her most iconic images, such as Xmas Tree in a Living Room, in Levittown 1963, and A Jewish Giant at Home with his Parents in the Bronx, N.Y. 1970. Having been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1963, and again in 1966, for a project looking at ‘American rites, manners and customs’, Arbus was part of a new generation of documentary photographers who sought to engage with people in a bold and direct style. She began assembling A Box of Ten Photographs in the years following the 1967 exhibition New Documents at the Museum of Modern Art, New York where her photographs appeared alongside Garry Winogrand and Lee Friedlander. Arbus gave considerable thought to what this portfolio should be and how it should look; ultimately deciding on a clear Plexiglas box and selecting a set of ten images that date from as early as 1963. There is a particular focus on families and identity with iconic portraits such as Identical Twins, Roselle N.J.1967 featuring within the portfolio. For Arbus the ten images represented who she was as an artist and how she saw her work in the world, a legacy which became more solidified with her death in 1971.
Finally, a series of self-portraits by Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-89) explores his varying personas, as expressed for the camera, and poignantly documents his declining health, as a result of having contracted AIDS. ARTIST ROOMS: Self Evidence, will be the first exhibition of the photographer’s work to take place in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery’s dedicated photography space since it was established with assistance from the Robert Mapplethorpe foundation in 2012 and named in the artist’s honour. Significantly, the exhibition will be held during the 30 year anniversary of Mapplethorpe’s death. Known for his explicit imagery, particularly his portrayal of the male nude, Mapplethorpe worked at a time when the conservative backlash against the socially progressive 1960s and 1970s was at its peak. His retrospective exhibition, The Perfect Moment was so controversial in the late 1980s that one venue cancelled the show weeks before its opening, while another institution found itself at the centre of an obscenity trial. These events have often overshadowed Mapplethorpe’s work, which at its core speaks to diversity within society by showing that it is not homogenous. For his series of self-portraits Mapplethorpe shows different aspects of his own personality—from the debonair romantic in a tuxedo to the devil sprouting horns, and ultimately ends with that of a man confronting his own mortality.
Anne M. Lyden Chief Curator, Photography at the National Galleries of Scotland said: “This exhibition is an opportunity to reflect on the important contributions from each of these three artists and how they used photography to explore and express the self, while simultaneously documenting the shifting world around us. Although these photographs were made in the 1960s, 70s and 80s many of the issues being addressed are still relevant to us today. There is still a fascination with how we are seen by ourselves and others in relation to the world we live in – our self-evidence.”
Ceri Lewis, Managing Curator of ARTIST ROOMS, Tate and National Galleries of Scotland said: “This is the first time that we are presenting ARTIST ROOMS at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, and we are showcasing some of the greatest photographic portraits within the ARTIST ROOMS collection by three of the twentieth century’s most influential photographers. It is particularly fitting to be able to mark the 30th anniversary of Mapplethorpe’s death with this display in the dedicated photography gallery established through the generosity of the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation.”
Notes to Editors:
ARTIST ROOMS
ARTIST ROOMS is a touring collection of over 1,600 works of modern and contemporary art. The collection is displayed across the UK in solo exhibitions that showcase the work of more than 40 major artists. The touring programme gives young people the chance to get involved in creative projects, discover more about art and learn new skills. Since 2009, nearly 50 million people have visited more than 180 displays at over 85 museums and galleries.
ARTIST ROOMS is jointly owned by the National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. The collection was established through The d’Offay Donation in 2008, with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Art Fund, and the Scottish and British Governments. The current ARTIST ROOMS touring programme is delivered by the National Galleries of Scotland and Tate in a partnership with Ferens Art Gallery until 2019, supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, Art Fund and by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland. www.nationalgalleries.org/artistrooms | www.tate.org.uk/artist-rooms | www.artistrooms.org | #ARTISTROOMS
Image credits:
1. Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989), Self Portrait, 1980. Photograph, gelatine silver print on paper, 34.00 x 34.10 cm (framed: 50.80 x 40.60 cm). ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Acquired jointly through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund 2008 © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation.
2. Francesca Woodman (1959-1981), Francesca Woodman - Eel Series 1977-8. Photograph, gelatine silver print on paper, 21.90 x 21.80 cm (paper 35.40 x 27.90 cm) (framed: 45.80 x 40.20 x 2.00 cm). ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Acquired jointly through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund 2008 © Courtesy of George and Betty Woodman
3. Diane Arbus (1923-1971), The King and Queen of a Senior Citizens' Dance, N.Y.C. 1970, 1970. Photograph, gelatine silver print on paper 37.20 x 36.90 cm (framed: 50.80 x 40.60 cm). ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Acquired jointly through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund 2008
4. Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989), Self Portrait, 1988. Photograph, gelatine silver print on paper, 57.70 x 48.10 cm. ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Acquired jointly through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund 2008 © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation.
—ENDS—
28 January 2019
Exhibition of work by young people opens at Scottish National Portrait Gallery
BEINGS
2 February 2019 – 28 April 2019
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1 Queen Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1JD
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission FREE
#NGSBeings
A new exhibition of recent artwork by young people from across Scotland, which explores the many ways in which creativity can help us to understand and express our emotions, opens today at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. Beings brings together the young people from Lanarkshire, Fife, Ayrshire, Lothian and the Scottish Borders, and addresses a number of themes that have a significant impact in their lives: identity, emotional health, happiness, resilience and self-worth.
Thirteen groups, from youth clubs, schools, kinship care groups and employability projects, have run free with works from the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) collection, using them as springboards to create their own work, and their own exhibition, working closely with NGS staff to design way the Beings is laid out.
The exhibition forms a ‘mind map’ of thematic displays, in which new works made by participants are shown alongside the works in the NGS collection that inspired them. Drawings from Five Minutes about Surrealism, a film scenario by the world-famous Spanish artist Salvador Dalí (1904-89), are displayed alongside artworks by students from North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire and Edinburgh, who used techniques developed by Dalí and his fellow Surrealists to tap into the subconscious mind.
Performance videos and sculptures by young people from Works + (Galashiels) and Inverkeithing High School respond to a poignant work by Scottish contemporary artist and Turner Prize nominee Christine Borland (b.1965). Twin, hand-made, child-birth demonstration model (1997) was made by Borland to the replicate an eighteenth-century medical teaching aid she came across in her research – a hand-stitched leather and sawdust baby, which in the original enclosed a real foetal skull.
Students from Waid Academy in Anstruther were inspired by the work of Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti (1901-66) to create a series of beautiful shadow projections, presented in a mysterious fairground booth.
All of the NGS works included in Beings were chosen to reflect the ways in which we process and understand our thoughts and feelings, each providing the young people with a different approach. Participants also explored the visually rich imagery of contemporary fashion photographer Viviane Sassen, the power of abstract art to convey complex emotions, and the attempts of the Victorian pseudo-science of phrenology to map out the human mind on the surface of the skull.
Interactive elements in the display will encourage visitors to respond to the exhibition, in much the same way Beings participants responded to works in the NGS collection. Visitors can take part in automatic drawing (a favourite Surrealist technique); find their own way around the shadows made by etched perspex artworks by lighting them up with their phones; and map their emotional journey around the exhibition using a 3-D paper phrenological head.
Beings forms part of a wider outreach program run by the National Galleries of Scotland, which aims to provide disadvantaged young people across Scotland with opportunities to develop their skills and their creativity, so they can represent their own point of view, inspired by the national art collection.
Speaking about the project, Robin Baillie, Senior Outreach Officer at NGS, said: “We wanted our participants to explore their emotions, and maybe find ways to cope with the issues that affect them. Could art help? Our idea was for participants to look at our art, and then respond spontaneously. They learned how to create art without worrying about the result, free from pressure to succeed. By doing this, they have shown that (like us all) they are vulnerable, in need of safe spaces to explore their personal and shared identities, but also that they can imagine a more joyous world of free expression and connection with others. They have produced a compelling body of work that is touching, honest and arresting. Life is strange … some of our art is strange and challenging, but the art that the young people have created for this exhibition is brave and bold, and totally unique.”
Laura Chow, head of charities at People’s Postcode Lottery, said:
“It’s fantastic that so many young people from across Scotland have produced artwork for this emotive exhibition. We are delighted that the support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery has enabled the National Galleries of Scotland’s Beings project to take place.”
Notes to Editors:
People’s Postcode Lottery
- People’s Postcode Lottery manages multiple society lotteries promoted by different charities and good causes. People play with their chosen postcodes for a chance to win cash prizes. A minimum of 32% from each subscription goes directly to charities and good causes across Great Britain and internationally -- players have raised £382 million so far. For details of the charities and good causes which are promoting and benefitting from the lottery draws, please visit https://www.postcodelottery.co.uk/good-causes/draw-calendar
- It costs £10 a month to play and winning postcodes are announced every day. The maximum amount a single ticket can win is 10% of the draw proceeds, subject to a maximum of £400,000. For details, please visit www.postcodelottery.co.uk/prizes
- New players can sign up to pay using direct debit by calling 0808 10 9 8 7 6 5. New players who sign up online at www.postcodelottery.co.uk can pay using direct debit, debit card or PayPal.
- Postcode Lottery Limited is regulated by the Gambling Commission under licence numbers: 000-000829-N-102511 and 000-000829-R-102513. Registered office: Titchfield House, 69/85 Tabernacle Street, London, EC2A 4RR
- Follow us @PostcodePress
Participating groups
- Coatbridge Community Centre, North Lanarkshire Council Social Services
- Drummond Community HS, City of Edinburgh Council
- Waid Academy, Anstruther, Fife Council
- Inverkeithing HS, Fife Council
- North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership, Intervention Services, Rosemount Project Kinship Group/North Ayrshire Alcohol and Drug Partnership
- NHS Lothian Public Health Awareness
- Works + (Galashiels)
- Spartans Football Club Alternative Academy, North Edinburgh
- Citadel Youth Project (Leith)
- NYAAG – National Youth Arts Advisory Group (Creative Scotland)
- TUK, Thinktank for Youth Culture, Denmark
- Canongate Youth Project
- Access to Industry
- Artists: Morgan Atkinson, Catherine O’ Brien
- Students: Emma Mitchell, Level 3, Contemporary Art Practice, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD), and Sarah-Jane Henderson, Third Year, Glasgow School of Art
7 January 2019
Work starts in East Princes Street Gardens as transformation of the Scottish National Gallery continues
• New fly-through animation reveals the new gallery experience being created.
• Work gets underway to create new accessible path, new landscaping and wider steps in East Princes Street Gardens.
• Gardens entrance to the Scottish National Gallery to temporarily close until spring 2019.
• The Scottish Café & Restaurant and main Gallery shop to temporarily close until spring 2019.
• Galleries to officially join the Council’s community toilet scheme as an accessible toilet on the Mound precinct will be removed.
January 2019 will bring the next steps in the redevelopment of the Scottish National Gallery (SNG) in Edinburgh with work starting in East Princes Street Gardens and continuing inside the Galleries.
The vision for the project, which got underway in October 2018, has been revealed in a new fly through animation which has been released to coincide with this stage of work.
The £22m project, which will create a new home for the world’s greatest collection of Scottish art, began in October 2018. It will transform former office, storage and display spaces into a new set of galleries that, for the first time, will be entered directly from the adjacent East Princes Street Gardens. They will showcase the National Galleries of Scotland’s amazingly rich collection of historic Scottish art, which contains masterpieces by Henry Raeburn, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Scottish Colourists as well as giving direct access to the rest of the SNG’s international collection. The project is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Scottish Government.
As part of the work in this phase of the development, which is due to last until spring 2019, public access in and around East Princes Street Gardens and the Mound precinct will change. During this period the Gardens entrance to the SNG will be closed; visitors will instead use the entrances on The Mound.
From mid-January, work starts on the new landscaping which includes the widening of existing steps and the construction of a new accessible path in the Gardens, which will help those with mobility impairments, wheelchairs and prams. The Galleries’ plans, which were approved after a lengthy consultation with City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) and other bodies, address the long-standing inadequacy of accessible routes in this area; without this new path, the East Gardens would remain accessible only via steep gradients or stairs.
As part of the works an accessible toilet on the Mound precinct will be removed, and the NGS will join the CEC’s community toilet scheme. Our nearby accessible toilet facilities are open to the public without having to visit the Gallery itself.
During this phase of work we will also be planting 22 new trees in East Princes Street Gardens with species chosen to complement existing trees in the wider gardens. These trees will be between 4.5 metres and 6 metres in height. They will replace 52 trees removed in autumn 2018 to enable the reshaping of an embankment that is necessary for the new accessible path.
The new trees are depicted in the new animated fly through, and landscape architects and other professional organisations supporting the project have advised and verified on their depiction, including their size and species. NGS is also in discussion with the CEC and Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust about the planting of additional trees in other locations in the city.
The main Gallery shop and The Scottish Café & Restaurant will also temporarily close until spring 2019. Alternative facilities – including a souvenir shop inside the Gallery and the shop on Princes Street will be available as normal - as well as a new Espresso café opening at the SNG entrance on the Mound in early 2019.
Also due to start in this phase is the installation of a much larger lift and stairwell at the south end of the SNG, which will connect with the new gallery spaces and radically improve the way the whole building is accessed by visitors. While construction work continues on the stairwell, there will be some temporary disruption with no lift access to some rooms where we show 18th, 19th and early 20th Century Art, including Scottish Art, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism.
Speaking today, Sir John Leighton, Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “It has been very exciting over the autumn to see work on this transformational project get started, and as we move out of winter and into spring we’re looking forward to some of our first milestones becoming a reality. Landscaping will start shortly and by the spring our new accessible route into Princes Street Gardens will be complete and our restaurant and enlarged shop will reopen to welcome the public. Unavoidably there will be some disruption around the site over the coming weeks, and we are grateful for the public’s patience while we create these improvements to the galleries and the surrounding space. We want the Scottish National Gallery to be a place for everyone to enjoy. We have two years to go before opening, but we hope that as this year progresses people will already begin to feel the great benefits of the work we are doing here.”
Dr Tricia Allerston, Co-Director, Scottish National Gallery Project, added: “We draw around 2.5 million visitors each year to our Edinburgh-based galleries, and our ambitious plans for the Scottish National Gallery will ensure we continue to meet the needs and expectations of all. With this once-in-a-lifetime project, we will transform the way we show the world’s greatest collection of historic Scottish art, both in the new, light-filled, state-of-the-art display spaces and in the innovative way we will be showcasing the work of Scottish artists alongside our wider international collection.’
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
The vision for the SNG project has been driven by the National Galleries’ ambition to ensure that the widest number of people can enjoy our art and activities. The displays in the new galleries will be directly informed by extensive research into the needs of existing and potential audiences.
For the first time in a generation, there will be new displays drawn from the Scottish and international collection. This fresh approach will allow us to say much more about Scotland’s art and to highlight the international significance of pioneering figures such as Allan Ramsay, Gavin Hamilton, Sir David Wilkie and Phoebe Anna Traquair.
The scope of the new displays, which will be revealed when the new galleries open in early 2021, will also be broader, encompassing the work of early 20th-century artists such as Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Stanley Cursiter, Jessie M. King, Phyllis Mary Bone and the Scottish Colourists S J Peploe and F C B Cadell.
The project will create a beautiful new space in the heart of Edinburgh, which will be free for everyone to use and enjoy. A series of large windows, running the length of the new gardens-level façade, will fill the galleries with light and colour, and offer spectacular views over one of the most celebrated cityscapes in the world. Extensive new landscaping in the gardens will radically improve access to this much-loved part of the city, and the project will also create a larger shop, brand-new café and more accessible restaurant.
Specific activities on completion of the project include a dedicated family day one day a week, more volunteers in the galleries to connect visitors with our new offer and new audience-focused interpretation.
The SNG redevelopment has been designed by one of Scotland’s leading architectural practices, Hoskins Architects, which has been widely praised for a number of high-profile designs in the arts and cultural sector.
During construction work we intend to keep disruption in the surrounding area and in the Gallery itself to a minimum, though there will be some room closures. To enable excavation works to the galleries directly beneath, the Playfair Steps, at the rear of the SNG, will be closed for the duration of the building work.
New fly-through animation of the Scottish National Gallery Project is available to view here.
Read more on the Scottish National Gallery Project changes on our website here.
Funding figures from Scottish Government and Heritage Lottery Fund:
Scottish Government: £5.5 million.
Heritage Lottery Fund: £4.94 million.
Press releases 2018
7 January 2019
Work starts in East Princes Street Gardens as transformation of the Scottish National Gallery continues
• New fly-through animation reveals the new gallery experience being created.
• Work gets underway to create new accessible path, new landscaping and wider steps in East Princes Street Gardens.
• Gardens entrance to the Scottish National Gallery to temporarily close until spring 2019.
• The Scottish Café & Restaurant and main Gallery shop to temporarily close until spring 2019.
• Galleries to officially join the Council’s community toilet scheme as an accessible toilet on the Mound precinct will be removed.
January 2019 will bring the next steps in the redevelopment of the Scottish National Gallery (SNG) in Edinburgh with work starting in East Princes Street Gardens and continuing inside the Galleries.
The vision for the project, which got underway in October 2018, has been revealed in a new fly through animation which has been released to coincide with this stage of work.
The £22m project, which will create a new home for the world’s greatest collection of Scottish art, began in October 2018. It will transform former office, storage and display spaces into a new set of galleries that, for the first time, will be entered directly from the adjacent East Princes Street Gardens. They will showcase the National Galleries of Scotland’s amazingly rich collection of historic Scottish art, which contains masterpieces by Henry Raeburn, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Scottish Colourists as well as giving direct access to the rest of the SNG’s international collection. The project is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Scottish Government.
As part of the work in this phase of the development, which is due to last until spring 2019, public access in and around East Princes Street Gardens and the Mound precinct will change. During this period the Gardens entrance to the SNG will be closed; visitors will instead use the entrances on The Mound.
From mid-January, work starts on the new landscaping which includes the widening of existing steps and the construction of a new accessible path in the Gardens, which will help those with mobility impairments, wheelchairs and prams. The Galleries’ plans, which were approved after a lengthy consultation with City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) and other bodies, address the long-standing inadequacy of accessible routes in this area; without this new path, the East Gardens would remain accessible only via steep gradients or stairs.
As part of the works an accessible toilet on the Mound precinct will be removed, and the NGS will join the CEC’s community toilet scheme. Our nearby accessible toilet facilities are open to the public without having to visit the Gallery itself.
During this phase of work we will also be planting 22 new trees in East Princes Street Gardens with species chosen to complement existing trees in the wider gardens. These trees will be between 4.5 metres and 6 metres in height. They will replace 52 trees removed in autumn 2018 to enable the reshaping of an embankment that is necessary for the new accessible path.
The new trees are depicted in the new animated fly through, and landscape architects and other professional organisations supporting the project have advised and verified on their depiction, including their size and species. NGS is also in discussion with the CEC and Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust about the planting of additional trees in other locations in the city.
The main Gallery shop and The Scottish Café & Restaurant will also temporarily close until spring 2019. Alternative facilities – including a souvenir shop inside the Gallery and the shop on Princes Street will be available as normal - as well as a new Espresso café opening at the SNG entrance on the Mound in early 2019.
Also due to start in this phase is the installation of a much larger lift and stairwell at the south end of the SNG, which will connect with the new gallery spaces and radically improve the way the whole building is accessed by visitors. While construction work continues on the stairwell, there will be some temporary disruption with no lift access to some rooms where we show 18th, 19th and early 20th Century Art, including Scottish Art, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism.
Speaking today, Sir John Leighton, Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “It has been very exciting over the autumn to see work on this transformational project get started, and as we move out of winter and into spring we’re looking forward to some of our first milestones becoming a reality. Landscaping will start shortly and by the spring our new accessible route into Princes Street Gardens will be complete and our restaurant and enlarged shop will reopen to welcome the public. Unavoidably there will be some disruption around the site over the coming weeks, and we are grateful for the public’s patience while we create these improvements to the galleries and the surrounding space. We want the Scottish National Gallery to be a place for everyone to enjoy. We have two years to go before opening, but we hope that as this year progresses people will already begin to feel the great benefits of the work we are doing here.”
Dr Tricia Allerston, Co-Director, Scottish National Gallery Project, added: “We draw around 2.5 million visitors each year to our Edinburgh-based galleries, and our ambitious plans for the Scottish National Gallery will ensure we continue to meet the needs and expectations of all. With this once-in-a-lifetime project, we will transform the way we show the world’s greatest collection of historic Scottish art, both in the new, light-filled, state-of-the-art display spaces and in the innovative way we will be showcasing the work of Scottish artists alongside our wider international collection.’
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
The vision for the SNG project has been driven by the National Galleries’ ambition to ensure that the widest number of people can enjoy our art and activities. The displays in the new galleries will be directly informed by extensive research into the needs of existing and potential audiences.
For the first time in a generation, there will be new displays drawn from the Scottish and international collection. This fresh approach will allow us to say much more about Scotland’s art and to highlight the international significance of pioneering figures such as Allan Ramsay, Gavin Hamilton, Sir David Wilkie and Phoebe Anna Traquair.
The scope of the new displays, which will be revealed when the new galleries open in early 2021, will also be broader, encompassing the work of early 20th-century artists such as Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Stanley Cursiter, Jessie M. King, Phyllis Mary Bone and the Scottish Colourists S J Peploe and F C B Cadell.
The project will create a beautiful new space in the heart of Edinburgh, which will be free for everyone to use and enjoy. A series of large windows, running the length of the new gardens-level façade, will fill the galleries with light and colour, and offer spectacular views over one of the most celebrated cityscapes in the world. Extensive new landscaping in the gardens will radically improve access to this much-loved part of the city, and the project will also create a larger shop, brand-new café and more accessible restaurant.
Specific activities on completion of the project include a dedicated family day one day a week, more volunteers in the galleries to connect visitors with our new offer and new audience-focused interpretation.
The SNG redevelopment has been designed by one of Scotland’s leading architectural practices, Hoskins Architects, which has been widely praised for a number of high-profile designs in the arts and cultural sector.
During construction work we intend to keep disruption in the surrounding area and in the Gallery itself to a minimum, though there will be some room closures. To enable excavation works to the galleries directly beneath, the Playfair Steps, at the rear of the SNG, will be closed for the duration of the building work.
New fly-through animation of the Scottish National Gallery Project is available to view here.
Read more on the Scottish National Gallery Project changes on our website here.
Funding figures from Scottish Government and Heritage Lottery Fund:
Scottish Government: £5.5 million.
Heritage Lottery Fund: £4.94 million.
Fios-naidheachd
21 Dùbhlachd 2018
GAILEARAIDHEAN NÀISEANTA NA H-ALBA A’ CUR PLANA GÀIDHLIG ÙR AIR BHOG
An-diugh cuiridh Gailearaidhean Nàiseanta na h-Alba (NGS) Plana Gàidhlig ùr air bhog, airson na h-ùine 2018-23. Chaidh am plana a leasachadh a rèir riatanasan Achd na Gàidhlig (Alba) 2005. Tha e a’ toirt taic do lìbhrigeadh a’ Phlana Cànain Nàiseanta Ghàidhlig 2018-23, a tha ag amas air ìomhaigh adhartach a thogail airson na Gàidhlig agus air an àireamh de dhaoine a tha ag ionnsachadh agus a’ cleachdadh a’ chànain a mheudachadh. Fhuair plana ùr NGS, a bhios a’ togail air a’ chiad Phlana Gàidhlig a chaidh fhoillseachadh ann an 2013, aonta foirmeil bho Bhòrd na Gàidhlig air 24 Sultain 2018.
Tha Gailearaidhean Nàiseanta na h-Alba mar aon de ghrunn bhuidhnean poblach ann an Alba le Plana Gàidhlig, leithid Thaighean-tasgaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba, Visit Scotland agus Dualchas Nàdair na h-Alba, a thuilleadh air ùghdarrasan ionadail agus oilthighean.
Tha am plana a chaidh fhoillseachadh an-diugh a’ mìneachadh dealas leantainneach nan Gailearaidhean airson adhartachadh agus taic a thoirt don Ghàidhlig ann a bhith a’ lìbhrigeadh ar dleastanasan agus ar seirbheisean. Am measg nam prìomh dhealasan tha:
• Toirt seachad fiosrachadh do luchd-tadhail sa Ghàidhlig.
• Cumail seachdain gach bliadhna de bhùithtean-obrach airson sgoiltean meadhain-Ghàidhlig.
• Goireasan teagaisg buntainneach eadar-theangachadh don Ghàidhlig.
• Tachartasan Gàidhlig a chur nar Prògram Theaghlaichean.
• Prògram de dh’fheartan Gàidhlig air-loidhne agus susbaint air an làrach-lìn againn a leasachadh.
Thuirt Sir Iain Leighton, Àrd-stiùiriche Ghailearaidhean Nàiseanta na h-Alba: “Tha Gailearaidhean Nàiseanta na h-Alba toilichte am Plana Gàidhlig againn a chur air bhog an-diugh. Anns a’ phlana seo airson 2018-23, tha sinn a’ togail air an adhartas a rinneadh sa chiad phlana againn, agus a’ coimhead airson chothroman ùra gus Gàidhlig adhartachadh agus a chleachdadh anns an obair againn agus nar lèirsinn Ealain do dh’Alba: Brosnachadh don t-Saoghal.
Faodar am Plana Gàidhlig aig Gailearaidhean Nàiseanta na h-Alba fhaicinn air-loidhne aig nationalgalleries.org/about-us/plans-policies. Bidh lethbhreac cruaidh ri fhaotainn ma thèid iarraidh air 0131 624 6473.
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NATIONAL GALLERIES OF SCOTLAND LAUNCHES NEW GAELIC LANGUAGE PLAN
The National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) will today launch an updated Gaelic Language Plan, covering the period 2018-23. The plan has been developed in line with the requirements of the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005. It supports delivery of the National Gaelic Language Plan 2018-23, which aims to promote a positive image of Gaelic and to increase the number of people learning and using the language. The new NGS plan, which builds on the Galleries’ first Gaelic Language Plan, published in 2013, received formal approval from Bòrd na Gàidhlig on 24 September 2018.
National Galleries of Scotland is one of many Scottish public bodies with a Gaelic Language Plan, including National Museums Scotland, Visit Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage, as well as local authorities and universities.
The plan published today sets out the Galleries’ continued commitment to promote and support the Gaelic language in the delivery of its functions and services. Key commitments include:
• Providing visitor information in Gaelic.
• Continuing to host an annual week of workshops for Gaelic-medium schools.
• Translating relevant teaching resources into Gaelic.
• Including Gaelic events in our Families Programme.
• Developing a programme of online Gaelic features and content on our website.
Sir John Leighton, Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland, said: ‘The National Galleries of Scotland is pleased to launch our Gaelic Language Plan today. In this plan for 2018-23, we are building on the progress made under our first plan, and looking for new opportunities to promote and use Gaelic in the context of our work and our vision of Art for Scotland: Inspiration for the World.
National Galleries of Scotland’s Gaelic Language Plan can be viewed online at nationalgalleries.org/about-us/plans-policies. Hard copies are available on request by phoning 0131 624 6473.
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17 December 2018
Salvador Dalí’s iconic Lobster Telephone acquired by National Galleries of Scotland
Export-stopped: this new addition to the collection has been saved for the nation with assistance from the Henry and Sula Walton Fund and Art Fund
One of the most famous of all twentieth-century sculptures, Salvador Dalí’s Lobster Telephone (1938) has been acquired by the National Galleries of Scotland, and is set to go on display this week at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.
This iconic sculpture is one of the most instantly recognisable masterpieces of Surrealism, the art movement that emerged in Paris in the 1920s, which explored the world of dreams and the subconscious mind. It consists of an ordinary, working telephone, upon which rests a plaster lobster, specially made to fit directly over the receiver.
The Surrealists loved the idea of unrelated objects coming together to create a new kind of reality, which subverted the rational and tapped into the subconscious. The bizarre combination of a phone and a lobster is at once absurd, repellent, fascinating and menacing, yet it is nevertheless a fully functioning phone.
Lobster Telephone was made in 1938 for Edward James (1907-1984), Dalí’s main patron in the 1930s. Eleven of the plaster lobster receivers were made to fit to telephones at James’s house in Wimpole Street, central London and at his country house, Monkton, in West Sussex. Four of the lobsters were painted red, and seven were painted white. The Lobster Telephones are now almost all in museum collections around the world: the Tate in London has a red version on a black telephone.
This white version remained with the Edward James Foundation, in West Sussex. It was recently sold at auction and would have left Britain, but in view of its artistic and historical importance, it was subject to an export license deferral. Issued on behalf of the Secretary of State, this allows UK museums the chance to match the auction price. Thanks to the Henry and Sula Walton Fund, which was established to help the National Galleries acquire major works of modern art, and a grant from Art Fund, the work was saved and goes on show at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh for the first time today.
Edward James was born in 1907 at his family’s summer house, Greywalls, in Gullane, near North Berwick in East Lothian. His family was immensely wealthy, owning a vast estate at West Dean, near Chichester in West Sussex. Edward came into his inheritance in his twenties and used much of it to support the arts: he is best known as the patron of Salvador Dalí and René Magritte in the 1930s. He met Dalí in 1934 and the two became close friends. Dalí visited James in London on several occasions and James bought many of the artist’s greatest work, straight off the easel, hanging them at his houses in London and West Sussex.
From the mid-1930s, James had both residences redesigned and given Surrealist makeovers. Dalí designed furnishings including the celebrated Mae West Lips sofas, which were shaped in the form of the Hollywood actress’s lips, tall lampstands in the form of stacked champagne glasses, and the famous Lobster Telephones.
The idea for the Lobster Telephone dates back to a drawing Dalí made in 1935. The plaster lobsters were commissioned by James from the London design firm Green & Abbott (which also fabricated the Mae West sofas) in the summer of 1938. Dalí and James visited Sigmund Freud in Hampstead in July and this may have given them the idea of actually making the objects. Cast in plaster, hollowed out underneath, and with a hole in the tail to take the telephone flex, they fit perfectly over the standard receivers of the period. The Surrealists’ love of the irrational was instantly and brilliantly embodied in a household object in daily use.
The Lobster Telephone is the most iconic of all Surrealist ‘Object Sculptures’: these became a craze in the 1930s, with Man Ray, Miró, Magritte, Giacometti and Roland Penrose among the many who made them. Instead of making a traditional sculpture by modelling with clay or carving in marble, the Surrealist artists took pre-existing objects, put them together, or changed them slightly, and then exhibited them. It was like 3D collage. From a practical point of view, it allowed artists with no training in sculpture to produce sculptural objects. From an artistic point of view, it enabled artists to produce bizarre objects which instantly challenged conventional notions of reality and normality.
The National Galleries of Scotland has one of the world’s greatest collections of Surrealist art, including major paintings by René Magritte, Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí, Paul Delvaux, Toyen, Yves Tanguy, Max Ernst, Leonora Carrington and others, and sculptures by Alberto Giacometti. However, until now there has been no major Object Sculpture in the collection: they were quickly assembled for exhibition at the time, and were often simply discarded - so they are rare.
Although Edward James amassed an unrivalled collection of Surrealist art, much of it was sold off in the 1970s and 1980s. The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art’s summer exhibition of 2016, Surreal Encounters, was partly based on Edward James’s collection, which is now dispersed across the globe, and included the red version of Lobster Telephone, lent by the Edward James FoundationLobster Telephone was acquired for the sum of £853,000, supported by the Henry and Sula Walton Fund (£753,000), and Art Fund (£100,000). Henry Walton was a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh and Sula Walton (née Wolff) was an internationally renowned child psychiatrist. They were passionate devotees of the arts and left their art collection to the National Galleries of Scotland. They also established an independent, charitable fund, designed to help the Galleries acquire major works of modern art. Thus far, the Walton Fund has assisted in the purchase of works by Pablo Picasso, Jenny Saville, Toyen and Leonora Carrington – works which would otherwise have been beyond the Galleries’ reach.
Speaking of the acquisition, Simon Groom, Director of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Galleries of Scotland said: “This major acquisition cements our position as one of the world’s greatest collections of Surrealist art. Object sculptures – where the artist takes an existing, manufactured object and transforms it with a slight addition or alteration – were popular among the Surrealists, but are now incredibly rare. They turned convention upside-down, saying that anything could be art, and that art and life were not separate. Dalí created something incredibly rich, imaginative and funny with the most economical of means. Before this acquisition we had nothing of this kind. This type of work had a huge impact on later artists, including Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst. We’re immensely grateful to the Walton Fund and the Art Fund for their help in acquiring the work: both funds also helped enormously with the purchase of Leonora Carrington’s Portrait of Max Ernst, c.1939, in the summer. It has been an amazing year for the growth of our Surrealist collection.
Stephen Deuchar, Director, Art Fund, said: “Dalí’s Lobster Telephone is amongst the most famous of all Surrealist objects, typifying the spirit of the movement in its witty, subversive eccentricity. Art Fund is proud to help the National Galleries of Scotland add this important work of art to their internationally renowned Surrealism collection.”
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Notes to Editors
There are eleven Lobster Telephones in existence: all of them originally belonged to Edward James and to the Edward James Foundation which he established. The Foundation, which is based at West Dean, supports traditional art, craft and conservation practices. It retained one red version and one white version of the Lobster Telephones, but the others were sold off over the years to raise funds. The actual telephone elements of the Lobster Telephones all vary slightly. They were lost or replaced over the years and were sourced by the Foundation to match original 1930s pyramidal models. Eight are in museum collections in Australia, Portugal, the Netherlands, Germany, South Africa, the USA and the Tate in London. One is in a private collection abroad.
Art Fund
Art Fund is the national fundraising charity for art. In the past five years alone Art Fund has given £34 million to help museums and galleries acquire works of art for their collections. It also helps museums share their collections with wider audiences by supporting a range of tours and exhibitions, and makes additional grants to support the training and professional development of curators. Art Fund is independently funded, with the core of its income provided by 139,000 members who receive the National Art Pass and enjoy free entry to over 320 museums, galleries and historic places across the UK, as well as 50% off entry to major exhibitions and subscription to Art Quarterly magazine. In addition to grant-giving, Art Fund’s support for museums includes Art Fund Museum of the Year (won by Tate St Ives in 2018) and a range of digital platforms.
Find out more about Art Fund and the National Art Pass at www.artfund.org
14 December 2018
Bell Rock Lighthouse lights up Turner in January
A dramatic depiction of Robert Stevenson’s engineering marvel, the Bell Rock Lighthouse, by Britain’s most celebrated artist Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), will shine its light on the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS)’s seasonal exhibition Turner in January, which opens at the Scottish National Gallery on New Year’s Day. In 2019, this much-loved annual exhibition is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery for the seventh year.
In a tradition that stretches back more than a century, every January the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) displays an outstanding collection of Turner’s radiant watercolours, bequeathed in 1900 by one of the greatest connoisseurs of his work, Henry Vaughan (1809-1899). Conscious that limited exposure would preserve the brilliant colour and exceptional condition of the works, Vaughan stipulated in his will that his Turners should only ever be shown during the first month of the year, when daylight in Edinburgh is at its weakest. The display runs throughout January, providing a thoughtful counterpoint to the more energetic celebrations of Hogmanay, and a welcome injection of light and colour during the darkest time of the year.
This year, another outstanding Turner watercolour from the NGS collection will also be on show. Bell Rock Lighthouse was commissioned 200 years ago by the lighthouse engineer Robert Stevenson (1772-1850) to illustrate his book, Account of the Building of Bell Rock Lighthouse. Bell Rock is the oldest surviving rock lighthouse in the British Isles and Stevenson’s engineering masterpiece. First lit in 1811 and constructed at a cost of £61,331 using revolutionary building methods, it stands on a partially submerged reef off the Angus coast, regarded by sailors as among the most dangerous places on the east coast of Scotland. Turner’s spectacular watercolour shows the lighthouse standing proudly above the pounding waves, an indomitable symbol of Stevenson’s great achievement.
The 38 watercolours that make up the Vaughan Bequest, encapsulate Turner’s entire career, and were carefully chosen for their outstanding quality. Highlights including subtle and meticulous images of the 1790s, such as Rye, Sussex and Lake Albano and the spectacular Venetian views of 1840, such as The Piazzetta, Venice and Venice from the Laguna, which capture the drama and explosive skies of late summer Adriatic storms.
Vaughan was just 21 when he inherited his fortune from his father, who had been a wealthy hat maker. During his lifetime Vaughan devoted himself to travel, collecting fine art and philanthropy and became known as a distinguished and generous collector, most notably for nineteenth-century British art, in particular Turner and Constable.
Born in London in 1775, Turner’s talent was evident from a remarkably young age – the gifted draughtsman was exhibiting works at the Royal Academy by the age of 15. He was a prolific, innovative and energetic artist who went on to exploit every possibility of the watercolour medium, travelling widely to capture stunning land- and seascapes. At first, Turner began his travels with sketching tours in England, Wales and Scotland, then later across Europe, where he gathered material for masterful watercolours and oil paintings.
Turner’s extraordinary command of watercolour technique is evident throughout the works in the bequest, from the delicacy and precision of his illustrations to the work of Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), such as Rhymer’s Glen, Abbotsford and Loch Coruisk, Skye, to the atmospheric light effects of his 1836 views of the Aosta valley in the Alps, including Brenva Glacier from the slopes of Le Chetif above Courmayeur.
Christopher Baker, Director of European and Scottish Art and Portraiture at the National Galleries of Scotland said: “Every January we are delighted to display Turner’s spectacular watercolours, donated with great generosity by the distinguished collector Henry Vaughan. This wonderful tradition has become the
longest running single artist exhibition in the world. In 2019 it will be enriched with Turner’s splendid Bell Rock Lighthouse – an extraordinary depiction of Scotland’s seafaring past. Turner in January is the perfect antidote to the darkness of Edinburgh in winter.”
Laura Chow, head of charities at People’s Postcode Lottery, said: “This is a highlight in the calendar for art enthusiasts and we’re pleased that players have supported the Turner exhibition for the seventh year in a row. We hope that many people will take the opportunity to go along to the National Galleries of Scotland this month to see the pieces on display.”
–ENDS–
Notes to Editors
About People’s Postcode Lottery
- People’s Postcode Lottery is a lottery operator in which people play with their postcodes to win cash prizes, while raising money for charities and good causes across Great Britain and globally.
- A minimum of 32% from each subscription goes directly to charities, and players have raised £371 million for good causes so far.
- For £10 a month, players can win prizes every day: www.postcodelottery.co.uk/prizes
- Maximum amount a single ticket can win is 10% of the draw revenue to a maximum of £400,000.
- Players can sign up by Direct Debit, credit card or PayPal online at www.postcodelottery.co.uk, or by calling 0808 10-9-8-7-6-5.
- Postcode Lottery Limited is regulated by the Gambling Commission under licences number: 000-000829-N-102511-014 and Number: 000-000829-R-102513-013. Registered office: Titchfield House, 69/85 Tabernacle Street, London, EC2A 4RR.
- People's Postcode Lottery manages lotteries promoted by different charities. For details on which society lottery is running each week, visit www.postcodelottery.co.uk/society
Publications
JMW Turner - The Vaughan Bequest Exhibition Book
£14.95 from the National Galleries of Scotland Shop
This richly illustrated book offers an authoritative commentary on the watercolours, addressing questions of technique and function, as well as considering some of the numerous contacts Turner had with other artists, collectors and dealers. This revised edition offers updated research, vibrant colour reproductions of the works, and a luxurious new binding.
7 December 2018
2018 BP Portrait Award opens at the National Galleries of Scotland
The 2018 BP Portrait Award exhibition, which opens at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery on 15 December, will feature 48 stand-out works including An Angel at my Table by Miriam Escofet, which took this year’s first prize.
An Angel at my Table shows Escofet’s elderly mother seated at her kitchen table surrounded by tea crockery. The painting suggests a sense of space, perspective and time which conveys the sitter’s inner stillness and calm. Escofet says she was also conscious whilst painting that she wanted to ‘transmit an idea of the Universal Mother, who is at the centre of our psyche and emotional world.’
A delightful and accomplished portrait by National Galleries of Scotland staff member Laura Nardo will also be displayed as part of this year’s BP Portrait Award exhibition. The painting, titled LTR Team A, which features Nardo’s fellow Security and Visitor Services colleague Vittorio Milazzo, was born out of a friendship between the two colleagues. Nardo and Milazzo share Italian heritage; Nardo was born in Turin and has lived in Scotland since 2013 while Milazzo, a second-generation Scots-Italian, has family connections to Cassino, and Marsala in Sicily.
The winning portrait was selected from 2,667 entries from 88 countries, submitted for judging anonymously by a panel which included journalist Rosie Millard and artist Glenn Brown. Commenting on the portrait, Rosie Millard said ‘The crisp tablecloth and china are rendered so beautifully – and then you see that one of the plates and a winged sculpture on the table appear to be moving which adds a surreal quality to the portrait. It is also a very sensitive depiction of an elderly sitter.’ The artist was presented with a £35,000 prize and a commission, at the National Portrait Gallery Trustees’ discretion, worth £7,000.
The BP Portrait Award is one of the most important platforms for new and established portrait painters alike. Its first prize of £35,000 makes it one of the largest global arts competitions.
The second prize of £12,000 went to American painter, Felicia Forte, for Time Traveller, Matthew Napping, depicting her boyfriend Matthew asleep in bed. The judges were particularly impressed by the artist’s bold use of colour, creating a painting that exudes atmosphere while also being distinctly intimate and personal.
The third prize of £10,000 went to Chinese artist, Zhu Tongyao for Simone, his portrait of his neighbours’ child from his time staying in Florence. The judges appreciated how the work combined the tradition of Renaissance portraiture with the sitter’s modern style that conveyed a compelling portrayal of a youth on the cusp of adulthood.
The BP Young Artist Award of £9,000 for the work of a selected entrant aged between 18 and 30 has been won by 28 year-old Suffolk based artist Ania Hobson for A Portrait of two Female Painters – a portrait of the artist with her sister in law. The judges liked the handling of paint and directness in this work, capturing an interesting air of mystery around the relationship of the two young women.
The winner of the BP Travel Award 2018, an annual prize to enable artists to work in a different environment on a project related to portraiture, was Robert Seidel for his proposal to travel along the route of the river Danube by train, boat and bike to connect with people and make portraits in the regions through which the river passes. The prize of £8,000 is open to applications from any of this year’s BP Portrait Award-exhibited artists, except the prize winners.
The BP Travel Award 2017 was won by Casper White for his proposal to create works about music fans in clubs and concert venues in Berlin and Mallorca, representing an often youth-related subculture that is not traditionally recorded in portrait paintings. The resulting work will also be displayed in the BP Portrait Award 2018 exhibition.
2018 will mark the Portrait Award’s 39th year at the National Portrait Gallery, London and 29th year of sponsorship by BP. This extremely popular annual exhibition, which always proves to be a great success when shown in Scotland, aims to encourage artists over the age of 18 to focus upon and develop the skills of portraiture in their work.
Artists from or working in Scotland featured in the exhibition include Mark H. Lawrence with Mr & Mrs Cooper. Separated. and Laura Nardo with LTR Team A.
Christopher Baker, Director of European and Scottish Art and Portraiture at the National Galleries of Scotland said: “We are delighted to welcome back to Edinburgh and the National Galleries of Scotland the BP Portrait Award. It encompasses a wealth of artistic talent and demonstrates in such an inspiring way the vitality and variety of contemporary painted portraiture. We are particularly pleased this year, to be displaying a painting by Laura Nardo from the National Galleries – the portrait she has made of her colleague Vittorio Milazzo is such an affectionate and engaging work. The BP Portrait Award exhibition and programmes around it will, I am sure, once again prove to be immensely popular.”
BP North Sea Regional President Ariel Flores said: “BP’s support for the arts is part of our wider contribution to society and we are proud of our long association with the prestigious BP Portrait Award. Promoting the very best in contemporary portrait painting, the BP Portrait Award remains an unmissable highlight of the annual arts calendar. We would like to congratulate the prize winners and indeed all who entered. The standard, as always, was of the highest calibre.”
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Notes to Editors
The prize winners and exhibition were selected by a judging panel chaired by Dr Nicholas Cullinan, Director, National Portrait Gallery. The full panel included Dr Caroline Bressey, Cultural and Historical Geographer, University College London; Rosie Broadley, Head of Collection Displays (Victorian to Contemporary) and Senior Curator, 20th-Century Collections, National Portrait Gallery; Glenn Brown, Artist; Rosie Millard, Journalist and Broadcaster and Des Violaris, Director, UK Arts & Culture, BP.
To enter, artists were invited to upload a photograph of their finished painting to the BP Portrait Award website, which were considered by the judges in the first round of the competition. 215 entrants were successful in this round and invited to hand-deliver or courier their work to a venue in London for the second round of judging. From this 48 works were selected for the BP Portrait Award 2018 exhibition.
A fully illustrated catalogue featuring all 48 selected works will accompany the exhibition. The catalogue also includes an essay by Rosie Broadley, an illustrated interview with the BP Travel Award 2017 winner and interviews with the shortlisted artists. The catalogue is priced at £9.99.
BP support for UK Arts & Culture
In the UK, BP is a major supporter of the arts with a programme that spans over 50 years. BP’s investment in long term partnerships with the British Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the Royal Opera House, and the Royal Shakespeare Company represent one of the most significant long-term corporate investments in UK arts and culture www.bp.com/arts
27 November 2018
Powerful abstracts, revolutionary photography, dazzling collage and radical politics:
National Galleries of Scotland announces highlights of 2019 exhibition programme
The National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) today announces a dynamic line-up of exhibitions for 2019. From the dazzling abstraction of Bridget Riley to the political art of Paula Rego; from world-renowned photographers Francesca Woodman, Diane Arbus and Robert Mapplethorpe to the wide-ranging creativity of Cut and Paste: 400 Years of Collage, our 2019 Programme will energise, inspire and encourage us all to look at the world a little differently.
Our major Festival exhibition in summer 2019 celebrates the work of one of the greatest British painters of our time. Bridget Riley is the first major survey of the artist’s work to be held in the UK for 16 years, and the first of its scale to be staged in Scotland. Over the course of a remarkable career, which has spanned seven decades, Bridget Riley (b.1931) has developed a unique visual language, creating compelling abstract paintings which explore the fundamental nature of perception. Through her observations of the natural world, her experience of looking at the work of other artists, and through her own experimentation, Riley has made a deep, personal investigation into the act of painting, and of how we see. At its heart, her work explores the ways in which we learn through looking, using a purely abstract language of simple shapes, forms and colour to create sensations of light, space, volume, rhythm and movement.
Organised by the NGS in close collaboration with the artist herself, and presented in partnership with Hayward Gallery, London, the exhibition will be shown first in Edinburgh, before travelling to Hayward Gallery, where it will be shown from 23 October 2019 until 26 January 2020.
Highlights include early paintings inspired by the work of Georges Seurat, such as Pink Landscape (1960); Riley’s first abstract paintings, Kiss and Movement in Squares (both 1961); and other iconic works, including Current (1964), from the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Paean (1973) from Tokyo’s Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition also includes Late Morning (1967-8) and Rise 1 (1968), key, large-scale colour paintings first shown at the 1968 Venice Biennale, where Riley became the first British contemporary painter and the first woman artist to be awarded the International Prize for painting. The exhibition will trace developments throughout Riley’s career, right up to her latest works, including a selection from her recent series of disc paintings, entitled Measure for Measure (2016-18).
Occupying the whole of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two) during the summer, Cut and Paste: 400 Years of Collage is, remarkably, the first survey exhibition of collage ever to take place anywhere in the world. Collage is often described as a twentieth-century invention, but this show spans a period of more than 400 years and includes more than 250 works.
A huge range of styles, techniques and approaches is on show, from sixteenth-century anatomical ‘flap prints’, to computer-based images; work by amateur, professional and unknown artists; collages by children and revolutionary cubist masterpieces by Pablo Picasso and Juan Gris; from nineteenth century do-it-yourself collage kits to collage films of the 1960s. Highlights include a three-metre-long folding collage screen, purportedly made in part by Charles Dickens; a major group of Dada and Surrealist collages, by artists such as Kurt Schwitters, Joan Miró, Hannah Höch and Max Ernst; and major postwar works by Robert Rauschenberg, Louise Nevelson, Andy Warhol and Peter Blake, including source material for the cover of the Beatles’ album Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
The importance of collage as a form of protest in the 1960s and ’70s will be shown in the work of feminist artists such as Carollee Schneemann, Linder and Hannah Wilke; Punk artists, such as Jamie Reid, whose original collages for the Sex Pistols album and posters will feature; and the famously subversive collages of Monty Python founder Terry Gilliam. The exhibition also features the legendary library book covers which the playwright Joe Orton and his lover Kenneth Halliwell doctored with collages, and put back on Islington Library’s shelves – a move which landed them in prison for six months. In addition, the exhibition also demonstrates how collage remains important for the practice of many artists working today. Owing to the fragility of much of the work, the exhibition will not tour: it can only be seen at the SNGMA in Edinburgh.
Highlighting the richness of the ARTIST ROOMS photography collection, which is jointly owned by NGS and Tate, ARTIST ROOMS: Woodman, Arbus and Mapplethorpe celebrates the work of three of the twentieth century’s most influential photographers. Taking place at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery over the summer, the exhibition includes around 40 works. With a particular focus on self-portraiture and representation, the show explores the connections and similarities between these three Americans, each of whom produced bodies of work that were revolutionary, ground-breaking and at times controversial.
Francesca Woodman began exploring self-identity through photography at thirteen years old and continued to experiment and develop her practice in the following decade, until her tragically early death in 1981. Her photographs speak to her agency in being both the subject and creator of the work. Drawing from the significant holding of Diane Arbus within ARTIST ROOMS, the exhibition will include the limited-edition portfolio, A Box of Ten Photographs (1969-1971), which was selected by Arbus herself and as such, can be seen as representing her creative expression and how she wished to be seen as a photographer. Finally a series of portraits of Robert Mapplethorpe explores the photographer’s varying personas, as expressed for the camera, and poignantly document his declining health as a result of having contracted AIDS. The exhibition will occur during the thirty-year anniversary of his death.
From 2019 to early 2020 the Scottish National Portrait Gallery shows off highlights from an unparalleled collection of Scottish photography recently acquired jointly by the NGS and the National Library of Scotland. Amassed by collector Murray MacKinnon, The MacKinnon Collection documents Scottish life and identity from the 1840s through to the 1940s and includes photographs by William Henry Fox Talbot, David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson, Julia Margaret Cameron, Thomas Annan, Roger Fenton, George Washington Wilson, and others. The MacKinnon Collection is distinguished by the work of photographers who captured unprecedented images that brilliantly transport us back to a century of changing rural communities, growing cities and enduring historic sites, but also illuminate the faces and places that continue to affect our lives today.
Paula Rego is an ambitious retrospective of the Portuguese artist’s work that brings politics to the fore. Spanning Rego’s career from the 1950s through to 2012, the works in this exhibition address António de Oliveira Salazar’s fascist regime, the 1997 referendum on legalising abortion in Portugal, the invasion of Iraq in 2003 by the United States and its allies and, from 2009, female genital mutilation – all of which resonate strongly with contemporary feminist and political issues. Highlights of the exhibition include Dog Woman (1952), Snow White and her Stepmother (1995), The First Mass in Brazil (1993) and Joseph’s Dream (1990). Curated by independent curator Catherine Lampert and organised by MK Gallery (Milton Keynes), and the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, the exhibition includes over 60 loans.
NOW is the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art’s dynamic three-year series of contemporary art exhibitions. The fifth instalment in the series will be centred on a major survey of work by Anya Gallaccio. The Paisley-born artist, who was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2003 and was a prominent figure in the Young British Artists generation, is renowned for her spectacular installations and sculptures. Using all kinds of organic materials, including trees, flowers, candles, sand and ice, she creates temporary works that change over time as they are subjected to natural processes of transformation and decay. Gallaccio also makes more permanent artworks in bronze, ceramics, stainless steel and stone that attempt to capture or arrest these processes. Exploring themes of change, growth and decay, some of the other artists appearing in NOW are Turner Prize nominee Roger Hiorns, the French artist Aurélien Froment and Scottish artist Charles Avery.
Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland Sir John Leighton says he is excited to welcome visitors to this dynamic, daring programme of exhibitions.
“For 2019, we’ve put together a programme of exhibitions that encourages us all think more deeply about the world around us. From Bridget Riley’s work which makes us examine the very way our eyes process images, to Paula Rego who challenges us to look more closely at issues and situations we might rather turn away from. Works from Francesca Woodman, Diane Arbus and Robert Mapplethorpe, as well as the stunning MacKinnon collection show us the extraordinary capacity of photographs to capture life and convey meaning. The final two installments of NOW will allow us to continue to explore the outstanding work being made by both Scottish and international artists today and Cut and Paste: 400 Years of Collage will give us an insight into collage as both hobby and high art. I look forward to welcoming you all to the National Galleries of Scotland in 2019,” Sir John said.
Read the full 2019 exhibition programme or find out more about Bridget Riley
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
ARTIST ROOMS: WOODMAN, ARBUS AND MAPPLETHORPE
6 April – 20 October 2019
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1 Queen Street, Edinburgh EH2 1JD
0131 624 6200 | Admission FREE
#NGSArtistRooms
NOW
Anya Gallacio
Charles Avery
Aurelien Froment
Roger Hiorns
And others
1 June – 22 September 2019
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One)
75 Belford Road, Edinburgh EH4 3DR
0131 624 6200 | Admission FREE
#NGSNOW
CUT AND PASTE: 400 YEARS OF COLLAGE
29 June – 27 October 2019
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two)
73 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DS
0131 624 6200 | Admission TBC
#NGSCutPaste
BRIDGET RILEY
15 June – 22 September 2019
Royal Scottish Academy
Princes St, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL
0131 624 6200 | Admission TBC
#NGSRiley
THE MACKINNON COLLECTION
15 November 2019 – 16 February 2020
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1 Queen Street, Edinburgh EH2 1JD
0131 624 6200 | Admission FREE
#NGSMacKinnon
PAULA REGO
23 November 2019 – April 2020
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two)
73 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DS
0131 624 6200 | Admission TBC
#NGSRego
Bridget Riley will be at the Hayward Gallery, London from 23 October 2019 until 26 January 2020. For information please contact: Clare Callaghan, Press Officer Visual Arts, [email protected], 0207 921 0752
ARTIST ROOMS
ARTIST ROOMS is a touring collection of over 1,600 works of modern and contemporary art. The collection is displayed across the UK in solo exhibitions that showcase the work of more than 40 major artists, and this touring programme gives young people the chance to get involved in creative projects, discover more about art and learn new skills. Since 2009, nearly 50 million people have visited more than 180 displays at over 85 museums and galleries.
ARTIST ROOMS is jointly owned by the National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. The collection was established through The d’Offay Donation in 2008, with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Art Fund, and the Scottish and British Governments. The current ARTIST ROOMS touring programme is delivered by the National Galleries of Scotland and Tate in a partnership with Ferens Art Gallery until 2019, supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, Art Fund and by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland. www.nationalgalleries.org/artistrooms | www.tate.org.uk/artist-rooms | www.artistrooms.org | #ARTISTROOMS
30 October 2018
Warhol and Paolozzi star in new show at Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
Andy Warhol and Eduardo Paolozzi | I Want to be a Machine
17 November 2018 – 2 June 2019
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two)
73 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DS
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission FREE
#WarholPaolozziInspires
Pop Art giants Andy Warhol (1928 - 1987) and Eduardo Paolozzi (1924 - 2005) burst into the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art this autumn with an exhibition exploring their mutual fascination for automation, machines and mechanical processes.
Running from 17 November 2018 to 2 June 2019, Andy Warhol and Eduardo Paolozzi | I Want to be a Machine will consist of two parallel displays devoted to each artist, examining the development of their work from the 1940s onwards. Highlights will include striking images like Warhol’s famous multi-coloured prints of Marilyn Monroe and Paolozzi’s dazzling, kaleidoscopic prints of the ’60s and ’70s.
This exhibition will show how Warhol and Paolozzi drew inspiration from the ubiquitous, mass-produced imagery of popular culture and commerce – packaging, movies, advertising – which exploded in the post-war consumer boom. In the 1950s they used popular images as source material either by tracing them (Warhol) or by bringing them together in collages (Paolozzi), but around 1962-3 they began to exploit the potential of screenprinting, which allowed them to use photographic images as the direct basis for their works, and made the process of producing artworks more mechanised.
Warhol’s first screenprints on paper depicted images of soup cans, race riots and celebrities in a deadpan, flat manner, with no hint of the artist’s feelings about his subject or any expressive, subjective style. Modern printing technology also transformed Paolozzi’s way of working, giving him a greater freedom and allowing him to control the forms and colours of his prints in a similar way to an assembly line, which can turn out the same product in a variety of colours.
Andy Warhol and Eduardo Paolozzi | I Want to be a Machine takes its name from a much-quoted declaration by Andy Warhol, which the artist made in a key interview in 1963. Behind this seemingly facetious and characteristically off-hand quip was Warhol’s genuine desire to create art that reflected and celebrated our increasingly mechanised, industrial society. Across the Atlantic, at the same time, Eduardo Paolozzi was responding directly to the beauty he found in machine forms, and became fascinated by the interface between people and machines - in robots, computers and electronic storage of the world’s knowledge.
The exhibits will be largely drawn from the ARTIST ROOMS Collection, which is jointly owned by National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) and Tate, and from the NGS’s own excellent collection.
Simon Groom, Director, Modern and Contemporary Art, National Galleries of Scotland said: “We’re so thrilled to be able to explore, with our audiences, the fascinating parallel development in the work of these two great pioneers of the Pop Art movement. Their almost simultaneous ‘discovery’ of screenprinting in the early 1960s on both sides of the Atlantic, ushered in a new world of ever-changing bright colours and a celebration of a fast developing consumer society, fuelled by rapid mechanisation. Their work was to change the way the world looked, and was looked at, forever.”
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
Publications
‘I want to be a machine’: Andy Warhol & Eduardo Paolozzi is published by National Galleries of Scotland Publishing on the occasion of this exhibition.
Andy Warhol and Eduardo Paolozzi | I Want to be a Machine-related events can be found via this link here.
15 October 2018
Turner Prize nominee Monster Chetwynd headlines latest instalment of NOW at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
Press view: Thursday 18 October 2018, 11:30-13:00hrs, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Mod One).
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One), 75 Belford Road, Edinburgh EH4 3DR
NOW | Monster Chetwynd, Henry Coombes, Moyna Flannigan, Betye Saar, Wael Shawky
20 October 2018 – 28 April 2019
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One)
75 Belford Road, Edinburgh EH4 3DR
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission FREE
#NOWInspires
Sponsored by the Ampersand Foundation
Works by five ground-breaking contemporary artists will take centre stage at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (SNGMA) this autumn as part of NOW, a dynamic three-year series of contemporary art exhibitions.
Opening on Saturday 20 October, the fourth instalment of the SNGMA’s NOW programme trains a spotlight on the playful, thought-provoking work of Monster Chetwynd (b.1973), Henry Coombs (b. 1977), Moyna Flannigan (b. 1963), Betye Saar (b.1926) and Wael Shawky (b.1971).
Varying in medium, style and approach, the work of each of these artists is connected by a shared desire to challenge convention and invite audiences to think differently about the world around them.
At the heart of the exhibition, a major survey of work by Turner Prize nominee Monster Chetwynd defies expectations about the ways in which art is presented and experienced in gallery spaces. Chetwynd, a British artist, based in Glasgow, is best known for her re-workings of iconic moments from cultural history in spontaneous performances that feature handmade costumes and props. The sources that influence Chetwynd’s work run from Karl Marx and Charles Dickens, to Star Wars and the Addams Family to puppet-based plays riffing on Milton’s Paradise Lost. Chetwynd – formerly known as Spartacus Chetwynd and before that Marvin Gaye Chetwynd – is renowned for her exuberant, improvised performances, which feed into her wider work, embracing sculpture, painting, installation and film. For NOW Chetwynd has produced new paintings and specially commissioned wallpaper, both utilizing imagery drawn from the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) collection, which will be shown alongside existing work exhibited here for the first time in Scotland. Also on show will be works from her long-running series of Bat Opera paintings. To complement the presentation of props and imagery related to her performances, the largest room in the exhibition will be devoted to a display of films documenting some of her key performances.
Based in Glasgow, Henry Coombs makes work that is deeply concerned with hierarchy, both within families and in wider society. His work includes painting, collage, drawing and sculpture, but he is best known for his short films - character portraits for which he creates intricate sets that allow him to explore historical themes. The Bedfords (2009) is a brooding re-imagining of the relationship between celebrated Victorian painter Edwin Landseer (1802–1873) and the Duke and Duchess of Bedford. The film will be shown within a specially conceived room lined with images from the story boards and preparatory paintings and drawings, upon which the artist has made further additions.
Edinburgh-based Moyna Flannigan’s series of new collages and paintings, shown here for the first time, marks a significant transition in her approach to making art. The series, called Tear, continues to develop the artist’s interest in the history of art and painting, as well as the recurring power of the figure. In Tear, Flannigan breaks down each work’s elements to make a new order out of the subsequent components – interrogating accepted ideas about seriality, repetition and beauty.
An iconic figure of the Black Arts Movement of the 1970s, the African-American artist Betye Saar creates complex assemblage sculptures that address issues of race, memory and mysticism. NOW brings the first major presentation in Scotland of work by Saar, whose career has spanned almost seven decades and whose work confronts the oppressive systems that face African-American people, and particularly African-American women, in the United States today. In the 1987 installation Mojotech, created whilst on a residency at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Saar reveals her interest in spirituality and mysticism in the age of technology. Created using found objects, Mojotech features elements with voodoo characteristics, such as amulets and charms, in addition to printed circuit boards, electronic apparatus and other technological parts. Visitors will be invited to leave offerings at Mojotech – a communal and accumulative process that relates to a tradition in African art, in which certain materials are imbued with power by the community, whilst others are considered purely decorative.
Egyptian artist Wael Shawky’s epic film trilogy The Cabaret Crusades explores notions of national, religious and artistic identity and challenges western European narratives about the Crusades, by examining them from an Arab perspective. Drawing on the Lebanese-born French writer Amin Maalouf’s book, The Crusades through Arab Eyes (1983), Shawky uses marionettes to enact the era from Pope Urban II’s call to conquer the Holy Land (1095) to the fall of Constantinople (1453). Skillfully juxtaposing the historical narrative with the childish world of puppetry – seriousness with naivety, fear with humour, horror with entertainment – these films focus on events crucial to the development of an Arab identity.
NOW is the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art’s dynamic three-year series of contemporary art exhibitions. Previous exhibitions have included major presentations by Jenny Saville (b. 1970), Susan Philipsz (b. 1965) and Nathan Coley (b. 1967). NOW shines a light on the extraordinary quality and range of work being made by artists working in Scotland today, from those at the beginning of their career to established talents with an international standing. NOW also features the work of artists from across the globe, placing art created in Scotland in an international context, and demonstrating the crucial exchange between artistic communities around the world.
Speaking about the exhibition, Simon Groom, Director of Modern and Contemporary Art at the NGS, said: “NOW IV builds on the extraordinary success of the previous NOW shows, which have seen audience numbers at the Gallery grow substantially. NOW IV offers a highly immersive exhibition that is playful, anarchic, thought-provoking, and beautiful. The NOW shows offer new ways of seeing and thinking for everyone curious about the world around them. NOW is an exhibition about now, for people interested in what is happening now, by some of the most interesting artists living and making work now.”
The NOW programme is being made possible thanks to the support of the NGS Foundation, Kent and Vicki Logan, Walter Scott and Partners Limited, Robert and Nicky Wilson, The Ampersand Foundation, and other donors who wish to remain anonymous.
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
NOW-related events can be found via this link here.
12 October 2018
Members appointed to the board of the National Galleries of Scotland
The Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop today announced the appointments of Audrey Carlin and Dr Hannah Rudman as Members of the National Galleries of Scotland Board.
MEMBERS
Audrey Carlin is a property and arts focused professional who brings twenty-five years’ experience of capital projects, property management and fundraising to the Board. She is currently Chief Executive Officer at WASPS (Workshops & Artists Studio Provision Scotland), the UK’s largest artist studio provider. Having managed the delivery of major capital projects during her career, she looks forward to supporting NGS with their exciting capital programme as a member of the Board.
Dr Hannah Rudman is an IT and Digital Transformation professional who has personally led the digital transformation of over 150 companies, national organisations and publicly funded institutions. An experienced non-executive Director, Dr Rudman has served as Board Director for the Macrobert Arts Centre, New Media Scotland and Digital North. She was elected as Fellow of the British Computer Society in 2016, as Honorary Fellow at Durham University in 2015 and as Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce in 2007.
APPOINTMENTS
These appointments which are regulated by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland will run for four years from 1 October 2018 to
31 September 2022.
REMUNERATION
These appointments are part-time with a time commitment of ten days per annum and are non-remunerated.
OTHER MINISTERIAL APPOINTMENTS
Audrey Carlin and Dr Hannah Rudman do not hold any other public appointments.
POLITICAL ACTIVITY
All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity within the last five years (if there is any to be declared) to be made public.
Audrey Carlin and Dr Hannah Rudman have not upheld any political activity in the last five years.
BACKGROUND
NGS is a vibrant organisation, employing around 300 staff at its three Edinburgh sites. Its mission is to care for, develop, research and display the national collection of Scottish and international art. This includes a lively and innovative programme of activities, exhibitions, education and publications, which aim to engage, inform and inspire the broadest possible public.
Today, its mission is based on the drive to make the greatest art available, free of charge, to a wide national and international public. NGS is one of Scotland’s most popular cultural destinations, and in 2017 it welcomed more than 2.5 million visitors to its Galleries. It ranks within the top thirty most visited museums anywhere in the world.
Core funded by the Scottish Government, like all public bodies, it must operate within a challenging financial climate and must make the most of opportunities to continue to collaborate with other key national and international institutions from a range of sectors and to generate income from a range of sources. NGS also fulfils a statutory role as one of the nation’s most significant cultural organisations. It operates within the context of the Scottish Government’s national outcomes and strategic objectives, including public service reform.
The organisation is governed by a Board of Trustees which is accountable to the public through Ministers and the Scottish Parliament for the discharging of the functions defined in the National Heritage (Scotland) Act 1906 (as amended in 1985) -.http://origin-www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1985/16/contents
Further information about the National Galleries is available at https://www.nationalgalleries.org
—ENDS—
28 September 2018
Kids can recreate Landseer’s Monarch of the Glen in special week of family art activities
Young visitors to the Scottish National Gallery during the October half-term holidays will be able to recreate one of the world’s most celebrated paintings – Sir Edwin Landseer’s iconic The Monarch of the Glen (c.1851) – in LEGO® bricks.
As part of the National Galleries of Scotland’s special Monarch Makers week, youngsters will be able to help build up a LEGO brick image of the famous artwork over the course of the day on Wednesday 17 October. The finished article will immediately go on display alongside the original painting on the walls of the Scottish National Gallery.
Last year, a similar recreation of John Constable’s masterpiece Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows (1831) was a big hit with young visitors and they will now be able to turn their attention to one of Scotland’s most iconic images.
Numerous art activities will be available for children and families across the whole week, including storytelling and sketching (drawing and collage), daily family art tours, stag-inspired balloon-modelling, puppet making and an interactive music concert for kids.
The special events and the Monarch Makers recreation day will celebrate the end of a recent Scottish tour for Landseer’s masterpiece, which visited major art galleries and a number of schools in the east, west, north, south and centre of the country, before returning to Edinburgh on 30 June.
Throughout the tour, the Galleries have sought to strike up a national conversation around the iconic artwork, by asking audiences of all ages to share their views on the painting and on art in general. This continues at our Monarch Makers event, with visitors able to express their views and engage in discussion at the Talkaoke, a travelling pop-up talk show that has gained popularity in galleries, theatres, conferences and festivals all around Scotland.
Later this year the Monarch will head south, to be shown at London’s National Gallery for the first time in more than 160 years. The gallery once housed the Royal Academy of Arts, the original setting in which the painting received its first ever showing back in 1851. On display in London alongside Landseer’s masterpiece will be artist Sir Peter Blake’s 1966 representation of the painting.
Sir John Leighton, Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland said: “We are delighted to host this special Monarch-related week of family art activities at the Scottish National Gallery. Ever since The Monarch of the Glen entered Scotland’s national art collection, it has been our intention to provide as many youngsters as possible with the opportunity to view, enjoy and engage with the painting. Seeing Constable’s masterpiece recreated in LEGO bricks last year was magnificent and children loved being a part of it, so it will be fantastic to see Landseer’s iconic painting receive the same treatment. We are very much looking forward to capping off the whole landmark tour with these excellent family-orientated art activities”.
Lucy Casot, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Scotland, added: “We are keen that as many people as possible have the opportunity to see this iconic piece of Scottish art in real life. Thanks to funding from the National Lottery, the Monarch’s tour of the country has been a resounding success achieving just that through exhibitions, talks and activities. Monarch Makers will be a fun finale and an opportunity for young people to create their own masterpiece.”
The Monarch of the Glen was acquired in 2017 by the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) after a major fundraising campaign, with overwhelming support from the public, from The National Lottery, Art Fund, private trusts and foundations, Scottish Government acquisition grant funding and by a part gift by previous owners Diageo Scotland Ltd.
It is the Galleries’ ambition to share its collection widely and work in partnership with communities across Scotland, and the Monarch’s tour has been supported with additional funding from The National Lottery and the Scottish Government.
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
Background to the acquisition:
In November 2016 it was announced that NGS had entered into a partnership agreement with Diageo, owners of The Monarch of the Glen. Under the arrangement, Diageo agreed to gift half the estimated market value of the painting to allow NGS the opportunity to acquire the work for £4 million. After securing support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Art Fund, NGS launched a public fundraising campaign to help raise the final amount. Support for the public campaign came from around the world with donations received from Anchorage, Queensland, Los Angeles and Hong Kong and from across the UK from Thurso to Bath totalling over a quarter of a million pounds. An additional £100,000 from the NGS acquisition fund from Scottish Government and donations from private trusts and foundations enabled the £4 million target to be reached.
Breakdown of Funding for the acquisition:
Heritage Lottery Fund: £2.65m
Art Fund: £350,000
Private Trusts and Foundations: £634,000
Public Campaign: £266,000
NGS Acquisition Fund (Scottish Government): £100,000
TOTAL: £4 million
Breakdown of funding for the tour
Heritage Lottery Fund: £100,000
Scottish Government: £75,000
Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF)
Thanks to National Lottery players, we invest money to help people across the UK explore, enjoy and protect the heritage they care about - from the archaeology under our feet to the historic parks and buildings we love, from precious memories and collections to rare wildlife. www.hlf.org.uk. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLottery and #HLFsupported. For further information, please contact Katie Owen, HLF Press Office, on tel: 020 7591 6036/07973 613820
About Art Fund
Art Fund is the national fundraising charity for art. In the past five years alone Art Fund has given £34 million to help museums and galleries acquire works of art for their collections. It also helps museums share their collections with wider audiences by supporting a range of tours and exhibitions, and makes additional grants to support the training and professional development of curators. Art Fund is independently funded, with the core of its income provided by 139,000 members who receive the National Art Pass and enjoy free entry to over 320 museums, galleries and historic places across the UK, as well as 50% off entry to major exhibitions and subscription to Art Quarterly magazine. In addition to grant-giving, Art Fund’s support for museums includes Art Fund Museum of the Year (won by The Hepworth Wakefield in 2017) and a range of digital platforms.
Find out more about Art Fund and the National Art Pass at www.artfund.org
For further information please contact Emma Phillips, [email protected] / 0207 225 4804
27 September 2018
Scotland’s F1 racer honoured by spectacular new portrait at the National Galleries of Scotland
Susie Wolff MBE has been captured in a striking new portrait, which goes on display at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery this week. Wolff, who retired from F1 driving in 2015 and is currently Team Principal of Venturi Formula E racing team in Monaco, is also the founder of Dare to be Different, a high-profile initiative that helps to inspire and develop women who work in, or want to work in, the motor sport arena.
This highly unusual portrait sculpture, which has been created by Scottish artist Angela Palmer, recreates in crystal glass one of the personalised racing helmets worn by Susie Wolff during her career in F1.
Formula 1 race helmets are tailor-made to exacting design specifications to provide the maximum physical protection for individual drivers. To create the portrait, Angela Palmer worked with a team of master glass blowers in Stourbridge near Birmingham (a world-famous centre for glass manufacturing), who made a mould of Wolff’s helmet in brass. Molten lead crystal glass, at a temperature of 1400°c, was then mouth-blown into the mould, forcing the crystal into every detailed crevice. The final stage in the process revealed a beautiful and delicate object whose fragility reminds us of the vulnerability (and bravery) of drivers like Susie, as they take extraordinary risks in pursuit of ever-faster speeds.
Susie Wolff's achievements in motor racing together, with her significant initiative to drive female talent in sport and beyond are an inspiration for today's generation of girls and young women. She was born in Oban in 1982, and grew up in the west coast town, where her parents owned a motorcycle dealership. From a young age Wolff raced karts, and in 2001 she began her professional motor racing career in the Formula Renault UK Championship, where she gained three podium finishes and was twice nominated for British Young Driver of the Year Award. After a brief spell in Formula 3, Wolff made her name with the Mercedes-Benz DTM Team (the German Touring Car Championship) between 2006 and 2012. In 2012 she moved into Formula 1, having being signed by Williams. She entered as a team development driver, holding the position for two seasons before being promoted to a test driver for the 2015 season. At the 2014 British Grand Prix, she made history by becoming the first woman to take part in an F1 race weekend in twenty-two years. In November 2015 Wolff retired from all motorsports and in 2016 launched her own initiative called Dare To Be Different, in collaboration with the UK motor sport governing body, the Motor Sports Association. She is currently an expert analyst for Channel 4's F1 coverage and in June 2018 Susie was appointed as Team Principal of the Monaco-based Venturi Formula E racing team.
Angela Palmer is a graduate of the Royal College of Art in London and the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art at Oxford University. Her sculptures are in permanent collections of museums and institutions around the world including the National Galleries of Scotland, the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, the Royal College of Physicians, London and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington in the US. Palmer is fascinated by complex forms, and her interests range from human anatomy to engineering. She has explored different materials and craftsmanship to map and represent character and structure, and her recent work has responded to the beautiful forms found within engines, and in particular Formula 1, which is the laboratory for the most technologically advanced, and highest performing, car engines in the world. The artist was given unprecedented access to engineering data from which she created a recent series of sculptures.
Christopher Baker, Director of European and Scottish Art and Portraiture, said: “The Scottish driver Susie Wolff has excelled in the world of motor racing and as an advocate for female talent in sport, and we are delighted that she is now represented in the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland in such a fascinating, thought-provoking and unconventional way. This crystal glass racing helmet, based on one of Wolff’s own, and so carefully crafted through the expertise of Angela Palmer and her collaborators, represents a fascinating form of suggestive representation. It is intimate, elegant and intriguing - a sculpture which both refers to the subject’s outstanding success, and moves beyond the boundaries of conventional portraiture”.
Susie Wolff said: “I have the deepest admiration for Angela Palmer and her work so having my helmet as her subject has been a true honour for me. I think the sculpture is stunning and very striking, it’s the most incredible combination of strength with fragility.Seeing the completed piece makes me feel enormously proud and I’m very grateful to Angela for her time and her talent. Just as sport can, art has the capacity to cross so many boundaries, like education, race and religion. I’m delighted to see both sport and art combined in such a brilliant and personal piece of work".
Angela Palmer said: “I met my fellow Scot Susie Wolff, and was immediately struck by the strength of her character and her routine acceptance of the risks as a Formula 1 test driver. She was as gifted and fearless as her male counterparts; her goal was not to be the best female driver in the world, but to be the best driver in the world. This was a difficult proposition for many observers who struggled to overcome their prejudice in this male dominated environment. Interestingly, Susie’s helmet played a significant role in bestowing her equal status as a driver: once her helmet was on, no-one knew if she was male or female. The helmet gave her anonymity, and rendered the gender issue irrelevant. I became equally fascinated by that most potent ingredient which attracts so much of the sport’s following – the acute and heightened sense of risk as drivers slice between each other at over 350km/h with only millimeters to spare. I chose crystal for its fragility, to echo the vulnerable membrane of the skull."
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
Susie Wolff: Portrait of a Racing Driver by Angela Palmer is numbered one in an edition of four and is on display at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery now. Its display is part of National Sporting Heritage Day - a focal point for sporting heritage in the UK - which in 2018, falls on 30 September.
Susie Wolff's website can be found here: www.susiewolff.com
Dare to be Different website can be found here: www.daretobedifferent.org
Angela Palmer's website can be found here: www.angelaspalmer.com
Sporting Heritage website can be found here: www.sportingheritage.org.uk
Angela Palmer's self-portrait, Brain of the Artist was acquired by the National Galleries of Scotland in 2014 and was selected for inclusion in the publication 100 Masterpieces from the National Galleries of Scotland by the Director-General, Sir John Leighton. Brain of the Artist featured in the 2015-16 touring exhibition Facing the World: Self-portraits from Rembrandt to Ai Weiwei which was on display at the Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery
- New gallery spaces, filled with light and colour, will proudly showcase Scottish art for everyone to fully enjoy
- Beautiful new public space in the heart of the capital - extensive new landscaping and accessible paths will link the Gallery to Princes St Gardens
- New displays across the entire Scottish National Gallery, informed by research into the needs and expectations of our audiences
- Gallery will remain open throughout the project
Ambitious plans to create an internationally significant new setting for the world’s greatest collection of Scottish art were revealed today, as work to transform the Scottish National Gallery (SNG) gets underway.
This major project will completely transform the way Scottish art is shown at the Gallery, which stands in the heart of Edinburgh’s World Heritage Site. The £22m scheme will create a new suite of galleries that will be directly accessible from the adjoining Princes St Gardens, and provide a light-filled, new home for the Gallery’s unrivalled collection of Scottish art, raising its profile for visitors from all over the world.
The vision for the project has been driven by the National Galleries’ ambition to ensure that the widest number of people can enjoy our art and activities. The displays in the new galleries will be directly informed by extensive research into the needs of existing and potential audiences.
For the first time in a generation, there will be new displays drawn from the Scottish and international collection throughout the entire Gallery. This fresh approach will allow us to tell much richer stories about Scotland’s art reflecting the international significance of pioneering figures such as Allan Ramsay, Gavin Hamilton and Sir David Wilkie.
The scope of the new displays, which will be revealed when the new galleries open in early 2021, will also be broader, encompassing the work of early 20th-century artists such as Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Stanley Cursiter and the Scottish Colourists S J Peploe and F C B Cadell.
The project will create a beautiful new space in the heart of Edinburgh, which will be free for everyone to use and enjoy. A series of large windows, running the length of the new gardens-level façade, will fill the galleries with light and colour, and offer spectacular views over one of the most celebrated cityscapes in the world. Extensive new landscaping in the gardens will radically improve access to this much-loved part of the city, and the project will also create a larger shop, brand new café and more accessible restaurant.
Specific activities on completion of the project include a dedicated family day one day a week, more volunteers in galleries to talk with people about the art and ensuring that our interpretation is appealing to everyone.
Construction work on the project - which is supported by The National Lottery and Scottish Government - will begin in October. During construction, the Gallery will be open as usual with free admission. The first milestone will be the opening of a new coffee shop in early 2019, followed by a refreshed restaurant and shop, as well as a new accessible path.
Speaking today, Sir John Leighton, Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “This is a hugely exciting time for us, as we see our ambitious plans for the Scottish National Gallery getting underway. We will create the perfect showcase for the nation’s extraordinary collection of Scottish art, giving it room to breathe and showing it off with real pride to the world. This ambitious project will completely transform the experience of our visitors, creating a National Gallery that is even more open, engaging and inviting with new presentations of Scotland’s art in a setting that will be truly world-class. All will be welcome whether to come in and immerse themselves in the highly romantic paintings of the Scottish Highlands, to take part in a family day or just to linger, enjoy the views and maybe pick up one of our sketch pads.”
Dr Tricia Allerston, Co-Director, Scottish National Gallery Project, added: “Visitor numbers to the Scottish National Gallery have almost doubled in the past ten years but fewer than one in six of them made their way to the cramped, dark spaces which used to house the national collection of Scottish art. Soon, visitors will be able easily to discover, appreciate and enjoy our highly significant collections of Scottish art through a series of innovative displays designed expressly to engage them. Imagine looking at a painting of Sir Walter Scott and then looking out of the windows into Princes Street Gardens, a landscape created during his lifetime and which is now dominated by the great monument marking his international fame. Or being able to appreciate the stunning Scottish landscapes painted outdoors by the Glasgow Boys and then looking out onto a real, natural world.”
The SNG redevelopment has been designed by one of Scotland’s leading architectural practices, Hoskins Architects, which has been widely praised for a number of high-profile designs in the arts and cultural sector. The new designs will place the main entrance to the SNG in Princes St Gardens, giving instant access to the Scottish collection, and much easier routes to the rest of the building as a whole. Additional display space will be created by transforming former offices, and the design will seamlessly connect the Gallery with the gardens beyond.
During construction work we intend to keep disruption in the surrounding area and in the Gallery itself to a minimum, though there will be some room closures as galleries are rehung, and the facilities in the gallery are refreshed. To enable excavation works to the galleries directly beneath, the Playfair Steps, at the rear of the SNG, will be closed for the duration of the building work.
Aside from a short period in early 2019, the Mound precinct will remain open, and events such as the Christmas market will go ahead as scheduled.
Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs Fiona Hyslop, said: “This exciting project will further enhance our nation’s profile and raise the international profile of our world-class galleries, ensuring that visitors in Scotland and from all over the world can enjoy our arts and cultural heritage. I am very pleased that the Scottish Government will contribute £5.5 million towards ensuring that the Scottish National Gallery gives the national collection of Scottish artworks the prominence and public access it deserves.”
Lucy Casot, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Scotland, said: “This is a hugely exciting time for Scotland’s arts and cultural heritage with the recent openings of Mackintosh at the Willow and the V&A Dundee and now the beginning of a wonderful new gallery, none of which would be possible without funds from the National Lottery playing public.This, the most important collection of Scottish Art in the world, will be given a bright, modern gallery worthy of its impressive heritage bringing joy and inspiration to all those who visit.”
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
Funding figures from Scottish Government and Heritage Lottery Fund
Scottish Government: £5.5 million
Heritage Lottery Fund: £4.94 million
3 September 2018
Pop Art, pin-ups, puppets and portraits; National Galleries of Scotland announces autumn exhibitions
Two giants of Pop Art, one of the UK’s most exciting contemporary artists and the world-famous posters of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec will be the focus of key exhibitions at the National Galleries of Scotland this autumn, it is announced today.
Among the highlights of the autumn line-up, I Wat to be a Machine, at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (SNGMA), will reveal how a fascination for machines and mechanical processes inspired the work of both the American Andy Warhol and British artist Eduardo Paolozzi.
Also at the SNGMA, the exuberant, beguiling, multi-layered and spontaneous art of Turner-Prize nominee Monster Chetwynd will be at the heart of the fourth instalment of NOW, the SNGMA’s dynamic three-year series of contemporary art exhibitions.
The spectacular Pin-ups: Toulouse Lautrec and the Art of Celebrity at the Royal Scottish Academy will bring together an extraordinary collection of iconic posters, by Lautrec and his contemporaries, which heralded a revolution in design and the birth of modern celebrity culture.
And, rounding off the year, the much-loved BP Portrait Award, which attracts outstanding portrait artists from around the world, will return to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (SNPG) in December. With the exception of Pin-ups, entry to all of these exhibitions will be free.
I Want to be a Machine takes its name from a much-quoted declaration by Andy Warhol, which the artist made in a key interview in 1963. Behind this seemingly facetious and characteristically off-hand quip was Warhol’s genuine desire to create art that reflected and celebrated our increasingly mechanized, industrial society. Across the Atlantic, at the same time, Eduardo Paolozzi was responding directly to the beauty he found in machine forms, and became fascinated by the interface between man and machine - in robots, computers and electronic storage of the world’s knowledge.
Both artists also drew inspiration from popular and commercial imagery – packaging, movies, advertising – which exploded in the post-war consumer boom. In the 1950s they used popular images as source material either by copying them (Warhol) or by bringing them together in collages (Paolozzi), but around 1962-3 they began to exploit the potential of screenprinting, which allowed them to use photographic images as the direct basis for their works, and made the process of producing artworks more ‘mechanised’.
Warhol’s first screenprints on paper depicted images of soup cans, race riots and celebrities in a deadpan, flat manner, with no hint of the artist’s feelings about his subject or any expressive, subjective style. Modern printing technology also transformed Paolozzi’s way of working, giving him a greater freedom and allowing him to control the forms and colours of his prints in a similar way to an assembly line, which can turn out the same product in a variety of colours.
Tracing this fascinating parallel development in the two artists’ work, I Want to be a Machine will include rarely seen Warhol drawings from the 1950s, his famous multi-coloured prints of Marilyn Monroe (on loan from Tate) and a group of recently acquired ‘stitched’ photographs. The Paolozzi works on show will include early collages made in the 1950s, dazzling, kaleidoscopically coloured prints of the ’60s and ’70s, and a group of sculptures which demonstrates how the artist’s approach to printmaking was mirrored by his works in three dimensions.
The exhibits will be largely drawn from ARTIST ROOMS Collection, which is jointly owned by National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) and Tate, and from the NGS’s own excellent collection.
The fourth instalment of NOW, which opens at the SNGMA (Modern One) on 20 October, will be centred on a major survey of work by Monster Chetwynd. The London-born, Glasgow-based artist – who has previously gone by the names Spartacus Chetwynd and Marvin Gaye Chetwynd – is renowned for her exuberant, improvised performances, which rework iconic moments from cultural history and feature multiple props, costumes and collaborators. These performances also feed into her wider work, which embraces sculpture, painting, installation and video. NOW will feature the first showing in Scotland of new paintings, as well as specially commissioned wallpaper by Chetwynd, composed from imagery of artworks from the NGS collection, collaged with photographs and overpainted by the artist. Also on show will be works from her long-running series of Bat Opera paintings. To complement the presentation of props and imagery related to her performances, the largest room in the exhibition will be devoted to a display of films documenting some of her key performances.
NOW will also bring together new and recent work by four artists who share Chetwynd’s desire to challenge conventions. These include new collages and paintings by Edinburgh-based Moyna Flannigan, a video installation by Glasgow-based Henry Coombes, and the first major presentations in Scotland of installation and video work by the celebrated 92–year-old African-American artist Betye Saar and Egyptian artist Wael Shawky. Saar was born in Los Angeles in 1926, and her career has spanned almost seven decades. She is best known for her collages, assemblages and installations, which incorporate objects, personal memorabilia, and other materials gathered from a lifetime of searching flea markets, thrift shops and yard sales. Her highly political work challenges racial and sexist stereotypes deeply rooted in American culture, and her 1987 installation Mojotech, which will be on show in NOW, also reveals her interest in spirituality and mysticism in the age of technology. Three films by Shawky, which have been inspired by a re-telling of the history of the Crusades from an Arab perspective, will be shown over the run of the exhibition. Exploring notions of national, religious and artistic identity, these epic recreations of medieval clashes between Muslims and Christians were filmed using 200-year-old marionettes from the Lupi collection in Turin, Italy.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) has long been admired for the startlingly modern posters he designed in Paris at the end of the 19th century, which perfectly encapsulate the vibrant, bohemian atmosphere of the city in the era known as the ‘Belle Époque’. His career coincided with a revolutionary moment, just as the poster emerged as an important means of mass-marketing.
Pin-Ups: Toulouse Lautrec and The Art of Celebrity will bring together around 75 posters, prints, paintings and drawings by Lautrec and contemporaries, such as Pierre Bonnard, Théophile Alexandre Steinlen and Jules Chéret, the ‘father of the modern poster’. These will include many of the artist’s finest graphic artworks made for legendary nightclubs such as the Moulin Rouge and the Ambassadeurs.
The BP Portrait Award is the most prestigious portrait competition in the world and represents the very best in contemporary portrait painting. Organised by the National Portrait Gallery in London and sponsored by BP, it carries a first prize of £35,000, and a total prize fund of £74,000; this year’s winner was London-based artist Miriam Escofet, whose stunning portrait of her mother, An Angel at my Table, was selected from 2,667 entries submitted by artists from 88 countries. Every year the BP Portrait Award exhibition showcases around 50 outstanding entries, including the work of all of the prize-winners, who in 2018 include American painter Felicia Forte and Chinese artist Zhu Tongyao.
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
PIN-UPS
TOULOUSE-LAUTREC AND THE ART OF CELEBRITY
6 October 2018 – 20 January 2019
Royal Scottish Academy
Princes St, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission: £11.50 (concessions available)
25 and under £6.50
NOW
Monster Chetwynd
Henry Coombes
Moyna Flannigan
Betye Saar
Wael Shawky
20 October 2018 – 28 April 2019
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One)
75 Belford Road, Edinburgh EH4 3DR
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission FREE
#NOWInspires
Press View: Thursday 18 October 2018
I Want to be a Machine Andy Warhol and Eduardo Paolozzi
17 November 2018 – 2 June 2019
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two)
73 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DS
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission FREE
#WarholPaolozziInspires
Press View: Thursday 15 November 2018
BP Portrait Award
15 December 2018 – 10 March 2019
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1 Queen Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1JD
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission FREE
#BPPortrait
Press View: Thursday 13 December 2018
31 August 2018
National Galleries of Scotland acquire powerful sculptural work by Turner Prize-nominee Christine Borland
A poignant and powerful sculptural work which marks the contributions of organ donors and honours their families, created by one of the UK’s most celebrated artists, has been acquired by the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS), it is announced today, in the days before Organ Donation Week 2018 commences.
Positive Pattern (2016) is the latest artwork by leading contemporary artist and Turner Prize-nominee Christine Borland (b. 1965) to enter Scotland’s national art collection.
The artwork – originally commissioned by the Institute of Transplantation in Newcastle – is currently on display as part of NOW, a major three-year series of exhibitions launched at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (SNGMA) in 2017 to showcase the work of some of the most compelling and influential artists of today.
Visitors to NOW still have two more weeks to catch the sculptures The Scotsman recently described as, “delicate, private things… human in scale yet strangely other, negative space given substance. Somehow, [Borland] seems to have captured something of the essence of the transplant process, with its simultaneous dramas of life and loss”.
Christine Borland studied at Glasgow School of Art (GSA) and at the University of Ulster, Belfast. In 1997 she was shortlisted for the Turner Prize and over the last two decades her work has been internationally exhibited Borland was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt) from the University of Glasgow in 2016 and is a Professor of Fine Art at Northumbria University, Newcastle.
Borland has often collaborated with specialists in other fields, exploring areas such as forensic science, the history of medicine, medical ethics and human genetics. Positive Pattern was commissioned by the Institute of Transplantation to honour the courage and generosity of organ donors and their families, who help save and transform the lives of hundreds of people every year. At its centre is the idea of making visible an absence or a presence that is unseen. The artist worked closely with staff at the Institute and donor families for over two years, and alongside such intimate conversation, also drew inspiration from the work of acclaimed British artist Barbara Hepworth (1903–75), who placed importance on human connection and the role of internal intuition. Hepworth once noted, “I rarely draw what I see — I draw what I feel in my body”.
Comprising five abstract sculptures produced in dense foam, Positive Pattern recreates in three dimensions the empty interior spaces of five of Hepworth’s carved wooden sculptures, including Wave (1943-44), which resides in the Galleries’ collection. To make the work, interior cavities of Hepworth’s sculptures were laser–scanned, and the resulting data translated into 3–D computer renders. These were then transformed into physical objects by using a CNC (Computer Numerical Control) routing machine that carved the sculptures from specialist CNC milling foam. The five elements of the work are held in specially designed museum cases, displayed at a height which loosely matches that of a number of human organs, such as the brain or the heart. Borland has described these sculptures as, “abstract shapes suspended inside museum cases, which evoke an air of waiting; perhaps for a future, as yet un–imagined function”.
Speaking about the moving experience of working on this powerful project, Borland said: “As an artist, I connected with the surprisingly visceral but tender descriptions and imaginings of interior and exterior spaces of the body which featured in many of our discussions. In particular I was taken by how relatives described the way they processed the loss of a loved one by imagining how they have helped to save the life of another – by offering up a part of their physical being. It was the sense of this absent, but vital ‘other’ that became the central theme of the artwork”.
Positive Pattern is in an edition of three, with the first version in the edition held on permanent display at the Institute of Transplantation; NGS has acquired the second in the edition through the generosity of the Iain Paul Fund.
The artist Christine Borland said: “I’m so pleased that Positive Pattern, which means such a lot to me, has entered the national art collection, and is currently being exhibited in the exquisite space of SNGMA as part of NOW. I know that all who generously supported me in the initial production of this work in Newcastle will be delighted that new audiences can have access to its central narrative”.
Simon Groom, Director of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “We are delighted to have acquired such a powerful, innovative and reflective sculptural work for Scotland’s national art collection. Borland is wholly unique in her discipline and has also been an integral feature of the third instalment of NOW, our ambitious programme of contemporary art which showcases the extraordinary quality and range of work being made by artists associated with Scotland as well as those from across the globe. So we are thrilled to ensure this poignant and thought-provoking project can become a permanent fixture of the collection”.
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
Positive Pattern will be on display in NOW at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) until 16 September 2018.
27 August 2018
National Galleries of Scotland seeks creative partner to support ambitious vision
The National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) is looking for a creative partner to support our ambitious vision and help us to reach and engage more audiences and diverse groups via a refreshed brand.
A new visual identity and tone of voice across all elements of the brand will be developed in conjunction with the successful creative partner. A refreshed brand is a core part of the NGS Strategy, and will help to position NGS as inclusive, original and ambitious in an ever-evolving world.
A two-stage open process is being used to appoint a creative partner to work on this creative brand brief. The first stage of the tender process closes at 12 noon on 25 September 2018. A maximum of six submissions will be shortlisted to be taken through to the second stage.
It is expected that a creative partner will be appointed before the end of 2018. A detailed timeline for the creative development and implementation will be developed in conjunction with the appointed creative partner.
Jo Coomber, Director of Public Engagement at the National Galleries of Scotland said: "We have grown our visitor numbers year on year and last year attracted a record 2.5 million people and over 1.9 million visits to our website, but we know that we need to keep evolving to ensure that we continue to remain relevant".
"We are passionate about the power of art and how it can move, inspire and inform. It has a wider transformational impact on lives though by supporting health and wellbeing, expression of thoughts and social skills. Creativity also helps to empower young people, building their self-confidence and critical thinking skills. We want to ensure that the widest possible audiences enjoy our art and activities and that we are seen as inclusive, ambitious and truly engaging and original".
"We have undertaken significant audience research and brand strategy development work, which will be invaluable in informing this next stage in our evolution. This is an exciting opportunity for both ourselves and a creative partner to help us achieve our strategic aims."
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
The National Galleries of Scotland cares for, develops, researches and displays the national collection of Scottish and international art and, with a lively and innovative programme of activities, exhibitions, education and publications, aims to engage, inform and inspire the broadest possible public. There are three spectacular sites in Edinburgh, which are home to Warhols and Hockneys, Botticelli and Da Vinci and, of course, the world’s greatest collection of Scottish art and photography plus much more from the Middle Ages right through to the modern day:
The Scottish National Gallery on The Mound
The Scottish National Portrait Gallery on Queen Street
The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art on Belford Road
Art is also taken on tour and loaned across the UK and abroad – with art currently on loan as far afield as Australia, Japan and the US and across Europe. The entire collection is also being digitised so that it can be shared online even more widely.
The tender document can be found on the Public Contracts Scotland website.
13 August 2018
Posters, prints and Parisian bohemia take centre-stage in Toulouse-Lautrec’s first major National Galleries of Scotland show
PIN–UPS | TOULOUSE-LAUTREC
AND THE ART OF CELEBRITY
6 October 2018 – 20 January 2019
Royal Scottish Academy
Princes St, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission £11.50/£9.50 (walk in) | £10/£8 (online)
Under 25s £6.50 (walk in) /£5 (online) | Under 12s free
Free for Our Friends
#ToulouseLautrec
Sponsored by Aegon
The vibrant, bohemian atmosphere of Paris at the end of the 19th century will take centre stage in a spectacular new exhibition at the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) this autumn, which focuses on extraordinary posters that heralded a revolution in design and the birth of modern celebrity culture.
Pin-Ups: Toulouse Lautrec and The Art of Celebrity is the first NGS exhibition to explore the work of one of the most innovative and popular French artists of the era known as the ‘Belle Époque’. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) was an outstanding painter, printmaker and caricaturist renowned above all for his immersion in the theatrical and celebrity culture of Paris. This exhibition will bring together around 75 posters, prints, paintings and drawings by Lautrec and contemporaries such as Pierre Bonnard, Théophile Alexandre Steinlen and Jules Chéret, the ‘father of the modern poster’. These will include many of the artist’s finest graphic artworks made for legendary nightclubs such as the Moulin Rouge and the Ambassadeurs.
The exhibition will also include the work of British artists who were drawn to the dynamic café culture of Paris, such as Walter Sickert, Arthur Melville, J D Fergusson and William Nicholson.
Lautrec has long been admired for the startlingly modern posters he designed and for his mastery of the recently developed printmaking technique of lithography. His career coincided with a revolutionary moment, just as the poster emerged as an important means of mass-marketing. Lithography and poster-making were central to his creative process from 1891, when he made his first experiments in the technique.
Paris, the 'city of pleasure’, was renowned for its cabarets, dance halls and cafés; most famous of all were the nightspots of the district of Montmartre on the edge of Paris, where Toulouse-Lautrec worked and socialised. Pin-ups will focus on the artist’s lithographic posters, portfolio prints and illustrations which made famous Montmartre’s venues and their stars – personalities such as Yvette Guilbert, Jane Avril and Aristide Bruant.
Lautrec was born into aristocracy in Albi, near Toulouse in south-west France. His parents were first cousins, which resulted in serious health problems, most notably a rare bone disorder which halted the growth of his legs and caused him to walk with a cane. Displaying great natural talent, he pursued a career as an artist, receiving training in Paris from Léon Bonnat and Fernand Cormon, and finding his favourite subjects – performers and women working in prostitution – in the vibrant, liberated world of bohemian Montmartre. He exhibited with the Société des Artistes Indépendants and in solo shows in Paris, Brussels and London, but secured wider success and his own celebrity through his lithographic posters.
Lautrec witnessed the Parisian demi monde as artist and observer but also as participant, and could be found every night drinking and sketching at his favourite haunts. However, his debauched lifestyle, which included regularly imbibing the notorious (and subsequently banned) spirit absinthe, eventually took its toll and from 1897 onwards his health deteriorated rapidly. Alcoholism and syphilis contributed to his early death in 1901 at the age of only thirty-six.
Pin-Ups will capture the colour and excitement of this period of economic prosperity and cultural optimism. This was a climate that gave rise to a new mass-celebrity and consumer culture and a golden age of the poster. Public enthusiasm for these images was such that they were removed from walls by collectors, sometimes as soon as they were put up, a process that transformed ephemeral advertising to a collectable form of fine art which bridged ‘high’ and popular culture for the first time.
A highlight of the exhibition is the iconic poster Moulin Rouge - La Goulue (1891), on loan from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. A landmark in Lautrec’s career, this was the first poster he designed and was his earliest experiment with colour lithography. Some 3000 copies of the poster, which advertised the dancer ‘La Goulue’ performing at the Moulin Rouge, were pasted across the streets of Paris, turning Lautrec from a virtually unknown artist to a household name literally overnight.
The exhibition will also include a selection of posters by Jules Chéret, whose pioneering designs – characterised by their bright colours and inclusion of glamourous stars – were the first to bring real artistry to the advertising industry. On display will be one of his most famous designs, his poster for the American dancer Loïe Fuller, who took Paris by storm when she debuted at the Folies-Bergère in 1892.
Lautrec’s 1892 poster for the nightclub singer and poet Aristide Bruant has become one of the most memorable and frequently reproduced images of the era. A savvy self-promoter, Bruant was one of the first stars to enlist Lautrec to market his act and went on to give the artist more commissions than any other performer. Lautrec’s promotion of the singer made him recognisable across the whole city – so many copies of the poster were pasted on the streets it was said to be impossible to ‘take a step without finding yourself face to face with it’.
Another iconic poster on display in Pin-Ups is Tournée du Chat Noir avec Rodolphe Sali by Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen. Featuring the bold silhouette of the black cat that gave the celebrated Montmartre nightclub its name, the poster has become one of the most recognisable commercial images of all time.
Christopher Baker, Director of European and Scottish Art and Portraiture at the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “This fascinating exhibition provides an opportunity to taste the decadence and visual richness of culture in late nineteenth-century Paris. The elegance and inventiveness of Toulouse-Lautrec’s brilliant designs which helped transform contemporary performers into stars and have an enduring appeal will be set in the wider context of his contemporaries’ riveting work.”
Aegon chief executive, Adrian Grace said: “Collaboration between businesses like Aegon and the cultural sector is a great way of making modern visual art widely accessible. Bringing the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition to Edinburgh allows visitors to be engaged and inspired by some wonderful works of art and we are delighted to be able to support this.”
Publications
Pin-Ups: Toulouse-Lautrec and the Art of Celebrity is published by National Galleries of Scotland Publishing on the occasion of this exhibition.
Pin-Ups: Toulouse-Lautrec and the Art of Celebrity
Hannah Brocklehurst and Frances Fowle
120pp; 100 colour illustrations; Paperback; £19.95; ISBN 978 1 911054 21 4
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
Pin Ups: Toulouse-Lautrec and the Art of Celebrity-related events can be found via this link here.
31 July 2018
Portrait of Scottish superstar Calvin Harris to enter nation’s art collection
The National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) is absolutely delighted to announce it has acquired a portrait of one of the most successful and influential music artists working today, the Scottish songwriter and DJ Calvin Harris.
The photographic portrait will be the first image of Harris to enter the NGS collection and will go on display immediately in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (SNPG) in Edinburgh.
The internationally known musician – real name Adam Richard Wiles (b. 1984) – was photographed by the English photographer Paul Stuart (b. 1971) as part of a commission by GQ Italia magazine in February 2015.
The large chromogenic print shows Harris seated on a trestle table, his profile diagonal to the camera, his hands resting on his lap and sleeves rolled up. Stuart has captured the artist looking deeply thoughtful yet poised.
As Calvin Harris, the Scot has achieved remarkable success as a DJ, singer, songwriter, record producer, model and entrepreneur. Born in Dumfries, he first began making demos in his bedroom in 1999, before going on to release his first single at the age of 18. Harris' sound is predominantly inspired by music from the 1980s, along with groups such as Jamiroquai and Fatboy Slim. In 2010 he launched his own record label Fly Eye Records.
Harris became one of the most popular artists in the world, accruing recognition at the very highest level, with Grammy, Ivor Novello and MTV Europe Music awards among his accolades. Harris is also the highest-paid DJ in the world, a title he has held since 2013, and has broken numerous long-standing records in the UK and American music charts. He recently extended a deal to be resident DJ at a nightclub within Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas until 2020.Closer to home, the DJ has a massive following in his native Scotland, regularly headlining music festivals and selling-out standalone appearances in minutes.
The photographer Paul Stuart was born in West Sussex and studied at the University of Wales, Newport from where he obtained a first class degree in documentary photography. He is now based in London and specialises in portraiture, with his photographs regularly appearing in publications such as GQ, The Guardian and the Sunday Times; his work is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London.
While Stuart has exhibited work as part of the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize that was displayed at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in spring 2016, this will be the first of his photographs to be represented in the permanent collection.
Christopher Baker, Director, European and Scottish Art and Portraiture at the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “Calvin Harris has made a remarkable contribution to music both in Scotland and globally over the last decade and we are absolutely delighted to have him represented in Scotland’s national collection. Few artists can equal the impact he has made on contemporary culture, and Paul Stuart’s portrait is a reflective, exceptional image which the many visitors to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery will now be able to enjoy”.
Paul Stuart said: "I found Calvin to be thoughtful and considerate and at 6ft 5’ he is also physically striking. In contrast to his profession, I am interested in silence to create an atmosphere. It is an honour to have my work included in the National Galleries of Scotland”.
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
The portrait of Calvin Harris by Paul Stuart is on display in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery now.
Paul Stuart’s website can be found here: www.paulstuart.co.uk
24 July 2018
First portrait of HRH The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay, to enter Scotland’s national art collection
A stunning new portrait of HRH The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay, will be unveiled in the Great Hall of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (SNPG) in Edinburgh today (Tuesday 24 July 2018).
The portrait, painted in oil on linen, is the work of the distinguished artist Victoria Crowe and was painted at Birkhall on the Balmoral Estate in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland earlier this year. This is the first portrait of the Duke of Rothesay to enter the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) collection.
Victoria Crowe OBE FRSE RSA (b.1945) is a widely admired artist whose practice encompasses portraiture, still life and landscapes. Portraits by her are included in a number of major public and private collections, including that of the National Galleries of Scotland.
The first major exhibition of Crowe’s portraits, Victoria Crowe: Beyond Likeness, which is now on show at the SNPG, will be a highlight of the 2018 Edinburgh Art Festival programme, which opens this week and runs until 26 August. Victoria Crowe: Beyond Likeness will continue until 18 November.
Crowe often uses objects and other personal symbols and sympathetic settings to evoke the personalities of her sitters, and the resulting portraits are richly layered with personal resonance and meaning. Numerous prominent cultural figures, ranging from actors, authors, publishers, composers and scientists, including Nobel Laureate Sir Peter Higgs, composer Thea Musgrave and astrophysicist Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell are among the sitters whose portraits are included in Beyond Likeness.
Victoria Crowe commented on her new portrait of The Duke of Rothesay: “This commission was a very great pleasure… I had four sittings at Birkhall. The first visit was intensely vivid, with beautiful light on the landscape, thick snow around and plummeting temperatures. His Royal Highness was extremely relaxed and generous during the sittings and we talked about painting, the Royal Drawing School and shared interests, as well as attitudes to conservation and ecology. The more we spoke the more I realised the importance Birkhall and the sanctuary it had provided. So, the landscape element of the painting became very specific. I felt that so much of his thinking was rooted in a deep love of the natural world… and indelibly linked with a philosophy of respect and sustainability. I was not painting a symbol of power or establishment but an engaging, thoughtful and sympathetic human being. Because of time constraints, I had to paint as directly as possible... no time for many sketches”.
Christopher Baker, Director of European and Scottish Art and Portraiture at the National Galleries of Scotland said: “We are delighted with this new portrait for the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland. It is a deeply thoughtful and sensitive portrayal of His Royal Highness and encompasses all the subtlety, insight and delight in painterly effects that Victoria Crowe’s work is rightly renowned for. It also perfectly complements the experience of seeing her impressive exhibition currently at the Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. ”
—ENDS—
17 July 2018
Exceptional portrait with an extraordinary history is first painting by Leonora Carrington in Scottish national art collection
This new addition to the collection has been purchased with assistance from the Henry and Sula Walton Fund and Art Fund
A mysterious and powerful portrait by the celebrated Surrealist painter, sculptor and writer Leonora Carrington (1917-2011) has become the first work by the artist to enter the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS), it was announced today. Carrington painted Portrait of Max Ernst about 1939, two years after she left a privileged but stifling life in England to join the inner circle of the Surrealist movement in Paris.
Carrington’s painting depicts the German artist Max Ernst (1891-1976), who became her lover in 1937, and with whom she escaped to France that same year.
The painting is one of Carrington’s most famous works, and has an extraordinary history. By December 1942, following a series of upheavals caused by the outbreak of war, Carrington had become estranged from Ernst and was on her way to Mexico, where she spent much of the rest of her life. She and Ernst met in New York, and as a parting gift she presented him with this portrait. In exchange he gave her a painting titled Leonora in the Morning Light, which remained in her possession until her death in 2011. They never saw each other again.
Speaking of the acquisition, Simon Groom, Director of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Galleries of Scotland said: “The NGS has one of largest and most significant collections of Surrealist art anywhere in the world, but until now we have not had a painting by Leonora Carrington. This extraordinary portrait of Max Ernst is one of her most celebrated works, and is richly woven with imagery which hints at her complex and ambivalent feelings about her lover and fellow-artist. We are deeply grateful to the Trustees of the Henry and Sula Walton Fund, and Art Fund, for helping us to make this stunning addition to our collection.”
Stephen Deuchar, Director, Art Fund, said: “Leonora Carrington’s striking Portrait of Max Ernst is the National Galleries of Scotland’s latest addition to their growing collection of important works by women Surrealist artists, joining the recent Art Fund-supported acquisition by Czech artist Toyen. Both are powerful, haunting works by remarkable artists, overlooked for far too long. We’re delighted to be supporting bold and imaginative curatorship of this kind.”
Carrington was born in Chorley, Lancashire, the daughter of a wealthy textiles industrialist. A rebellious child, she was twice expelled from school in England, and was sent to Florence and then Paris, where she developed an interest in art. She returned to Britain in 1935, where her family expected her to marry ‘well’; fiercely independent, she had other ideas.
While studying painting in London, Carrington met Ernst at a dinner party and they fell in love. She had only just turned 20; he was 46 and on his second marriage. They immediately started a relationship and when Ernst returned to Paris, Carrington joined him. Their circle in Paris included the artists Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, Leonor Fini and Joan Miró, and in January 1938 Carrington’s paintings were shown in a major Surrealist exhibition at the Galerie des Beaux-Arts.
In 1938, with war looming, the couple moved to the south of France, settling in the village of Saint-Martin d’Ardèche, near Avignon. Portrait of Max Ernst was painted in Les Alliberts, a derelict farmhouse which they spent the next year decorating with murals, sculpture and mosaics (it still exists, more or less intact).
Ernst, with his prematurely white hair and piercing blue eyes, is shown in a red robe made of fur or downy feathers, which ends in a fishtail – possibly referencing the mermaid Ernst made in concrete for their garden. In the painting, one of Ernst’s feet is clad in a striped yellow sock. In his right hand he is holding a green lantern within which is a tiny horse. He is standing in a frozen landscape, with icy mountains on the horizon. A frozen horse, dripping with icicles, stands behind him.
The painting’s meaning is ambiguous, but while Carrington refused to interpret or explain her work, her short stories, several of which were published in the late 1930s and 1940s, offer clues. Horses were important in her writing and her paintings, acting as surrogate self-portraits; it has been argued that her portrait of Ernst captures some of the ambivalence in their relationship, a sense of being emotionally captive and the need to escape Ernst’s shadow.
In 1940 Ernst was imprisoned as an enemy alien, and Carrington was persuaded by a friend to flee France for Spain, where she ended up in an psychiatric hospital. On his release, Ernst was shocked to discover the house had been sold; by night he gained entry and retrieved the few paintings left there, including this work, and later made his way to Lisbon where by chance he met Carrington. She had escaped from the hospital and made a marriage of convenience with a Mexican diplomat, in order to travel to America. Although he had taken a new lover, the American collector Peggy Guggenheim, Ernst was devastated that Carrington had effectively left him. He flew to New York with Peggy, while Carrington went by sea, with most of their possessions.
Following the exchange of paintings in New York, Portrait of Max Ernst subsequently passed into the collection of Pegeen Guggenheim, Peggy’s daughter. She gave it to her husband, the British artist Ralph Rumney, and it has been in private collections ever since.
This exceptional painting makes a very significant addition to the NGS’s world-famous collection of Surrealist art, which already includes a number of important works by Ernst.
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
Breakdown of funding for the acquisition:
Henry and Sula Walton Fund: £310,000
Art Fund: £150,000
National Galleries of Scotland: £100,000
TOTAL: £560,000
Art Fund
Art Fund is the national fundraising charity for art. In the past five years alone Art Fund has given £34 million to help museums and galleries acquire works of art for their collections. It also helps museums share their collections with wider audiences by supporting a range of tours and exhibitions, and makes additional grants to support the training and professional development of curators. Art Fund is independently funded, with the core of its income provided by 139,000 members who receive the National Art Pass and enjoy free entry to over 320 museums, galleries and historic places across the UK, as well as 50% off entry to major exhibitions and subscription to Art Quarterly magazine. In addition to grant-giving, Art Fund’s support for museums includes Art Fund Museum of the Year (won by Tate St Ives in 2018) and a range of digital platforms.
Find out more about Art Fund and the National Art Pass at www.artfund.org
29 June 2018
Monarch of the Glen returns to Scottish National Gallery after landmark nationwide tour
#MonarchOfTheGlen
One of the world’s most celebrated paintings – Sir Edwin Landseer’s iconic The Monarch of the Glen (c.1851) – has returned to the Scottish National Gallery after completing its historic tour of Scotland.
Landseer’s masterpiece – famously depicting a proud stag imperiously surveying a Highlands landscape – arrives back in Scotland’s capital city after travelling across the nation, with the public now having enjoyed the painting in major art galleries and community events in the east, west, north, south and centre of the country.
It will be welcomed back in the capital city this Saturday (30 June) with a special event in celebration of both the work and the tour, featuring performances from young poets and dancers from Paisley and Edinburgh schools.
Across its tour The Monarch of the Glen was seen by over 28,000 visitors, from those in galleries to schoolchildren engaging with the artwork in various communities. Additionally, the Inverness, Paisley and Perth galleries all experienced double their average visitor figures from the previous year (Kirkcudbright Galleries was a brand new venue).
The artwork was acquired last year by the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) after a well-publicized fundraising campaign, with overwhelming support from the public, from The National Lottery, Art Fund, private trusts and foundations, Scottish Government acquisition grant funding and by a part gift by previous owners Diageo Scotland Ltd.
It is the Galleries’ ambition to share its collection widely and work in partnership with communities across Scotland, and the Monarch’s tour has been supported with additional funding from The National Lottery and the Scottish Government.
Sir John Leighton, Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland said: “This tour was a massive thank you for the remarkable support we received during the fundraising campaign, as well as being a celebration that this brilliant, widely recognised artwork now belongs to the people of Scotland. Thanks to The National Lottery and the Scottish Government’s generosity, the Monarch has been able to visit Scottish communities far and wide, where audiences have been able to admire, debate and greatly engage with the work. The celebration of its homecoming to Edinburgh is also a celebration of the whole tour’s great success”.
Last October the Monarch left the Scottish National Gallery for the Scottish Highlands and its first destination, Inverness. The work went on display in Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, and was shown alongside a thought-provoking response by celebrated contemporary artist Ross Sinclair, entitled ‘After After After The Monarch of the Glen, Real Life Is Dead’ (2017).
It then left the north for Perth Museum and Art Gallery, but not before making a special surprise stop nearby in Aberfeldy, where school pupils of the local Breadalbane Academy could enjoy the painting in the back of the Galleries’ art-moving truck, in its specially adapted travelling frame. The idea for the visit was inspired by an old sketch for BBC Scotland’s programme Chewin’ the Fat, created by comedians Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill. The latter gave the visit his public backing and described it as, “his proudest moment”.
In January this year it arrived in the east of Scotland with a special community visit to Arkleston Primary School in Renfrewshire before being welcomed at Paisley Museum and Art Gallery in an event attended by schoolchildren and featuring special performances by contemporary dancers inspired by the work itself.
The tour then culminated in Scotland’s south in the town of Kirkcudbright, helping to usher in the beginning of the redeveloped Kirkcudbright Galleries, which opened on the same day as the painting was unveiled to the public. Prior to this, the painting also made a stop to Gatehouse of Fleet Primary School for a special community event.
Later this year, the Monarch will be shown in the London’s National Gallery for the first time in more than 160 years. The gallery once housed the Royal Academy of Arts, the original setting in which the painting received its first ever showing back in 1851. On display in London alongside Landseer’s masterpiece will be artist Sir Peter Blake’s 1966 representation of the Monarch.
Stephen Deuchar, Director of Art Fund, said: “We are pleased to hear that following its tour of venues across Scotland Edwin Landseer’s masterpiece The Monarch of the Glen has returned to its permanent home at the Scottish National Gallery. Art Fund’s support for this important acquisition was the starting point for a public fundraising appeal which captured the imagination of people nationwide, and its success means this powerful and iconic painting can now be enjoyed by everyone for years to come”.
—ENDS—
For further information please contact:
Michael Gormley, Communications Manager, National Galleries of Scotland. 0131 624 6247 | [email protected]
Harris Brine, Communications Officer, National Galleries of Scotland. 0131 624 6332. | [email protected]
Notes to Editors:
Caption Information:
Sir Edwin Landseer (1802-73)
The Monarch of the Glen, c.1851
Oil on canvas, 163.8 x 169 cm
Collection: National Galleries of Scotland
Purchased by the National Galleries of Scotland as a part gift from Diageo Scotland Ltd, with contributions from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Dunard Fund, the Art Fund, the William Jacob Bequest, the Tam O’ Shanter Trust, the Turtleton Trust, and the K. T. Wiedemann Foundation, Inc. and through public appeal 2017.
Background to the acquisition:
In November 2016 it was announced that NGS had entered into a partnership agreement with Diageo, owners of The Monarch of the Glen. Under the arrangement, Diageo agreed to gift half the estimated market value of the painting to allow NGS the opportunity to acquire the work for £4 million. After securing support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Art Fund, NGS launched a public fundraising campaign to help raise the final amount. Support for the public campaign came from around the world with donations received from Anchorage, Queensland, Los Angeles and Hong Kong and from across the UK from Thurso to Bath totalling over a quarter of a million pounds. An additional £100,000 from the NGS acquisition fund from Scottish Government and donations from private trusts and foundations enabled the £4 million target to be reached.
Breakdown of Funding for the acquisition:
Heritage Lottery Fund £2.65m
Art Fund £350,000
Private Trusts and Foundations £634,000
Public Campaign £266,000
NGS Acquisition Fund (Scottish Government) £100,000
TOTAL £4 million
Breakdown of funding for the tour
Heritage Lottery Fund £100,000
Scottish Government £75,000
Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF)
Thanks to National Lottery players, we invest money to help people across the UK explore, enjoy and protect the heritage they care about - from the archaeology under our feet to the historic parks and buildings we love, from precious memories and collections to rare wildlife. www.hlf.org.uk. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLottery and #HLFsupported. For further information, please contact Katie Owen, HLF Press Office, on tel: 020 7591 6036/07973 613820
About Art Fund
Art Fund is the national fundraising charity for art. In the past five years alone Art Fund has given £34 million to help museums and galleries acquire works of art for their collections. It also helps museums share their collections with wider audiences by supporting a range of tours and exhibitions, and makes additional grants to support the training and professional development of curators. Art Fund is independently funded, with the core of its income provided by 139,000 members who receive the National Art Pass and enjoy free entry to over 320 museums, galleries and historic places across the UK, as well as 50% off entry to major exhibitions and subscription to Art Quarterly magazine. In addition to grant-giving, Art Fund’s support for museums includes Art Fund Museum of the Year (won by The Hepworth Wakefield in 2017) and a range of digital platforms.
Find out more about Art Fund and the National Art Pass at www.artfund.org
For further information please contact Emma Phillips, [email protected] / 0207 225 4804
20 June 2018
Four centuries of Rembrandt’s impact on Britain explored as the Dutch master comes to Scottish National Gallery
Press view: 11.30–13.00, 5 July 2018
Royal Scottish Academy, Princes St, Edinburgh EH2 2EL
REMBRANDT
BRITAIN’S DISCOVERY OF THE MASTER
7 July – 14 October 2018
Royal Scottish Academy
Princes St, Edinburgh EH2 2EL
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
#Rembrandt
Tickets £15.00 to £10.00
Concessions available | FREE to children under 12
Supported by the Friends of the National Galleries of Scotland and Players of the People’s Postcode Lottery.
Part of the Edinburgh Art Festival 2018
Britain’s love affair with one of history’s greatest artists will be explored in the major Festival exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery this summer. Rembrandt: Britain’s Discovery of the Master is the first exhibition to tell the exceptionally rich story of how Rembrandt’s work in Britain has enraptured and inspired collectors, artists and writers over the past 400 years. This major new exhibition, which will only be shown in Edinburgh, will bring together key works by Rembrandt which remain in British collections, as well as treasures that have left the country. Some of the exhibits have never been on public display before, while others return to Britain for the first time in decades, some after even a century or more.
Speaking of the exhibition, Christopher Baker, Director, European and Scottish Art and Portraiture at National Galleries of Scotland, said: “This exhibition provides an extraordinary opportunity to study the staggering range of Rembrandt’s achievement and its profound impact on British taste and art. Featuring both major international loans and many less well-known rarities, it tells a riveting story. From the collectors of the artist’s own life time in the seventeenth century to today’s painters, Rembrandt has cast a spell on the British imagination. It’s a tale of scholarship and money, of privilege and popularity – and it’s all laid out exclusively in Edinburgh this summer!
For the first time, we’ll be offering a range of new ticket options, including off-peak prices, which we hope will allow as many people as possible to experience Rembrandt’s inspiring work.”
The genius of Rembrandt (1606-69) is so universally admired, and his imagery so ubiquitous, that he has become a global brand like few other artists in history; yet no nation has demonstrated such a passionate, and sometimes eccentric, enthusiasm for Rembrandt’s (or indeed any artist’s) works. As a result, there is a wealth of paintings, drawings and prints by Rembrandt in British collections, and the number of his works that have been here at some point in their history is staggering, surpassing any other country apart from the Netherlands, where they originated.
The arrival of an early Self-portrait (c.1629), which was presented to Charles I before 1633, makes an impressive starting point for the exhibition (it was the first painting by Rembrandt to leave Holland), but did little to anticipate the level of adulation his work would inspire in the following century and which had become a kind of mania among British collectors around 1750. Rembrandt: Britain’s Discovery Of The Master will bring together 15 major works in oil (and two further oils attributed to Rembrandt, and two more from his workshop), as well as an extensive selection of 15 outstanding drawings and more than 20 prints, including some of his most celebrated etchings, such as Christ Presented to the People (1655), The Three Trees (1643) and Portrait of Jan Six (1647).
Great paintings such as Belshazzar’s Feast (c.1636-38) from the National Gallery London, and Girl at a Window (1645) from Dulwich Picture Gallery, will be shown alongside star works that are now overseas, such as The Mill (1645/8) from the National Gallery in Washington, which left Britain when it was sold to a US collector for the staggering sum of £100,000 in 1911.
The exhibition will also reveal the profound impact of Rembrandt’s art on the British imagination, by exploring the wide range of native artists whose work has been inspired by the Dutch master right up to the present day.
The son of a miller, Rembrandt was born and trained in Leiden, where he spent his early career. From 1631 he also worked in Amsterdam, mainly as a portrait painter, and he settled there permanently in 1634. Rembrandt married the same year and enjoyed a success as painter and printmaker, covering a wide range of subjects and receiving important private and public commissions. He oversaw a busy workshop with many pupils. Rembrandt nevertheless ran into financial difficulties – most likely due to an enormous mortgage on his house and substantial expenditure on his art collection – and was declared insolvent in 1656. After his large house and possessions had been sold, he continued to work in Amsterdam until his death. Contrary to what is widely believed, Rembrandt did not die in poverty, although he never again prospered as he had done at the height of his career.
Among the early arrivals in Britain were Rembrandt’s only portraits of ‘British’ sitters, Reverend Johannes Elison and his wife Maria Bockenolle (both 1634), which will be on loan from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Although they were painted in Amsterdam, the Boston portraits depict a Dutch couple who lived in Norwich, and the paintings were in Britain by 1680. Such expensive and ostentatious portraits are uncommon for clerics, and rare in Rembrandt’s work; they presumably reflect the status of the couple’s son, a successful merchant, who probably commissioned them. They are one of only three pairs of full-length portraits painted by Rembrandt, and have not been seen in the UK since 1929.
A few years after the visit from the Norwich minister and his wife, Rembrandt was again busy exploring English subjects. A group of four drawings depicting English views has been much debated and is exhibited here together for the first time. The drawings, in which the locations – St Albans Cathedral, Windsor Castle and London with Old St Paul’s – are clearly identifiable, are of similar size and executed in pen, brown ink and wash. On stylistic grounds all four drawings must have been created in Rembrandt’s studio in about 1640, but controversies have centred around the questions of whether they are (all) by the hand of Rembrandt, and if they were drawn from prints or ‘from life’, which would infer, tantalisingly, that Rembrandt might have visited England.
From about 1720, the steady flow of major paintings by Rembrandt, such as the beautiful and tender Landscape with the Rest on the Flight into Egypt (1647) (which will be on loan to this exhibition from the National Gallery in Dublin), grew into an enormous surge. By the 1770s Rembrandt mania was in full swing, pushing demand and prices to extraordinary levels. Even so, British collectors still succeeded in bringing prized pictures into the country, including An Old Woman Reading (1655), on loan here from the Buccleuch collection, and A Woman in Bed (Sarah) (1647), which is now in the National Galleries of Scotland.
The publication in 1752 of a catalogue of Rembrandt’s etchings gave collectors a tool to identify different states or versions of the artist’s prints, as well as copies and forgeries. At the same time, it fuelled the craze for rarities such as corrected proof prints and impressions on exotic papers. To meet this desire for the uncommon, those who were fortunate enough to have access to Rembrandt’s original etching plates pulled new editions, sometimes creating collectors’ items that Rembrandt himself never produced; for example, impressions on satin or in red ink, such as Portrait of the Preacher Jan Cornelis Sylvius (1633) in the NGS collection. Reprints and copies catered to the huge demand for Rembrandt’s etchings in a competitive market. Captain William Baillie infamously acquired the worn plate of The Hundred Guilder Print, one of Rembrandt’s most famous etchings. He reworked it and in 1775 printed a limited edition, thereafter cutting the plate into four pieces and continuing to print from these mutilated fragments.
The impact of the massively enhanced exposure to Rembrandt’s imagery on artists in Britain was profound. The Dutch artist’s portraits and self-portraits in particular inspired British painters from William Hogarth, Thomas Hudson, Joseph Wright of Derby and Allan Ramsay to Sir Henry Raeburn and Sir Thomas Lawrence. Above all, it was Sir Joshua Reynolds who appreciated Rembrandt as an artist, writer and collector. His Rembrandt collection was one of the most distinguished in Britain, including prized paintings such as A Man in Armour (‘Achilles’) (1655), on loan here from Glasgow Museums. The strongest impact on Reynolds as a portraitist lasted from about 1745 to about 1770. His Portrait of Giuseppe Marchi (1753) (Royal Academy of Arts, London), and his Self-portrait from around the same time (Tate), both show strong chiaroscuro combined with warm colouring and – in the former – fancy oriental costume, all reminiscent of Rembrandt’s paintings.
In the early nineteenth century, British landscape painters also began to fall under Rembrandt’s spell. A major catalyst for this was the acquisition by a group of British collectors of The Mill (1645/48), which will be lent by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and had been in the celebrated collection of the Duc d’Orléans. The Mill epitomises the Dutch artist’s influence on British landscape painting throughout the nineteenth century, starting with Turner, John Crome and John Constable.
The Victorian era also brought major shifts in the reception of Rembrandt’s art, thanks to the founding of public galleries, and the creation of exhibitions. The introduction of cheap reproduction techniques permitted an unprecedented popularisation. Rembrandt’s reputation also transformed, as a romantic image of him gained currency and he became, in the public imagination, a universally celebrated genius. Ultimately, Rembrandt himself became the subject in art and popular culture: with artists such as John Gilbert producing sumptuous paintings depicting imaginary scenes from his life.
Throughout the early decades of the twentieth century, Rembrandt continued to represent the gold standard for etching revival artists, including the Scots James McBey, Sir David Young Cameron, Sir Muirhead Bone and William Strang. Their moody landscapes were much in fashion among specialist print collectors and fetched huge prices in Europe and America (some sold for higher prices than many original Rembrandts). This allowed printmakers like Cameron to become collectors of Rembrandt prints themselves (Cameron’s bequest of 55 outstanding etchings to the NGS transformed its holdings), but the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the global financial collapse which ensued brought about a parallel collapse in the print market.
Rembrandt was also profoundly relevant for the artists of the ‘School of London’ group, which emerged in the 1950s. Among them Leon Kossoff and Frank Auerbach, who have been close friends for more than 60 years, have copied Rembrandt voraciously. Works by both artists based on Rembrandt’s celebrated A Woman Bathing in a Stream (1654) in the National Gallery collections, will feature here, as will Rembrandt’s painting itself.
Many others have borrowed from Rembrandt in recent years. John Bellany, for example, did so in direct homages such as Danae: Homage to Rembrandt II (1991). Other, younger artists have viewed Rembrandt in a way that may seem cynical or disrespectful but which turns out to be the opposite. Glenn Brown has made painted, drawn and etched variants after Rembrandt since 1996, in works such as Unknown Pleasures (2016) and Half-Life (after Rembrandt) (2017), which offer a vibrant but deeply felt homage.
Clara Govier, Managing Director of People’s Postcode Lottery, said: “We are thrilled that, together with the Friends of the National Galleries of Scotland, players of People’s Postcode Lottery are supporting this beautiful exhibition. Like Rembrandt, PPL is a popular export from the Netherlands; our British players have now helped us to raise £310m for charities across the UK. We hope this once-in-a-lifetime show will be enjoyed by visitors from across the world, and we’re proud that the support of our Players has helped the National Galleries of Scotland to bring this ambitious project together.”
Publications
Rembrandt: Britain’s Discovery of the Master and Rembrandt & Britain are published by National Galleries of Scotland Publishing on the occasion of this exhibition.
Rembrandt: Britain’s Discovery of the Master
Christian Tico Seifert with Peter Black, Stephanie S. Dickey, Patrick Elliott, Donato Esposito, M.J. Ripps and Jonathan Yarker
176pp; 140 illustrations; Paperback; £22; ISBN 978 1 911054 19 1
Rembrandt & Britain
Christian Tico Seifert
36pp; 26 illustrations; Paperback; £7.95; ISBN 978 1 911054 26 9
—ENDS—
12 June 2018
The Remaking of Scotland: new display explores how Scotland's place in the world dramatically transformed from 1760-1860
The Remaking of Scotland:
Nation, Migration, Globalisation 1760- 1860
16 June 2018 – 27 June 2021
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1 Queen Street, Edinburgh EH2 1JD
0131 624 6200 | Admission FREE
#ScotPortrait
A dynamic new exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (SNPG) explores how Scotland’s place in the world was dramatically transformed after the mid-eighteenth century, as the country emerged as a leader of European cultural life and a major force in Britain’s industrial and imperial expansion. The Remaking of Scotland: Nation, Migration, Globalisation 1760-1860 will trace this remarkable transformation through the many extraordinary personalities who contributed to this turning point in Scottish history, bringing together a range of fascinating paintings, sculptures and drawings from the National Galleries of Scotland’s outstanding collection.
As well as tracing the changes that took place within Scotland in the areas of science, technology and literature, it will also look beyond Scotland’s borders to highlight the many Scots who ventured further afield—as soldiers, sailors, administrators, artists, missionaries, and adventurers. Their destinations ranged across the world, and the exhibition will showcase work featuring Scots with close relationships to India, the Americas and Arctic, as well as the Caribbean.
Among the portraits on display is a captivating new acquisition – a portrait of the lawyer Sir Thomas Strange (1756-1841) by the fashionable London painter John Hoppner. Strange was the son of a Scottish engraver, and spent his entire career abroad, first in Nova Scotia, Canada, and then in India. While in Nova Scotia he used his position as Chief Justice to protect runaway slaves from their masters. In India, he helped create the fusion between British Common Law and Hindu traditions that would be the foundation of the modern Indian legal system. Hoppner’s characterful portrait gives a vivid sense of Strange’s intelligence and fair-mindedness. Strange’s portrait will be shown with a number of other paintings highlighting the relationships between Scotland and India at this time, including Scottish artist George Willison’s dramatic portrait of his Indian patron, Ali Khan Waledjah, Nawab of Arcot (1717-1795).
Other highlights of the display include Alexander Nasmyth’s portrayal of John Sakeouse (1792-1819), the first arctic Inuit to travel to Scotland. Sakeouse attained instant celebrity from the moment he arrived in Leith in 1816 as a stowaway on a whaling ship, and was particularly famous for his remarkable canoeing and harpooning skills, which he demonstrated at the docks. Nasmyth painted the portrait after spotting Sakeouse on the street, and went on to give him drawing lessons. Sakeouse became an indispensable member of Admiral John Ross’s arctic expedition of 1817-18, acting as a translator and artist. Fittingly, Sakeouse will be shown alongside a portrait of Ross, one of the great explorers of his time and one of the first Scots of the period to be represented in the collections of the SNPG.
In addition to documenting the material and cultural benefits that came from this period of unprecedented achievement, the display will also consider some abhorrent contemporary issues. A particularly important theme is Scotland’s extensive involvement in the plantation economy of the Caribbean, and its dependence on slave labour. Many Scots went to the Caribbean in the hope of making their fortunes, becoming plantation and slave owners on a large scale. Meanwhile, Scottish merchants in the great ports of Glasgow and Leith maintained a vast West Indies trade, importing slave-produced sugar, rum and tobacco. Some became hugely wealthy, but they were only the most prosperous of the thousands of Scots who enjoyed secure incomes from plantation investments. Others, however, were inspired by religious and moral convictions to oppose the appalling human cost of the slave trade. In the face of fierce resistance, abolitionists, including the prominent Scottish liberal lawyer and politician, Lord Brougham (1778-1868)—also featured in the display—finally brought slavery to an end in 1838.
Warfare, too, was a constant feature of life in this period, as Britain’s imperial interests involved the many Scottish soldiers and sailors in the British armed forces in bloody land and sea battles. Two spectacular full-length portraits of soldiers in full Highland Dress, John Singleton Copley’s Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton (who served in the French and Indian War of 1754-63) and Sir Joshua Reynolds’s John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore (made Governor of New York in 1770 and then of Virginia in 1771), show how the cost of war to life and health was made acceptable by the glory of victory.
Taken together, these diverse works give a vivid portrait of the richly complex, and sometimes controversial, legacies of this remarkable period, both at home in Scotland and across the wider world.
—ENDS—
29 May 2018
Navigating land, sea and air through the ages of photography at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery
PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: TRANSPORTATION PHOTOGRAPHS
FROM THE NATIONAL GALLERIES OF SCOTLAND
2 June 2018 – 13 January 2019
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1 Queen Street, Edinburgh EH2 1JD
0131 624 6200 | Admission FREE
#PlanesAndTrains
Part of Edinburgh Art Festival 2018
The extraordinary advances in the technology of travel over the past 170 years, and their wide-ranging impact on our lives will be the subject of a dramatic and inspiring new exhibition of photographs at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (SNPG) this summer. Planes, Trains and Automobiles will draw upon the outstanding collection of the National Galleries of Scotland to consider the rapid expansion of transportation from the end of the Industrial Revolution to the present day. It will feature 70 exceptional images, including key images by Alfred G Buckham and Alfred Stieglitz, which demonstrate how the technologies of photography and transport have evolved in tandem, each of them broadening our horizons and radically altering our perception of our ever-shrinking world.
The exhibition will include iconic photographs such as The Steerage, a career-defining image by the American photographer Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946), made in 1907, while he was travelling to Europe by sea; and Inge Morath’s striking portrait Mrs Eveleigh Nash, The Mall, London (1953). Walking on the first-class deck, Stieglitz looked down into the third-class steerage area below him. Immediately struck by the strength of the composition created by the group of travellers gathered there, he quickly retrieved his camera, and captured the jarring class divide. Celebrated both for its modernist composition and its social commentary, the resulting photograph is one of the most recognisable images in the history of photography. Similarly, Morath (1923-2002), one of the first female photographers to work for renowned photo agency Magnum, used the door frame of an open-topped car to artfully divide her composition, suggesting the social gulf between the wealthy Mrs Nash and her chauffeur.
One of aerial photography’s pioneers was Alfred G Buckham (1879-1956) who took breath-taking photographs in the skies above Edinburgh. Just as fascinating as his photographs, are Buckham’s dare-devil techniques to capture the perfect shot. He gave this sage advice to budding aerial photographers: ‘It is essential to stand up, not only to make the exposures but to see what is coming along ahead. If one’s right leg is tied to the seat with a scarf or a piece of rope, it is possible to work in perfect security’. Buckham also pioneered early layering of multiple negatives to create the perfect shot giving his photographs an ethereal, otherworldly quality.
The Industrial Revolution led to the rapid expansion of the railways, which had a huge impact on the way that people lived and worked and led to the expansion of many towns and cities. As early as 1845, the railway line in Linlithgow was photographed by David Octavius Hill (1802-70) and Robert Adamson (1821-48), who travelled by train to document the main sights of the town.
The Forth Bridge was the longest bridge in the world when it opened in 1890 and it is now widely regarded as a symbol of Scottish innovation and cultural identity. Radical in style, materials and scale, it marked an important milestone in bridge design and construction during the period when railways came to dominate long-distance land travel. Evelyn George Carey (1858-1932), a young engineer working on the construction of the bridge, made an incredible series of photographs as the building work progressed. In one of these photographs Carey records the amusing sight of two men demonstrating the cantilever principle – resulting in the boy sitting at the centre of the ‘bridge’ being lifted into the air. This series of photographs inspired the German contemporary photographer Dieter Appelt (b.1935) to make Forth Bridge - Cinema. Metric Space – a photographic montage of 312 separate silver gelatine prints which together offer a beautiful, lyrical interpretation of an engineering masterpiece.
Another innovation explored in Planes, Trains and Automobiles is the Victorian phenomenon of the stereograph. Made of two nearly identical scenes, which when viewed together in a special device, create a single three-dimensional image; this new photographic technology essentially mimicked how we see the world. It sparked curiosity and encouraged the public to view images of far-flung places from the comfort of their own home. The natural association between travel and transport meant that modes of transport were one of the most popular themes for stereographs. This exhibition will feature over 100 stereographs from the National Galleries of Scotland’s collection in a dynamic wall display, alongside digital interpretations.
524 million journeys were made by public transport in Scotland last year and Planes, Trains and Automobiles explores this common form of travel. Photographers have been repeatedly drawn to the theme of commuting, fascinated by its ability to show humanity in movement, following regulated routes to work. Among these are documentary photographers Humphrey Spender (1910-2005) and Larry Herman (b.1942) who both made work observing Glasgow and Glasweigians on their daily commute.
From photographs of the iconic Forth Bridge to images of commuting, Planes, Trains and Automobiles is a photographic celebration of transportation in all its forms.
Christopher Baker, Director, European and Scottish Art and Portraiture, National Galleries of Scotland, said: “This is the third in a hugely popular series of thematic exhibitions drawn entirely from the outstanding collection of photography held by the National Galleries of Scotland. The carefully selected photographs on display show how technology and transport have impacted on so many aspects of our lives and provided such a rich and thought-provoking focus for outstanding Scottish and international photographers, from very earliest days of the medium to today’s innovators.”
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25 May 2018
New gallery bus for National Galleries of Scotland is Scotland's first fully accessible electric bus of its kind
The National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) is to launch a new, fully accessible electric bus – the first of its kind in public service in Scotland – on its much-loved shuttle service between its three main Edinburgh sites. The zero-emissions Orion E bus, is the Scotland’s first fully electric, fully low floor bus, and has been designed for maximum accessibility.
The NGS comprises the Scottish National Gallery, in the heart of Edinburgh’s world heritage site, the nearby Scottish National Portrait Gallery, and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, which is located in Edinburgh’s leafy west-end. The popular daily shuttle service for gallery goers links the three sites, operating on a circular route throughout the day, seven days a week.
The NGS Orion E, in its eye-catching new livery, will be officially commissioned on Monday 28 May.
Commenting, NGS Sustainability Officer, Brian Troddyn said:
“We’re delighted and proud to have the first bus of this kind in Scotland, specially designed with a low floor for wheelchair access. NGS is very committed to promoting green tourism, and reducing our carbon emissions is an important part of achieving our goals. We look forward to welcoming visitors on board and being accessible to all.”
The Orion E is built by Mellor, a leading manufacturer of small buses and specialist passenger-carrying vehicles. It combines an environmentally friendly all-electric drive system with class-leading step entry and flat floor throughout, making it both accessible and versatile.
With a range of 100 miles on the super-efficient LiFe PO4 batteries, the Orion E is also incredibly economical to run – it’s estimated that it will cost only £500 in electricity per year with a saving of around £1,420 in fuel and tax each year. The introduction of the bus will result in an annual saving of 3.0 t CO2 carbon emissions.
A timetable for the gallery shuttle service is available on the NGS website: https://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/gallery-bus
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Note to editors
Bus by Mellor Coachcraft www.mellor-coachcraft.co.uk. The Orion E provides accessible and versatile transport for all with its step entry and a flat floor throughout.
National Galleries of Scotland
The National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) looks after one of the world's finest collections of Western art, ranging from the Middle Ages to the present day, including masterpieces by Titian, Rembrandt, Monet, Van Gogh, Picasso and Magritte. These holdings include the national collection of Scottish art, which is displayed in an international context. Every year, the NGS welcomes over 2.2 million visitors from Scotland and the rest of the world to our three Galleries in Edinburgh: the Scottish National Gallery, the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
The Scottish National Gallery is home to our collection of fine art from the early Renaissance to the end of the nineteenth century, including masterpieces by Botticelli, Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Constable, Turner, Monet, Van Gogh and Gauguin, amongst many others. The most comprehensive part of the collection covers the history of Scottish painting with all the major names represented, including Ramsay, Raeburn, Wilkie and McTaggart.
The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art comprises two buildings, Modern One and Modern Two, which house our outstanding collection of modern and contemporary art. The early part of the collection features French and Russian art from the beginning of the twentieth century, Cubist paintings and superb holdings of Expressionist, modern British and international post-war art. The gallery is a world-renowned centre for the study of Dada and Surrealism and home to the world's most important and extensive collection of modern and contemporary Scottish art.
The Scottish National Portrait Gallery first opened to the public in 1889 as the world’s first purpose-built portrait gallery. Over the past century, its collection of portraits has grown to become one of the largest and finest in the world, comprising 3,000 paintings and sculptures, 25,000 prints and drawings. The Gallery tells the story of Scotland through the people who have shaped its history – past and present, famous or forgotten. This distinctive red sandstone building also houses the national collection of photography, with some 38,000 historic and modern photographs and film.
22 May 2018
Spectacular rare portrait of last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, is loaned to National Galleries of Scotland
A highly accomplished and vibrant portrait of the last Tsar of Russia, in the uniform of The Royal Scots Greys, has been placed on loan by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Regimental Trust with the National Galleries of Scotland, where it will go on public display this week.
In 1902, Tsar Nicholas II was portrayed by Valentin Serov (1865-1911), one of the greatest Russian painters of the pre-revolutionary era, wearing full dress uniform as the Colonel-in-Chief of Scotland’s senior regiment, the 2nd Dragoons (The Royal Scots Greys). He was appointed to this position in 1894 by Queen Victoria and retained the distinction until his death. The portrait was commissioned by the Tsar and presented to the Regiment. Now its successor Regiment, The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, has generously lent the painting to the National Galleries. This is an especially noteworthy and poignant gesture at the time of the centenary of the execution of the Imperial family by the Bolsheviks.
The British and Russian royal families had an intimate relationship and Nicholas II made five visits to Britain: in 1894 he stayed with Queen Victoria and spent time with Princess Alix of Hesse, one of the Queen’s granddaughters, who, following his marriage to her, became Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.
Queen Victoria bestowed various honours on the Tsar: he also became a Knight of the Garter, an Honorary Admiral of the Fleet and in 1916 a British Field-Marshal. However, his connection with the Scots Greys appears to have been especially appreciated. In the 1880s he had served in a Russian cavalry regiment and was clearly proud of his new role, wearing his full dress uniform on a number of occasions, including during his time at Balmoral in the autumn of 1896.
It was the 1896 visit that cemented the relationship between the Tsar and the regiment and had an impact on the creation of the Serov portrait. The Tsar was photographed during this visit by Robert Milne, a local photographer, who specialised in portraits. Photographs that he created established the pose later utilised by Serov in his painting.
Born in St Petersburg, the son of a composer and music critic, Serov received a wide-ranging training as an artist in Munich and under the outstanding realist painter Ilya Repin in Paris and Moscow, as well as at the St Petersburg Academy. Although chiefly considered a portrait painter, he also excelled as a master of genre scenes and landscapes and theatrical sets. Extensive travels across Europe allowed him to draw inspiration from a wide range of earlier and contemporary artists, ranging from Velázquez to the French impressionists, Sargent and Boldini, although he forged his own distinctive style.
Serov taught at the Moscow College and received numerous accolades, including a grand prix at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900. His sitters were drawn from right across Russian cosmopolitan society and as well as including the Tsar and his circle embraced the world of writers, artists and actors.
The portrait of Nicholas II – which is the only major oil painting by the artist in any British public collection – formed part of a group of studies of members of the Imperial family depicted in military uniforms which date from the years around the turn of the century. The Tsar’s uniform survives in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. A major and very popular exhibition of Serov’s work was mounted in 2016 at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.
Christopher Baker, Director of European and Scottish Art and Portraiture at the National Galleries of Scotland, commented: “This impressive portrait of the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, is an important, poignant and generous loan to the National Galleries of Scotland, a century after the execution of the Imperial family. What makes the painting so arresting is its relative intimacy, the intense eye contact with the viewer and singing colours. Painted by one the greatest of Russian artists, whose work is little known in Britain, it has strong and fascinating connections with Scottish military history.”
Brigadier David Allfrey MBE, Colonel, The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, added: “We are tremendously proud of our Regiment’s history and our association with our Royal Family right back to 1678 and Charles II. In similar vein, our connections with Russia are long-honoured, not just through Tsar Nicholas as our Colonel-in-Chief but through a number of regimental customs and routine contact with friends and families across the years. We carry an icon of Saint Nicholas with Regimental Headquarters on operations and on training and the Serov portrait has traditionally hung at the end of the Officers Mess Dining Room. It is a precious and important object for all of us.”
“We are delighted the National Galleries of Scotland has accepted our Trust’s offer to loan the picture and we are honoured that it will hang in close company with a host of other notable works of art. Great portraits offer an intimate view into the world of the sitter and the painter and this picture serves as a fabulous marker in the colourful and oscillating relationship between our country, Russia and our people over several centuries.”
The portrait will be on display at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh from Tuesday 22 May. Entry to the Gallery is free.
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Note to editors
The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum in Edinburgh Castle interprets and displays over 300 years’ history of the only Scottish cavalry regiment in the British regular Army. The museum exhibits a wide range of objects including weapons, uniforms, medals and paintings. See: www.scotsdgmuseum.com
14 May 2018
Murray MacKinnon collection charting 100 years of Scottish photography secured for the nation
An exceptional collection of historic photographs that captures a century of life in Scotland is to be shared with the public following a special collaboration between the National Library of Scotland and the National Galleries of Scotland.
More than 14,000 images – dating from the earliest days of photography in the 1840s through to the 1940s – have been jointly acquired with support from the Scottish Government, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Art Fund.
The collection covers an expansive range of subjects – including family portraits, working life, street scenes, sporting pursuits, shops, trams, tenements, mountains and monuments. Until now, it was one of the last great collections of Scottish photography still in private hands.
The collection was put together by photography enthusiast Murray MacKinnon, who established a successful chain of film-processing stores in the 1980s, starting from his pharmacy in Dyce, near Aberdeen.
He said: “The collection covers the day-to-day lives of Scottish people both rich and poor, the work they carried out including fishing and farming, in order to survive, and their social life including sport and leisure. These were turbulent times what with industrialisation, shipbuilding, new forms of transport, the social upheaval caused by the First World War in Europe and the Boer War in South Africa. The discovery of penicillin and radiography heralded the development of medicine and the pharmaceutical industry in Scotland.
“I would like to thank all the people involved in acquiring this collection for the Scottish nation, and for their great efforts in making this acquisition possible.”
Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop welcomed the public acquisition.
She said “The MacKinnon collection is one of the most remarkable collections of Scottish photography and an invaluable resource for researchers, students and the wider public. I am delighted that £300,000 of Scottish Government funding has supported the acquisition, curation, touring and digitisation of this collection, preventing it from being broken up or sold overseas.
“Our rich cultural and artistic heritage plays an intrinsic part in boosting our economy and tackling inequalities. I commend the National Galleries of Scotland and National Library of Scotland for their achievement in ensuring that this unique collection can now be enjoyed by the people of Scotland, enabling the public to learn more about our fascinating early photography tradition.”
National Librarian, Dr John Scally said: “Scotland has a unique relationship with photography which dates back to the work of the early pioneers such as Hill and Adamson. This acquisition is akin to buying Scotland’s photographic album of 14,000 pictures and bringing it home, and together with the National Galleries of Scotland, we were determined to make that happen. I am confident that every Scot will feel a connection with these wonderful photographs and we look forward to sharing them with the public over the coming months."
National Galleries of Scotland, Director General Sir John Leighton, said: “This collection superbly demonstrates the important role Scotland had in shaping the history of photography. Our ability to tell this story is greatly enriched by this acquisition, and we look forward to the exciting partnership with the National Library of Scotland in making these artworks accessible to all.”
Heritage Lottery Fund, Manager for Scotland, Lucy Casot, said: “Taken in the pioneering days of photography in Scotland, these historical images allow us to glimpse our ancestors going about their daily lives. Thanks to players of the National Lottery, this valuable resource has been secured for us all to enjoy. It’s a fascinating collection detailing what life was like and how that has shaped us as a nation.”
Director of Art Fund, Stephen Deuchar said: “We are proud to be able to support both National Library of Scotland and National Galleries of Scotland in acquiring Murray MacKinnon’s unparalleled collection for the nation. It is incredible to have these photographs join a public collection where they can be enjoyed for generations to come through their display and tours as well as digitally."
The photographs provide a visual record of how Scotland has changed physically, socially and economically since the 1840s.
Highlights include:
• More than 600 original photographs from the pioneering days of photography featuring work from David Octavius Hill (1802-1870) and Robert Adamson (1821-1848), James Ross (d.1878) and John Thomson (d.1881), Cosmo Innes (1798-1874) and Horatio Ross (1801-1886).
• Some of the finest work of Thomas Annan (1829-1887) and his son, James Craig Annan (1864-1946) including rare examples of their original albumen prints.
• Fine examples of the work of Scotland’s successful commercial photographers including George Washington Wilson (1823-1893) and James Valentine (1815-1880).
• Portraits of Scottish regiments from the Crimean War by Roger Fenton (1819-1869).
• A series of albums and prints depicting life in the main towns and cities from the late 1800s and early 1900s.
• Studies of farming and fishing communities in remote villages and hamlets.
• Scenes of shipbuilding, railways, herring fishing, weaving, whisky distilling, dockyards, slate quarries and other working environments.
The collection contains an exquisite view of Loch Katrine by William Henry Fox Talbot, who travelled to Scotland in the autumn of 1844. Talbot was the inventor of the calotype, a negative-positive paper process that was patented around the world, but, importantly not in Scotland, allowing for free use and experimentation. As a result, early Scottish photographers, such as Hill and Adamson and Ross and Thomson, were encouraged to take up the new technology, becoming key figures in developing its potential as both document and art form within its first two decades.
As the photographic medium evolved, Scotland once again was at the forefront when, in 1883, Thomas Annan and his son James Craig Annan secured the British rights for the previously secret process of photogravure. The photomechanical process created prints in large editions, revolutionising the publication and reach of photography.
While photography is known for its reproducibility, many of the artworks contained within the collection are unique, including daguerreotype portraits and hand-made albums. One such impressive example is the Fairlie album, consisting of family portraits and photographs by known makers including Julia Margaret Cameron. Using elements of collage, drawing and marginalia, the pages are a one-of-a-kind celebration of the Fairlie Family, from Fife. Reginald Fairlie was the architect of the National Library of Scotland building on George IV Bridge.
A major exhibition of the MacKinnon collection will be held at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery next year, with touring exhibitions around the country to follow. The entire collection will also be digitised over the next three years and made available online.
#ScotlandsPhotos
Notes to Editors:
The collection was purchased from a private collector, who bought the collection from Murray MacKinnon.
Breakdown of funding for the acquisition:
- Heritage Lottery Fund - £350,000
- Scottish Government - £300,000
- National Library of Scotland - £125,000
- National Galleries of Scotland - £125,000
- Art Fund - £100,000
TOTAL £1 million
The National Library of Scotland
The National Library of Scotland is a major European research library and one of the world’s leading centres for the study of Scotland and the Scots – an information treasure trove for Scotland’s knowledge, history and culture.
The Library’s collections are of world-class importance. Key areas include digital material, rare books, manuscripts, maps, music, moving images, official publications, business information, science and technology, and modern and foreign collections.
The Library holds more than 26 million physical items dating back over 1000 years in addition to a growing library of e-books, e-journals and other digital material. The collection includes more than four million books, eight million manuscripts, two million maps and more than 45,000 films and videos. Every week the Library collects around 5,000 new items. Most of these are received free of charge in terms of Legal Deposit legislation.
www.nls.uk / @natlibscot / facebook
National Galleries of Scotland
The National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) looks after one of the world's finest collections of Western art, ranging from the Middle Ages to the present day, including masterpieces by Titian, Rembrandt, Monet, Van Gogh, Picasso and Magritte. These holdings include the national collection of Scottish art, which is displayed in an international context.
Every year, the NGS welcomes over 2.2 million visitors from Scotland and the rest of the world to our three Galleries in Edinburgh: the Scottish National Gallery, the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
The latter first opened to the public in 1889 as the world’s first purpose-built portrait gallery. Aside from its outstanding collection of paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings, this distinctive red sandstone building also houses the national collection of photography, with some 38,000 historic and modern photographs and film.
Art Fund
Art Fund is the national fundraising charity for art. In the past five years alone Art Fund has given £34 million to help museums and galleries acquire works of art for their collections. It also helps museums share their collections with wider audiences by supporting a range of tours and exhibitions, and makes additional grants to support the training and professional development of curators.
Art Fund is independently funded, with the core of its income provided by 139,000 members who receive the National Art Pass and enjoy free entry to over 320 museums, galleries and historic places across the UK, as well as 50% off entry to major exhibitions and subscription to Art Quarterly magazine. In addition to grant-giving, Art Fund’s support for museums includes Art Fund Museum of the Year (won by The Hepworth Wakefield in 2017) and a range of digital platforms.
Find out more about Art Fund and the National Art Pass at www.artfund.org
Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF)
Thanks to National Lottery players, we invest money to help people across the UK explore, enjoy and protect the heritage they care about – from the archaeology under our feet to the historic parks and buildings we love, from precious memories and collections to rare wildlife. www.hlf.org.uk. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLottery and #HLFsupported. For further information, please contact Katie Owen, HLF Press Office, on tel: 020 7591 6036/07973 613820
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2 May 2018
First major exhibition to focus on Victoria Crowe’s portraits set to open at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery
VICTORIA CROWE:
BEYOND LIKENESS
12 May – 18 November 2018
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1 Queen Street, Edinburgh EH2 1JD
0131 624 6200 | Admission FREE
#VictoriaCrowe
Part of Edinburgh Art Festival 2018
Some of the finest works by one of the UK’s most distinguished portrait painters are to be brought together for a captivating, career-spanning exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (SNPG) in Edinburgh this spring.
Victoria Crowe: Beyond Likeness will be the first major exhibition to focus on the artist’s portraits - a hugely significant element in her work, and will bring together 54 paintings and drawings, celebrating Crowe’s wide-ranging responses to her sitters and their lives. Highlights will include Crowe’s remarkable portraits of cultural figures such as Nobel Laureate Sir Peter Higgs (b. 1929), radical psychiatrist R.D. Laing (1927-89) and composer Thea Musgrave (b. 1928), as well as intimate images of the artist’s friends and family.
Beyond Likeness will feature major loans from private and public collections from across the UK and Europe as well as key works in the National Galleries collection, demonstrating not only the exceptional skill and versatility of a remarkable painter, but also to telling Crowe’s own story and tracing her development – both professional and personal – through her art.
Born in Kingston upon Thames on VE Day in 1945, Victoria Crowe studied at Kingston School of Art (1961-65) and at the Royal College of Art in London (1965-68), and subsequently taught at Edinburgh College of Art for 30 years, while developing her own artistic practice. She has had over 50 solo exhibitions and her work is represented in collections around the world.
Crowe is renowned as a painter whose work is richly imbued with layers of meaning and personal resonance. If this is true of her of landscapes, interiors and still-lifes, then it is perhaps even more intensely felt in her portraiture.
The portraits most important and fulfilling to Crowe are those whose sitters have enriched her own thinking and awareness. In the early 1980s, she began to paint people who had broadened her interest in the inner life, the world of dream and myth, and the search for some sort of spiritual understanding. As her work evolve in this direction, Crowe developed her distinctive approach to portraiture, which seeks to record more than just a sitter’s outward appearance; her paintings also document – through symbols – the subject’s experiences, preoccupations, ideas and dreams.
Beyond Likeness will showcase many of such works, including Crowe’s portraits of psychoanalyst Dr Winifred Rushforth (1885-1983), the poet Kathleen Raine (1908-2003), her close friend Jenny Armstrong and the artist’s late son Ben.
One of the early pictures in Beyond Likeness is Large Tree Group (1975), which is set in the hamlet of Kitleyknowe in the Scottish Borders. In this winter scene, Crowe’s close friend and neighbour, the shepherd Jenny Armstrong, appears as a small figure in the foreground, dwarfed by bare trees silhouetted against snowy fields and a lowering sky. A Large Tree Group is one of the most popular images in the NGS collection and has been made into a large tapestry by Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh, and gifted to the National Museums of Scotland (NMS) by a private collector. Armstrong, who lived in and herself documented the shifting Borders landscape, features in numerous Crowe portraits, three of which will be in the show, including Crowe’s very last portrait of her.
The SNPG has enjoyed a long association with Victoria Crowe over three decades. One of her most striking commissions for the Gallery is her portrait of R.D. Laing, the maverick psychiatrist whose unconventional ideas upended psychiatry in the 1960s. Crowe was well-versed in Laing’s work, having first encountered it when she read his book The Divided Self as a student. Sittings for the portrait took a week, in which the artist’s impression of Laing as grave, forbidding intellectual was overturned. Nevertheless, Crowe’s imposing portrait, painted from an uncomfortable kneeling position below Laing, captures the psychiatrist’s intense, uncompromising and piercing gaze.
Victoria Crowe has often spoken about the ‘privilege’ of painting a portrait and the relationship that develops between artist and sitter and cites her experience of painting the physicist Sir Peter Higgs as particularly rewarding. In the course the sittings the artist was captivated by the way the Noble laureate, in spite of his worldwide fame and the fact that his research has changed the way we perceive the world, remains resolutely modest and shy. Crowe painted him resting in an iconic Wassily chair designed by the modernist architect Marcel Breuer, with the famous Higgs equation jotted on a wall nearby; a depiction of the explosion that confirmed the existence of the Higgs Boson, the subatomic particle that bears his name, hangs above Higgs like a lampshade.
Beyond Likeness will also feature Crowe’s striking portrait of the British astronomer Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell (b. 1943), who, as a 24-year-old research student discovered the existence of rapidly spinning neutron stars known as pulsars. Burnell’s illustrious career, has included professorships at Princeton and Oxford Universities, and she has also served as President of the Royal Astronomical Society and the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the latter of which commissioned Crowe to paint her.
Speaking of the exhibition, Victoria Crowe said: “My work does contain passing reference to ideas of philosophy, genetics, visual sensation, consciousness of the self, memory echoes and resonances of a physical order we do not fully understand. I’m beginning to see my own journey and the work that reflects it as having a link to a continuing tradition of human questioning”.
Christopher Baker, Director of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, added: “Victoria Crowe is a painter of great accomplishment who allows us an intimate view of her fascinating sitters, the relationship she builds with them and their complex interior lives. She is also a wonderfully subtle colourist who creates layered works of remarkable beauty. It has been a privilege for the National Galleries of Scotland to work with her on selecting this exhibition, which will we are confident will prove immensely popular during Edinburgh’s Festival season.”
Victoria Crowe: Beyond Likeness will be accompanied by a lavishly-illustrated catalogue, available from 12 May 2018.
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1 May 2018
Major Raeburn paintings acquired by National Galleries of Scotland through Acceptance in Lieu scheme
Two outstanding portraits by Sir Henry Raeburn, one of the greatest Scottish artists of the early nineteenth century have entered the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland, thanks to the Acceptance in Lieu scheme, which enables works of art to be presented to the nation and offset against inheritance tax.
Raeburn, who was born in Edinburgh and lived from 1756 to 1823, was the leading portrait painter of his time in Scotland, and is regarded as one of the most accomplished and innovative in European art of the period. Originally apprenticed to a goldsmith, he showed enormous artistic talent as a young man. In 1784 Raeburn moved to London and he spent some time in Italy, but returned to Edinburgh in 1787, where he began painting portraits of famous and important contemporaries. He was in constant demand and received many honours, being knighted in 1822.
These highly skilled and ambitious portraits show Raeburn at the height of his artistic powers. They depict the two eldest sons of Sir William Forbes, 7th Baronet of Pitsligo in Aberdeenshire, a wealthy and influential banker, art collector and patron. The paintings were commissioned in 1809–11, when the young boys were around seven years old.
The eldest son, William Stuart Forbes (1802-1826), is shown feeding a hunk of bread to his pet, apparently a Bernese Mountain dog. Fixing the viewer with a playful stare, he holds the bread out in the air, while his other hand rests on the neck of the dog, who patiently awaits the coming prize. The scene is depicted with Raeburn’s customarily deft and economical brushwork, which complements the painting’s skilled handling of light and shade and harmonious colouring. The charcoal grey of the sitter’s suit offsets the glossy black and tan of the dog’s coat and the gentle greys, greens and blues of the wooded landscape around them. The light-hearted theme in combination with Raeburn’s unparalleled artistry makes this one of the artist’s most attractive and engaging portraits.
Its quality is matched, if not exceeded, by the depiction of the younger of the two brothers, John Stuart Forbes (1804-1866). Like the portrait of William, it shows its young sitter with his arm around his dog, possibly a Dalmatian Pointer cross. The boy sits sprawling in a sunlit landscape, gazing up towards his pet’s head. The boy’s face is boldly illuminated but nevertheless rendered with extraordinary sensitivity and delicacy of touch. Once again, the colouring is superb, with the warm pink, ochre and green tones forming a perfectly judged contrast to the cooler palette of its companion work.
The acute observation of the relationships between the boys and their dogs makes these works differ from the conventional portraits that Raeburn more usually produced, giving them much of the appeal of ‘genre’ paintings that show scenes from everyday life. As such, they have an exceptional status within the artist’s output and, indeed, in British portraiture of the period. The National Galleries of Scotland holds a fine survey of Raeburn’s work, although only one other example of his child portraiture, a later painting of about 1822.
The National Galleries of Scotland are grateful to Sotheby’s Tax & Heritage Department for the role it played in making the allocation of these paintings to the collection.
Speaking of the acquisition, Christopher Baker, Director of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, said: “Raeburn’s work has enormous appeal through its technical sophistication and the empathy with which he portrayed his subjects. Both these achievements are brilliantly distilled in these delightful portraits. We are very grateful indeed to the Acceptance in Lieu (AIL) scheme for making the transfer of the paintings to the nation possible. It seems especially appropriate to celebrate this, in view of the age of Raeburn’s subjects, during Scotland’s Year of Young People.”
Edward Harley, Chairman of the Acceptance in Lieu panel, commented further: “These portraits were amongst the finest of the artist’s paintings still left in private hands. The allocation of the works to the Scottish National Gallery highlights the importance of the Acceptance in Lieu Scheme in bringing exceptional works of art into public ownership.”
Clarissa Vallat, Sotheby’s Tax & Heritage Department, said: “We’re delighted to have played a part in negotiating the placement of these wonderful paintings with the Scottish National Gallery, by an artist so beloved by the Scottish nation.”
Notes to Editors
The acceptance of these two portraits settled £631,600 of tax.
The Acceptance in Lieu scheme enables taxpayers to transfer important works of art and other heritage objects into public ownership while paying Inheritance Tax. In this way, objects that might otherwise be sold on the open market and thus be potentially lost to the nation, remain in the public domain. AIL is a reserved matter but “executive devolution” arrangements are in place to enable Scottish Ministers to deal with cases in which there is a Scottish Interest.
AIL is administered across the UK by the Arts Council, which also oversees the Cultural Gifts Scheme. Combined the two Schemes are capped, so can offset a total of £40m worth of tax per annum. Full details and guidance are available on the Arts Council’s website at http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/what-we-do/supporting-museums/cultural-property/tax-incentives/
—ENDS—
11 April 2018
Portrait of celebrated broadcaster James Naughtie to enter Scotland’s national collection
Distinguished journalist, author and radio presenter James Naughtie FRSE (b. 1951) will be at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (SNPG) this week for the unveiling of the most recent addition to Scotland’s national collection – a specially-commissioned portrait of the respected broadcaster.
Brendan Kelly’s (b. 1970) colourful painting, the first portrait of Naughtie to enter the nation’s art collection, was specially commissioned with the support of the Friends of the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) and will go on display at the Gallery from this Wednesday. It was made in the intimate setting of Naughtie’s Edinburgh home.
James Naughtie was born in Aberdeenshire and educated at the University of Aberdeen and then Syracuse University in New York. His career as a journalist began in 1975 at the Aberdeen Press & Journal. He later moved to The Scotsman and then onward to The Washington Post in 1981 as the Laurence Stern Fellow on its national staff. Three years later Naughtie joined The Guardian, becoming its Chief Political Correspondent.
Naughtie moved into radio and television in 1988. From 1994 to 2015 he was one of the main presenters of Radio 4's Today Programme; he is now a Special Correspondent for BBC News, and Books Editor. He has anchored every BBC Radio UK election results programme since 1997 and worked on every US presidential election since 1988. He presented the BBC Proms for many years, and among the series he has written for Radio Four was The New Elizabethans in 2012.
James Naughtie became Chancellor of the University of Stirling in 2008 and last year was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He is a Trustee of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction and of the Great Tapestry of Scotland. He is the author of numerous books, among them The Rivals: The Intimate Story of a Political Marriage (2001), The Accidental American: Tony Blair and the Presidency (2007), and two novels, The Madness of July (2014) and Paris Spring (2016).
The painter Brendan Kelly was born in Edinburgh in 1970 and now lives and works in London. He studied at the Slade School for a BA (Hons) in Fine Art. A number of national UK collections hold Kelly’s work, including The National Portrait Gallery in London, where he has two portraits, the UK Parliament where he has a portrait of the former Deputy Prime Minster Nick Clegg, and the Bank of England. His portrait of the current Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, hangs in the Speaker’s State Rooms at the Palace of Westminster. He also has work in the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington DC. In 2006, Kelly was commissioned to go to Afghanistan as a war artist. He has won a number of awards, including BP Portrait Awards and at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, of which he is a member.
James Naughtie FRSE said: “It's intimidating, even scary, to submit to an artist and realise that the result will be part of the national collection. Fortunately, Brendan Kelly has been meticulous, insightful and generous, and we have become friends. His use of colour is dazzling, and I feel privileged not just to be a permanent resident of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery - an honour no-one has a right to expect - but to have been in his hands."
The artist Brendan Kelly said: “Although a lot of people mainly know Jim through his work as a radio broadcaster, he is interested in and involved with many things such as literature, history, politics and music. In the portrait I wanted to capture the sense of his broad interests, as well as his gregarious personality and his lively mind, but these can be difficult to sum up in an image. Somewhat inspired by Matisse and Van Gogh I decided I could best do this by introducing bright, flat colour to the painting which gives a sense of liveliness, positivity and generosity of spirit.”
Christopher Baker, Director of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, said: “This vibrant and skilful portrait of Jim Naughtie is a terrific addition to the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland. Jim is chiefly known as an authoritative and engaging radio voice in the worlds of politics and culture; now thanks to Brendan Kelly’s very thoughtful and carefully crafted work, he can also be seen in a more intimate and private setting. Both the artist and sitter generously made a great commitment to the creation of this fascinating painting, the commission of which was made possible thanks to the Friends of the National Galleries of Scotland.”
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
The Brendan Kelly portrait of James Naughtie is now on display in the Great Hall of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
Brendan Kelly’s website can be found here: www.brendankellyartist.co.uk
9 April 2018
The extraordinary art of Raqib Shaw set for debut Scottish showing at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
RAQIB SHAW:
REINVENTING THE OLD MASTERS
19 May – 28 October 2018
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One)
75 Belford Road, Edinburgh EH4 3D
0131 624 6200 | Admission FREE
#RaqibShaw
This spring the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (SNGMA) is set to showcase the art of one of the most extraordinary and sought-after artists working anywhere in the world today, the Kashmiri artist Raqib Shaw (b. 1974).
Raqib Shaw: Reinventing the Old Masters will be the very first time the work of Shaw – known for his intricate, opulent and incredibly detailed enamel paintings – has ever been exhibited in Scotland.
Eight large and recent paintings by Shaw will be shown alongside two paintings normally on display at the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) that have long obsessed the artist, Joseph Noel Paton’s (1821-1901) The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania, 1849 and Lucas Cranach’s (1472-1553) An Allegory of Melancholy, 1528 (the latter work has been on long loan to the Galleries for more than 20 years). Two years ago, Shaw painted a loose variant of Paton’s extraordinary fairy picture and this year he’s also completed a version based on the Cranach painting.
Raqib Shaw was born in Calcutta in 1974 and raised in the state of Kashmir. He comes from a family of successful merchants involved in the luxury goods market, selling rugs, shawls, jewels and antiques both in India and abroad. From a young age, Shaw found himself working in the family business, and was immersed in the world of jewellery, carpets, fabrics and interior design in his formative years: this had a profound effect on his art.
Shaw first travelled to London in 1993, at the age of 18, where he visited the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. He became absolutely mesmerized by the pictures he saw there, chief among them Hans Holbein the Younger’s (1497-1543) The Ambassadors, 1533. Five years later, Shaw returned to London to become an artist, learning his craft at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design. The National Gallery became a permanent place of study, and he spent hours there studying the work of artists such as Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) and Agnolo Bronzino (1502-72). The detail, craftsmanship and storytelling Shaw found in their work were to become key elements in his art.
By the time Shaw had enrolled on his Master’s course at Saint Martins in 2001, he had already attracted considerable attention. Soon he was widely exhibited across the globe, with exhibitions at some of the world’s leading art institutions, among them London’s Tate Britain (2006) and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art (2008). He has lived and worked in London since he first moved, and now paints from a former sausage factory in south London, which he has converted into a multi-storied, floral-laden home and artist’s studio.
Raqib Shaw’s art is quite unlike any other artist’s, past or present. While his imagery may be inspired by the Old Masters, Shaw’s technique constitutes an entirely unique kind of enamel painting. He spends months on preparatory drawings, tracings and photographic studies, then transfers the composition onto prepared wooden panels, establishing an intricate design with acrylic liner, which leaves a slightly raised line. He then carefully paints between the intricate web of lines, one tiny drip at a time, with a mixture of household gloss based paints and Hammerite, a tough enamel paint designed for outdoor metal surfaces. He uses needle-fine syringes and a porcupine quill, with which he manoeuvers the paint. Rhinestones and gems are sometimes added.
The idiosyncrasies of Shaw’s artistic techniques are matched by his subject matter. Our exhibition focusses on his work after Old Master paintings, particularly Renaissance works. A regular visitor to the National Gallery in London over many years, he has selected some of the lesser-known paintings which feature strong architectural features, reconstructed them in enamels on a much larger scale, and inserted his own narratives. Shaw himself, often clutching one of his pet dogs, replaces the main protagonist, to produce an idiosyncratic, colour-saturated reworking of historic subjects such as The Adoration of the Virgin and Child and The Purification of the Temple. The finished works are elaborate, magical and breath-taking in their colour and complexity.
In February last year, Shaw visited Scotland and the Scottish National Gallery for the very first time, to view Paton’s fairy-tale masterpiece The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania, 1849. Reproductions of Paton’s famous work had, the year previous, inspired Shaw to paint Self-portrait as the Opium Smoker (A Midsummer Night’s Dream). Now those two works will be displayed alongside each other. Both paintings are sprawling, resplendent works of art which elaborately draw upon characters in William Shakespeare’s (1564-1616) comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1595-96). Oberon and Titania, King and Queen of the Fairies, feature in Paton’s painting, whereas in Shaw’s painting is Nick Bottom, an actor turned into a donkey by a fairy. It is a self-portrait in which Shaw has portrayed himself as the donkey, dressed in a richly embroidered kimono and puffing on an opium pipe whilst surrounded by a surreal, hallucinogenic world featuring fairies akin to those in Paton’s painting.
During the visit to see the Paton artwork, Shaw also took the opportunity to view another artwork he had long admired but had never seen in person, Cranach’s An Allegory of Melancholy, which is based on Albrecht Dürer’s (1471-1528) celebrated engraving Melancholia, 1514. Unlike Dürer’s figure, who some argue represents brooding genius, the seated woman in Cranach’s version appears to be enchanted by evil and the cloud in the top left represents the Witches Sabbath and devil worship.
Shaw’s version – identical in size to Cranach’s – sees Shaw himself replace the woman. A Kashmiri landscape is substituted for Cranach’s Saxon hills and Cranach’s cavorting infants have been displaced by a bubble showing a room in his house which was recently damaged by fire, thus turning the painting into a very personal Allegory of Melancholia of his own. The painting was completed just a few weeks ago and is shown here for the first time.
Simon Groom, Director of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, said: “We are thrilled to be showing Raqib Shaw’s work in Scotland for the first time. The size, complexity, technical accomplishment and audacity of his work are something to behold – some of the pictures have, not surprisingly, taken years to paint. They are absolute visions of delight and awe, and I defy anyone not to lose themselves in the works.”
—ENDS—
NOTES TO EDITORS
Raqib Shaw: Reinventing the Old Masters will be at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art from 19 May until 28 October 2018.
Raqib Shaw: Reinventing the Old Masters is part of Edinburgh Art Festival 2018.
6 April 2018
Stunning and vibrant works by German Expressionist Emil Nolde in major new show this summer
EMIL NOLDE: COLOUR IS LIFE
14 July – 21 October 2018
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two)
73 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DS
0131 624 6200
Admission £10 (£8) | Free for Our Friends
#EmilNolde #ColourIsLife
This summer will see a major presentation of stunning and vibrant works by pioneering German Expressionist artist Emil Nolde (1867-1956) at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (SNGMA) in Edinburgh.
This will be the most ambitious exhibition of Nolde’s work in the UK in more than two decades and only the second ever exhibition to be held in Scotland, with over 120 paintings, drawings, watercolours and prints generously loaned by Nolde Stiftung Seebüll. This full-scale retrospective will chart the career of one of Germany’s most accomplished modern artists from 1901 up until 1950, just a few years before his death. Many of the works have rarely been seen outside Germany.
Nolde was one of the first Expressionists and is recognised as one of the pivotal figures of the European avant-garde, renowned for his bold use of colour. Emil Nolde: Colour is Life will encompass a rich and diverse range of work from the artist’s early atmospheric landscapes to the intensely coloured rich oils of his later career; from images of soldiers, which capture the build-up to the First World War to a series of extraordinary religious paintings, with their heady mix of spirituality and eroticism. Other works on show will demonstrate Nolde’s passion for the immense skies, flat, windswept landscapes and storm-tossed seas of his north German homeland, as well as his fascination for the demi-monde of Berlin’s cafés and cabarets, the busy to-and-fro of tugboats in the port of Hamburg and the many people and places he saw on a trip to the South Seas in 1914.
In the early twentieth century, artists of the Expressionist movement placed a greater significance on conveying feelings or ideas than on replicating reality. Though he was briefly affiliated with one of the two main German Expressionist groups, Die Brücke (the Bridge), Nolde worked independently and alone for most of his life, and developed his own expressionist style around 1909-10. Nolde felt strongly about what he painted, identifying with his subjects in every brushstroke, heightening his colours and simplifying his shapes, so that the viewer can also experience his emotional response to the world about him.
Born in the village of Nolde in 1867, Hans Emil Hansen adopted the name of his birthplace as his surname, upon getting married in 1902. His father was a farmer and Nolde often worked the land after school and may have followed in his father’s footsteps had he not trained as a woodcarver, and subsequently as an artist.
From 1904 onwards Nolde usually spent the winter in Berlin and the summer at his home near the German-Danish border. His wife, Ada, was a dancer and it was natural that the artist got to know the world in which she worked: the cabarets, cafés and theatres of the bustling capital. In the winter of 1910-11, Nolde drew and painted a large number of works, depicting the frenetic life of these places, not only the entertainers but the audiences as well.
Nolde wanted to concentrate on the impact that the colourful and lively scenes had on him. This resulted in paintings and watercolours of high-keyed colour, and drawings of dancers in which movement and energy were of paramount importance. The works he produced during this brief period are among the most enthralling and beautiful of his entire career.
In February 1910, while exhibiting his work in Hamburg, Nolde became engrossed with the bustle and movement of the city’s port, the largest and most important in Germany. Captivated, he made a series of paintings, ink and wash drawings and prints in a burst of creative energy. Paintings such as Smoking Steamboats, (1910) capture the maelstrom of natural and man-made forces that make up the port: the wind whips up the water’s surface, clouds and the tug-boat’s smoke and steam into a barely decipherable whole, as Nolde applies thick paint in frenzied strokes of blue, green, yellow and red in response to the scene before him.
Nolde moved to his home in Seebüll in 1926. There he cultivated an extensive garden where he created many of his best-known and best-loved flower and garden, oil paintings. These sensuous paintings attract us in much the same way that flowers do; in creating them Nolde gave full rein to his love of colour, which became the main subject of works like Large Poppies (Red, Red, Red), (1942). One of the finest of all his flower paintings, this was made during the middle of the Second World War, when, having been named a ‘degenerate artist’ by the Nazi regime, he was forbidden to buy paints and canvas. As travelling was also difficult in wartime, his garden would become a great source of inspiration, resulting in some of his finest works.
It is ironic that Nolde should be persecuted in this way by the Nazis. He had joined the Party and had hoped that the government would place artists such as himself at the centre of their cultural policy. Instead, over 1000 of his works were confiscated by the regime and 33 of them (more than any other artist) were included in the infamous Degenerate Art Exhibition in Munich in 1937, intended as a showcase for what the Nazis saw as the worst excesses of modern art.
Nolde could not openly practice as a professional artist, showing and selling his work. Instead he created some of the finest works of his career – his so-called ‘unpainted pictures’ – watercolours rich in colour and filled with fantastical figures. His complex history as an artist living through turbulent times, supporting the Party but rejected by the regime, makes Nolde’s career as problematic and conflicted as it is celebrated.
Simon Groom, Director of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, said: “If one were to single out one aspect of Nolde’s work that sets it apart from the art of his contemporaries in Germany, indeed of most German art in general, one would have to choose the extraordinary colour sense. Colours were his language, his music, his way of expressing his deepest emotions. They speak to us in a very visceral way, a direct conduit to Nolde himself.”
In many of Nolde’s paintings it was his extraordinary sense and use of colour that displayed his deep spirituality. Colours took on a life of their own in his works. This range of works brought together are some of the most accomplished by any German Expressionist artist and deserve wider exposure.
Emil Nolde: Colour is Life is organised in collaboration with Nolde Stiftung Seebüll, the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and the National Gallery of Ireland.
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
Emil Nolde: Colour is Life will be accompanied by a lavishly illustrated exhibition catalogue with text by Keith Hartley, Chief Curator and Deputy Director, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, priced at £20.
Emil Nolde: Colour is Life will be at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art from 14 July until 21 October 2018.
Emil Nolde: Colour is Life is part of Edinburgh Art Festival 2018.
21 February 2018
First ever major showing in Scotland of Jenny Saville’s work to spearhead third instalment of Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art’s contemporary art programme
NOW
JENNY SAVILLE
SARA BARKER
CHRISTINE BORLAND
ROBIN RHODE
MARKUS SCHINWALD
CATHERINE STREET
24 March – 16 September 2018
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One)
75 Belford Road, Edinburgh EH4 3DR
Telephone 0131 624 6200 | Admission FREE
nationalgalleries.org
#ModernNOW
A major presentation of works by renowned British artist Jenny Saville (b. 1970) is to open at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (SNGMA) in Edinburgh this spring.
Saville is a hugely successful international artist best known for her monumental depictions of the naked female form; unflinching paintings of fleshy, un-idealised bodies, often painted close-up, on a massive scale. Her 21-foot-long triptych Strategy (South Face/Front Face/North Face) reached a wider audience when it appeared on the cover of the 1994 album The Holy Bible by Welsh band the Manic Street Preachers.
Bringing together 17 works from private and public collections across the globe, this will be the first museum exhibition of Saville’s work ever to be held in Scotland, and only her third in the UK. The selection will span 26 years, from iconic early paintings such as Propped (1992) and Trace (1993-4), to recent charcoal and pastel drawings, demonstrating how Saville’s approach to depicting the human body has shifted over the course of her career. Other highlights will include a series of large-scale head paintings, such as Rosetta II (2005-6), made while the artist was based in Italy, and the premier of a major new work, Aleppo (2017-18), that will be hung at the Scottish National Gallery alongside historic works from the collection.
Saville draws upon a wide range of sources in her work, including medical and forensic text books, children’s drawings, graffiti and online images, as well as celebrated paintings and drawings of the past. In more recent years, Saville has created works in which she layers images, often drawing on several different sources. Working between the figurative and abstract, she has chosen to use charcoal and pastel in many of these works, attracted by the transparency they offer. These materials allow Saville to work organically, layering and erasing her media to blend and merge bodily forms and abstract gestures. The resulting works, such as One out of two (symposium) (2016), capture a sense of motion and fluidity. These restless images provide no fixed point, but rather suggest the perception of simultaneous realities.
Saville’s first major Scottish showing is another notable milestone in her acclaimed career, which began in 1992 when the collector Charles Saatchi (b. 1943), champion of the generation that became known as the Young British Artists (YBA), acquired many of the works she’d shown in her Glasgow School of Art graduation display. Her paintings Propped and Trace were shown alongside other paintings such as Plan (1993) in the Saatchi Gallery’s Young British Artists III exhibition in 1994, and also featured in the Royal Academy’s exhibition Sensation: Young British Artists in 1997. Subsequent exhibitions of Saville’s work have taken place worldwide, among them group and solo exhibitions at the Gagosian (UK & USA), Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Roma (Rome, Italy), Norton Museum of Art (West Palm Beach, USA), Modern Art Oxford (Oxford, UK) and the Kunsthaus Zurich (Zurich, Switzerland).
The exhibition of Saville’s work at SNGMA will form the centrepiece of the third instalment of NOW, a three-year programme of contemporary art exhibitions launched at the Gallery in March 2017. NOW reflects the Gallery’s ambition to share contemporary art with a wide audience, highlighting the extraordinary quality and range of work being made by artists associated with Scotland, as well as those from across the globe, placing art created in Scotland in an international context, and demonstrating the crucial exchange between artistic communities around the world.
Alongside the work of Jenny Saville will be new and recent works by five artists who have explored ideas related to the body, performance, process and materials.
These will include a specially conceived installation by the South African artist Robin Rhode (b. 1976), featuring six recent multi-part photographic works in which the artist uses colour theory and geometry through which to explore art as a tool for communication. Rhode, who has won the prestigious Zurich Art Prize 2018, combines a number of disciplines and ideas in his work, including drawing, performance, street art, modernism and the work of Eadweard Muybridge, the Victorian photographer famous for his pioneering studies of figures in motion. The works on show here capture Rhode’s interventions at a specific site in Johannesburg, known for its gang culture and violence, where Rhode has made work since 2011. Rhode’s beautiful and sometimes playful photographic images (which depict a performer interacting with, and animating, wall paintings made by the artist) are an insistence of the power of art to create new realities, and have a strong collaborative ethos, driven by the artist’s close engagement with the young people living in the area. As with much of Rhode’s work, these photographic pieces provoke the viewer with playful humour to explore deeper questions about identity and the human condition.
Also on show will be a major recent installation by Scottish artist Christine Borland (b. 1965). Positive Pattern (2016) was originally commissioned by the Institute of Transplantation, Newcastle to honour the courage and generosity of organ donors and their families, who help save and transform the lives of hundreds of people every year. Comprising five abstract sculptures produced in a dense foam this poignant and powerful work renders in three dimensions the interior spaces of carved wooden sculptures by the British sculptor Barbara Hepworth (1903-75), including Wave (1943-44), which is held in the SNGMA’s own permanent collection.
A selection of four painted metal sculptures and wall-based works by Sara Barker (b. 1980) will show the ways in which this Glasgow-based artist layers materials and processes to investigate the act of making. Barker breaks apart the traditional categories of painting, sculpture and drawing, combining these and other techniques such as collage in her practice. Influenced by writers such as Virginia Woolf and Jeanette Winterson, Barker’s evocative works are often concerned with both physical and mental spaces.
The compelling two-screen video work Orient 2011 by Austrian artist Markus Schinwald (b. 1973), created for the artist’s solo presentation for the Austrian Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011, will be exhibited for the first time in Scotland. In Orient five actors are captured in a modern ruin performing gestures and movements drawn from slapstick and modern dance. The two-part work features an atmospheric soundtrack and narrated texts, spoken off-set by two voices simultaneously, producing a layering of sound and words. The highly evocative film explores the role of physical, bodily gestures in conveying the complex inner workings of the mind.
Edinburgh-based artist Catherine Street will present a new installation of works entitled A hoarding of greenery, a flow of redemption developed during a residency in November 2017, organised in partnership with the arts trust Cove Park and supported by Outset Scotland and the National Galleries of Scotland NOW fund. A hoarding of greenery, a flow of redemption explores the contrast between thinking and sensing and comprises a new single channel video, a text piece, a series of collages and a spoken-word performance, which will be staged by the artist during the run of the exhibition.
Accompanying NOW is a group display drawn from the National Galleries of Scotland collection, including works by Oladele Bamgboye (b. 1963), Miroslav Balka (b. 1958), Alex Dordoy (b. 1985), Alexia Hunter (1948-2014) and Francesca Woodman (1958-1981), which runs from 24 March to 22 May 2018. This will be followed by the Tesco Bank Art Competition for Schools, which opens on Saturday 26 May and runs until 16 September 2018.
The presentation of Jenny Saville’s work is supported by the Jenny Saville Exhibition Circle - our thanks to: Gagosian; George Economou; the Amoli Foundation, Hong Kong; and other donors who wish to remain anonymous.
NOW is being made possible thanks to the support of the National Galleries of Scotland Foundation, Kent and Vicki Logan, Walter Scott and Partners Limited, Robert and Nicky Wilson, and other anonymous donors.
Simon Groom, Director of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, said: “We are delighted to be showing the very first major exhibition of work by Jenny Saville in Scotland at the SNGMA. Saville’s extraordinarily powerful paintings and drawings form the centrepiece of NOW, the third exhibition in the most ambitious programme of contemporary art ever staged at the National Galleries of Scotland. Alongside her work, we will be showing a number of other artists working in Scotland and internationally, that reflects something of the extraordinary interests and range of art being made today”.
—ENDS—
12 February 2018
Ambitious Galleries project sees Scotland's young people create the Art of the Future
Sponsored by the People’s Postcode Lottery
THE ART OF THE FUTURE
10 February – 29 April 2018
Scottish National Gallery, The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL
Telephone. 0131 624 6200 | Admission FREE
nationalgalleries.org
#artofthefutureworld
The results of an ambitious learning project – which posed the question ‘What is the art of the future?’ to young people from across Scotland – will be brought together in a fascinating new display which opens at the Scottish National Gallery (SNG) in Edinburgh this week.
The Art of the Future will present the imaginative responses of 16 groups of young people from communities around the country – from Selkirk to Inverness, Alexandria to Edinburgh – who took part in this experimental ‘mail art project’, in which they were asked to make art from random materials they received by post.
Between July 2017 and January 2018 each of the groups was sent a box containing an art ‘tool-kit’, the contents of which were kept hidden until the moment of opening. The boxes had no agenda or set themes, but were designed to encourage invention.
The objects inside ranged from traditional artists’ materials to masks, a megaphone, banknotes and other everyday items; all were inspired in some way by the artworks in NOW, a series of contemporary art exhibitions currently running at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (SNGMA).
The Art of the Future exhibition will reveal how the groups taking part reworked the contents of the boxes they received to create insightful drawings, sculptures and performances, which have been captured on video and are presented here on screen. Some of these will make visitors laugh; others will ask the viewer to see things differently. All have come from the participants themselves, and provide a powerful sense of the issues that affect young people in Scotland today, including fears about our divided society, global conflicts, technological dependence, and the invasive pressure of social media. The participants have been spontaneous and candid, ‘telling it like it is’ from their own point of view; the works on show are sometimes challenging, but always heartfelt.
One video in the display will show how a group of young participants in Galashiels staged an interactive performance to coincide with World Mental Health Day on 10 October, highlighting young people’s need for support with mental health issues. Inspired by a cardboard bear mask they found in their box, they came up with the slogan ‘The Bear Cares’, and created a banner on which members of the public were invited to attach differently coloured ribbons to reflect their experience of various mental health conditions. The event took place at the Tomorrow’s People Store in Galashiels and was well supported by the public, who also made donations to two local mental health charities chosen by the participants: OneStepBorders and Penumbra.
The Highland Youth Arts Hub group featured six young female artists, who nailed cardboard models of churches from their box onto noticeboards at local Inverness churches. The models were a reference to Nathan Coley’s installation The Lamp of Sacrifice, which featured in the NOW exhibition at the SNGMA; one was inscribed with the slogan ‘money is the root of all evil’, and a banknote was attached below the inscription, with an implicit challenge to the public to help themselves.
In total, over 100 young people from across Scotland took part in the Art of the Future, which was devised and facilitated by the NGS Learning team. It sought to raise participants’ confidence by giving them the means to articulate their hopes and fears for the future through art, and by establishing a network of peers with whom they could share their concerns and their responses. Participating groups exchanged their boxed artworks with each other at a sharing event at the SNGMA in December 2017. The groups were intrigued to see what the others had created and were encouraged to find that similar concerns were being explored.
All the boxes created on the project will be displayed to a wider audience still through the Art of the Future exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery.
Speaking about the project, Robin Baillie, Senior Outreach Officer at NGS, said: “The boxes were designed to stimulate creativity and imagination and the young people have proved that contemporary art can be a great vehicle to help them make sense of the world around them. We believe this project has stimulated a genuine dialogue among teenagers in Scotland, about what matters to them. Better still, they have been spontaneous and honest in showing us how they see their lives in challenging times.”
The Galashiels’ ‘care bear’ for example, demonstrates how these young artists have created an affecting work of art that speaks to us all, addressing a challenging topic that directly affects young people’s life chances in Scotland today.”
Clara Glovier, Head of Charities, People’s Postcode Lottery, said: “We are delighted that the support of players of People’s Postcode Lottery has enabled the National Galleries of Scotland’s Art of the Future project. To be involved in a creative project which uses art to encourage courageous conversations between young people is very special.”
An additional part of the project involves groups of girls from four Edinburgh schools, who have created the ‘Games of the Future’, which were inspired by sports boxes sent out by NGS. The project will culminate in a performance to be held on Saturday 10 March, when the all four groups will present the games they have invented on the lawn in front of the SNGMA. This event is a partnership with the Action for Children Heritage and Inclusion Project, which is helping to reduce levels of isolation felt by young ethnic women in Edinburgh, and the creation of the games will help the girls achieve the Physical requirements of their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Awards.
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
People’s Postcode Lottery
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• £10 for 10 draws paid monthly in advance with prizes every day. For further prize information visit: www.postcodelottery.co.uk/prizes
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2 February 2018
National Galleries of Scotland becomes the UK’s first public institution to acquire the art of Michael Armitage, thanks to a generous donation
A major painting by Kenyan-born artist Michael Armitage (b. 1984) entitled Nasema Nawe (2016) has been donated to the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) by collectors Harry and Lana David, in memory of Nicola David-Pinedo. This acquisition is not only the first work by the artist to enter Scotland’s national art collection, but the very first Michael Armitage painting to be acquired by a public collection anywhere in the UK.
Visitors can currently view Nasema Nawe at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (SNGMA) as part of the second instalment of NOW, the Galleries’ dynamic series of contemporary art exhibitions. The display, heralded recently as a, “compelling and thoughtful show” by The Scotsman, runs until 18 February 2018.
Michael Armitage, who has received critical acclaim for his recent solo exhibition at the South London Gallery, uses a rich, seductive palette to explore stories drawn from a range of sources, including news channels, internet gossip and his own experience of living and working in East Africa. His works often present commentary on the social structures, turbulent politics, social inequalities and violence in Kenya. Armitage frequently draws on the composition of paintings from Western art history as a reference point; Nasema Nawe was inspired by Paul Gauguin’s painting Vision after the Sermon (Jacob Wrestling with the Angel) 1888, held in the Galleries’ collection.
In Nasema Nawe the onlookers in the foreground view a group of women performing baikoko, a form of dance and music that emerged in Kenya and Tanzania, typically performed between women, and often used by mothers to identify a suitable wife for their son. There has been a recent resurgence in the popularity and notoriety of baikoko in contemporary Africa, particularly in Tanzania, due to the Tanzanian pop star Diamond Platnumz, who featured a group of women dancing baikoko in the music video for his 2015 song ‘Nasema Nawe', from which Armitage took the title of this painting. Translated from Swahili, ‘Nasema Nawe’ can be loosely translated as ‘I am talking to you’. Baikoko was banned in public areas in Tanzania in 2015, having been deemed by authorities as dangerous; in his painting, Armitage reflects on the phenomenon of baikoko and the social context in which it is both performed and controlled.
As with all his works, Armitage painted Nasema Nawe with oil paint on Lubugo, a bark cloth from Uganda more commonly used to make sacred or ceremonial coverings. The dark red bark is beaten flat over hours or even weeks, creating a material which, when stretched, bares the traces of its making. Armitage incorporates the resulting holes and indentations into his composition, retaining its unique texture in the final work.
Michael Armitage lives and works between London and Nairobi. He received an undergraduate degree in Fine Art from the Slade School of Fine Art, London (2003– 2007) and has a Postgraduate Diploma from the Royal Academy Schools, London (2007–2010).
Simon Groom, Director of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, said: “We are delighted this important painting by Michael Armitage has now entered the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland, and that we are the first public collection in the UK to own his extraordinary work. His paintings have been on show in NOW over the last few months and have been received incredibly well by the public. We are extremely grateful to Harry and Lana David for their incredible generosity, in gifting this exceptional work to the nation”.
—ENDS—
Notes to Editors
NOW featuring the work of Susan Philipsz, Yto Barrada Michael Armitage, Hiwa K, Sara Rose and Kate Davis will run at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) until 18 February 2018.
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