A Quartet of Events!

Please join me at a quartet of events in Spring 2021, looking at ‘Inspiring Women Artists‘, ‘Arran in the National Collection‘, ‘Women Artists at the Royal Scottish Academy in the 1920s‘ and ‘Paula Rego: Obedience and Defiance’.

Phoebe Anna Traquair (1852-1936), Angels, 1900, Marchmont House Collection

Inspiring Women Artists at Marchmont House

First up is the Marchmont House Inspiring Women Artists event on Saturday 24 April 2021, for which I am acting as Chair. This will explore the restoration of, collection in and activities at Marchmont House in the Scottish Borders, with a focus on Phoebe Anna Traquair, Julia Alexandra Mee and ‘Preserving Legacies for Future Generations’. The speakers are Hugo Burge, Director of Marchmont Farms Limited, art historian and curator Professor Elizabeth Cumming, artist and art historian Julia Alexandra Mee and Dr Sally-Anne Huxtable, Head Curator of the National Trust. The event is sponsored by Elaine Ellis of Arts and Crafts Tours who will provide concluding remarks. Tickets can be booked here.

Ian Cheyne (1895-1955), Arran Landscape, 1946, National Galleries of Scotland (c) Artist’s Estate

Arran: An Artistic Legacy

The second in the quarter of events is on Thursday 29 April 2021 when I shall be giving the paper ‘From Arran to the National Collection: Early Twentieth-century Responses to the Island’s Landscape’ as part of the Arran: An Artistic Legacy symposium organised by the Arran Arts Heritage Trail, in partnership with Paisley Museum and the University of Glasgow. I shall be talking about works by D. Y. Cameron (1865-1945), Ian Cheyne (1895-1955), Stanley Cursiter (1887-1976) and E. A. Taylor (1874-1952) in the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland.

The event marks the launch of an island-wide trail, celebrating Arran’s rich artistic heritage. Chaired by journalist and broadcaster Kirsty Wark, other speakers include Professor Clare Willsdon of the University of Glasgow talking about Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Alex Boyd of the University of Northumbia on early photographic depictions of the island on and James McNaught of Lyon & Turnbull on the Corrie Summer School. Free tickets can be booked here.

Dorothy Johnstone (1892-1980), Marguerites, 1912
Royal Scottish Academy of Art & Architecture, Edinburgh (c) Artist’s Estate

Proposed and Seconded

I shall be giving the lecture ‘Proposed and Seconded: The Women Artists Nominated for Election to the Royal Scottish Academy during the 1920s‘ for Edinburgh Museums and Galleries on Thursday 13 May 2021. Based on research into the Royal Scottish Academy’s nomination books of the 1920s, I will discuss the artists Katherine Cameron (1874-1965), Norah Neilson Gray (1882-1931), Dorothy Johnstone (1892-1980), Cecile Walton (1891-1956) and Gertrude Alice Meredith Williams (1877-1934) as well as the male allies who nominated them for membership of the Academy. Free tickets can be booked here.

Paula Rego (b.1935), Untitled No. 4, 1998, Private Collection (c) The Artist, courtesy of Marlborough Fine Art

Obedience and Defiance: Paula Rego

Finally, on Saturday 15 May 2021 I shall be giving the paper ‘Obedience and Defiance: Paula Rego and the Legalisation of Abortion in Portugal’ as part of the Acts of Defiance: Exploring Protest Art webinar organised by the Scottish Society for Art History and Public Statues and Sculpture Association. I shall be looking at works which Rego made in response to the failure of the 1998 referendum to legalize abortion in Portugal and the impact they had on the second, successful referendum held in 2007. The works discussed are part of the Paula Rego: Obedience and Defiance exhibition organised by MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, which toured to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh and can be seen at IMMA, Dublin until 25 May 2021 (Covid-19 restrictions permitting). Free tickets can be booked here.

I hope you will be able to join me at one, more or all of this quartet of events! For more on Stanley Cursiter, you might enjoy this blog. Dorothy Johnstone features in ‘The Joy of Yellow‘ and Cecile Walton leads this feature about International Women’s Day.