It was fun to make a Scottish Colourists film to be shown in Perth Art Gallery’s exhibition The Scottish Colourists Revealed.
Photo: Paul Adair
The Scottish Colourists Revealed Exhibition
The Scottish Colourists Revealed exhibition consists of works by F. C. B. Cadell, J. D. Fergusson, G. L. Hunter and S. J. Peploe which are rarely seen in public. They have been lent from charitable, corporate, private, public and university collections and usually hang on the walls of castles, offices, places of learning and creative spaces. They are displayed together for the first time in public in the exhibition, alongside examples from Culture Perth & Kinross’s collection. I was delighted to help with loan negotiations, including from the Hugo Burge Foundation, as well as contributing to curatorial endeavours such as writing the interpretation panels.
A Scottish Colourists Film
To make the Scottish Colourists film, I was interviewed in the exhibition space, climbed up a ladder in a picture store to examine a painting, opened up solander boxes to look at works and even ventured outside so that I could be recorded striding up to the gallery’s entrance. We also spent time in the gallery’s excellent permanent collection display which celebrates the creative relationship between Fergusson and his eventual wife, the dance pioneer Margaret Morris. I am seen here admiring his portrait of her, called Summer, 1914 of 1934.
Photo: Alice Strang
A Film in the Exhibition
It was a strange but positive experience to see my face six foot tall in the exhibition! An internal viewing space had been constructed within the exhibition in which the Scottish Colourists film is projected and can be watched. It is played on a loop, has subtitles and I hope it encourages people to look at and enjoy the paintings, works on paper and sculptures on display nearby. The work on the right of the photo is The Pine Trees by Peploe which has been lent by the Hugo Burge Foundation. The exhibition runs until 26 October 2026 and is not to be missed!
If you are interested in the Scottish Colourists, you might like to pre-order a copy of my forthcoming National Galleries of Scotland book about them here. For more about the exhibition The Scottish Colourists Revealed please click on this link. To learn about the Hugo Burge Foundation, of which I am a Trustee, please read this post.
