It’s been a busy and exciting Summer of Art championing Scottish Women Artists this year, from talking about Wilhelmina Barns-Graham on BBC Radio Four’s Front Row to recording an interview about Alison Watt. Read on to find out what I’ve been up to this season.
Mabel Pryde Nicholson (1871-1918)
The first excitement in my Summer of Art was giving the lecture ‘Mabel Pryde Nicholson: An Artist of Edinburgh’ to accompany the first exhibition of her work to be staged in over a century. It has been mounted at the artist’s former home, The Grange in Rottingdean and runs until 26 August 2024. Nicholson’s grand-daughter, the artist Rafaele Appleby, spoke after me about the women artists of the family. You can see us standing beside the newly discovered painting, Kit as a Pirate of c.1910 (private collection), which is in the exhibition.
The show is accompanied by the first book about Nicholson, written by Lucy Davies and published by Eiderdown Books. Both exhibition and publication are terrific. I shall be giving my talk for the Scottish Arts Club, Scottish Society for Art History and the National Galleries of Scotland, information about which I will post on my website in due course.
Woven into a Scottish Web
The second event in my Summer of Art was the publication of a ‘Story’ on Art UK. Titled ‘Woven into a Scottish Web: Mabel Nicholson and Scotland’s Art World’, it discusses the Scottish artists within her network, from Royal Scottish Academician Robert Scott Lauder (1803-69), to her brother James ‘Jimmie’ Pryde (1866-1941). It also reveals her links – with thanks to Patricia Reed and Joanna Soden – to the artists Isabella Scott Lauder (1839-1918), her first cousin once removed and to Elizabeth Gulland (1857-1934). Gulland proceeded Nicholsonr as a student at Hubert von Herkomer’s art school in Bushey, Hertfordshire. It was at Herkomer’s that she met her husband, the artist William Nicholson (1872-1949), but you’ll have to read the Story to find out more!
Edinburgh Museums & Galleries: Presented by the Scottish Modern Arts Association, 1964
(c) Artist’s Estate, courtesy Royal Scottish Academy of Art & Architecture, Edinburgh
Queen of Edinburgh: Anne Redpath and her Circle
My Summer of Art continued with the lecture ‘Queen of Edinburgh: Anne Redpath and her Circle’ which I was delighted to give to a capacity audience at the City Art Centre. This talk looks at the doyenne of post-World War Two Scottish art, who is renowned for her joyously coloured still-lifes, interiors and landscapes.
Redpath was the first female painter to be elected a full member of the Royal Scottish Academy. She was also a popular hostess in her flat in Edinburgh’s New Town, where she lived between 1952 until her death in 1965. The talk celebrates her professional success as well as her friendships with other leading modern Scottish artists, including William Gillies, David McClure and Robin Philipson.
Wilhelmina Barns-Graham on Front Row
I was thrilled to include an appearance on BBC Radio Four’s Front Row as part of my Summer of Art. First of all, I attended the UK premiere of Mark Cousins’ film A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things as part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Then he and I went to BBC Scotland to discuss it and the artist it responds to, namely Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (1912-2004), with Kirsty Wark. You can listen to to our interview here (from 16:09).
Kirkcaldy Galleries: Accepted under the Cultural Gifts Scheme by HM Government
and allocated to Kirkcaldy Galleries, 2022 (c) The Artist
Alison Watt in Kirkcaldy
My Summer of Art has drawn to a happy conclusion with the recording of an interview about Figures in a Classroom of 1984 by Alison Watt (b.1965). This early painting has recently been allocated to Kirkcaldy Galleries under the Cultural Gifts Scheme and will shown as part of the display ‘Collecting the Contemporary’ from 5 October 2024; my interview will be available from then.
As Summer draws to a close, Autumn beckons and I look forward to a book launch, a symposium and more talks, information about which you’ll find on this site soon. If you’d like to find out more about Mabel Nicholson and her family, you might enjoy this article. For more on Anne Redpath, take a look at this post. There is lots about Wilhelmina Barns-Graham on this website, but you might like to start with this feature.
