Watch ‘Collecting Joan Eardley’

The recording of my talk ‘Collecting Joan Eardley’ for the Hunterian Art Gallery can now be viewed on their YouTube channel.

Celebrating Joan Eardley

The talk is about the acquisition of Joan Eardley’s work for UK public collections, from Inverness to Hampshire. I gave it to accompany the Hunterian’s Celebrating Joan Eardley display, which consists of works by her in their collection and runs until 8 May 2022.

Glasgow Close

As you can see on the far right of the installation photograph above, the display includes Eardley’s Glasgow Close of 1960, which was presented to the Hunterian by Professor Alec L. Macfie in 1973. He was Adam Smith Professor of Political Economy at Glasgow University from 1945 until 1958. Professor Macfie donated his collection of 19^th and 20^th-century Scottish art to the Hunterian, including eight paintings by Eardley which were accessioned in 1973 and 1979.

From the Highlands to Hampshire

My talk was based on research which also informed an Art Uk curation which I edited, ‘From the Highlands to Hampshire: Collecting Joan Eardley‘. This features one work by the artist in each of the thirty-six UK public collections in which her paintings are held, in geographical order from north to south. One of my favourites is Children and Chalked Wall No. 2 of 1963, which was purchased that year by Lakeland Arts. Another important work is A Field by the Sea – Summer, which was acquired by the Royal Scottish Academy of Art and Architecture from the artist in 1962.

Joan Eardley Centenary

All of these initiatives were part of the celebrations of the centenary of Eardley’s birth in 1921, in collaboration with the artist’s Estate and SWARN, the Scottish Women and the Arts Research Network. You can find out more about this here and here. Eardley also appears in my Harvest Time and School’s Out for Summer blogs.