Scotland

The Glasgow Boys were a group/collective of twenty five artists who painted in Glasgow through the 1880s and 1890s. As well as painting Glasgow scenes they also painted rural landscapes in a most colourful fashion. Some of the most famous artists in the group were Sir James Guthrie, George Henry and John Lavery and Culture and Sport Glasgow have struck a deal with the Royal Academy in London to display around a hundred paintings and fifty drawings in 2010 (Easter until August). Culture and Sport Glasgow are a charitable organisation which have the honour of looking after the city’s museums.

As well as appearing in the Royal Academy, London, the Glasgow Boys Exhibition will first appear at Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow. Culture and Sport Glasgow have yet to decide upon which works will be chosen but it is hoped that it will include a selection of Glasgow Boys works taken from some of the private collections of Europe and elsewhere in the world. If the private collectors will allow their paintings to go on display it will certainly make the event extremely important as many of the works in those collections have not been seen before by the public.

Though this is the first large scale exhibition to be staged by Culture and Sport Glasgow it is, most probably, one of Scotland’s most important art events of this century (so far) and the charity hopes that the event will help boost tourism to Glasgow and increase awareness of this wonderful group of artists. If you  are planning to visit Scotland or London to see the exhibition I strongly suggest that you book your London hotels and Glasgow hotels at your earliest opportunity. It can be really upsetting when an opportunity arises to attend something really special but you are unable to get nearby accommodation.

Although the Glasgow Boys, and the later Scottish Colourists, were incredibly influential in Scotland and Europe they also had an impact on the London art scene. However it was only in the year 2000 that the Royal Academy first held a Scottish exhibition when they displayed a collection of works by the Scottish Colourists. For it to take almost a decade for them to have a second exhibition of Scottish art is a damn disgrace. Unfortunately I was not able to visit that exhibition and my main concern is that the Glasgow Boys exhibition will be the last exhibition of Scottish art for a great many years so I will have to make a very special effort to attend this one.

If you have never had the opportunity to see any of the art of the Glasgow Boys then it is possible to see some of their works on display in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery at the moment (other works can be seen in the Hunterian Museum and the Burrell Collection). I shall be going to the Wickerman Festival again this year so I will have to make a point of visiting Broughton House which is in Kirkcudbright (known as the artists town) where, I believe, there is some of the Glasgow Boys art on display. I haven’t yet decided if I will be camping for the duration of my vacation or if I will just camp at the festival then spend a few days in a hotel in Dumfries or Castle Douglas. Whatever I decide to do I will certainly be having fun.