Gallery to host display of artist’s collection

PERTH Art Gallery is set to host the collection of a renowned Scottish artist.

Culture Perth and Kinross has announced that a new permanent display will open on March 21 to mark John Duncan Fergusson’s 150th birthday.

The display will celebrate the life and creative partnership of the Scottish colourist and his partner, Margaret Morris, who founded the Margaret Morris Movement, Celtic Ballet and two Scottish National Ballets in Glasgow and in Pitlochry.

The new Fergusson and Meg gallery will include some of the artist’s bestknown works including The Grey Hat, Le Manteau Chinois and At My Studio Window. It will also feature important works by Margaret Morris, such as Cafe Crystal, as well as dance costumes, photography, and film.

The refurbished gallery will showcase more than 40 paintings, drawings, and watercolours.

John Duncan Fergusson was the most internationallyrecognised artist of the group known as The Scottish Colourists.

Fergusson, who spent much of his life split between France and London, was highly influenced by the French modern movements of the early 20th Century.

Margaret Morris was best known for her achievements as a pioneering dancer and choreographer, but she was also a teacher, physiotherapist, author, and artist.

After time in London and France, Morris and Fergusson settled in Glasgow in 1939. The following year they set about reinvigorating the Glasgow art scene by establishing the New Art Club where artists, musicians and writers met weekly to take part in informal discussions.

Morris founded the Celtic Ballet and the couple continued to spend summers in Cap d’Antibes in the 1940s and 1950s.

In 1960, the Celtic Ballet developed into the Scottish National Ballet and the International Association of Margaret Morris Movement now has centres across the world.