Doubts over future of art exhibition
THE future of one of the fixtures of Glasgow’s art scene, the RGI Annual Exhibition, is in doubt after its cancellation for the second year in a row.
The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts (RGI) held its first annual art show in 1861 and since then it has become a regular date on the city’s artistic calendar.
In 2013, the show, which exhibited work by dozens of artists, sculptors and painters, returned to its traditional home in the McLellan Galleries after being staged at the Mitchell Library. But last year’s fire at the Mackintosh Building at the Glasgow School of Art led to the McLellan Galleries being used by the art school and no show was staged.
This year, the RGI planned to hold its annual show at the McLellan Galleries again, from late July to early September. However, talks between the RGI and the art school came to the conclusion that staging the show at the galleries this year is not possible.
Jean McFadden, president of the RGI, said the art school offered the building to the RGI for a May show but that dd not fit the institute’s schedule.
She said the RGI may now have to look for other venues in the city, although she thought the Mitchell was unlikely as it had proved an unpopular exhibition site for some of the artists involved. “We are all disappointed about it, but one of the difficulties [of staging the show] is finding the right venue,” she said.
The RGI was formed in the mid-19th century when 10 prominent Glasgow citizens met to discuss establishing exhibitions of work by living artists.
By the end of the century, many UK and European painters were displaying their work, with French painters influencing the Glasgow Boys, who went on to display their own work at the show.