The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Trip to see work of art is moving brush with past People: Woman finally views Brother And Sister
A woman had an emotional viewing of a painting of herself and her brother created by a Scottish artist 63 years ago.
Margaret Livingstone was the subject of Joan Eardley’s Brother And Sister, painted in 1955.
Yesterday she came faceto-face with the work at Aberdeen’s Treasure Hub in Northfield, where it will be stored until it can be displayed in the renovated art gallery.
The artist is known for her seascapes of Catterline, where she lived in the latter years of her life.
However, her artwork from her years in working class areas of Glasgow is also celebrated.
Margaret, who now lives in Essex, and older brother Alan lived in the Townhead area of the city when Eardley painted them.
The children were largely left to fend for themselves while their mother worked at the local “steamie”, and Margaret – who described herself as a “wayward” child – was taken into care shortly after Brother And Sister was painted.
She lost contact with her mother and brother for many years and was fostered in Kilmarnock, before spending a year at the King Street Home for Girls in Aberdeen.
Yesterday she said: “I was incredibly moved when I saw the painting ‘in the flesh’ for the first time today.
“I was so pleased that my daughter and grandson were here with me for this very special moment.
“I always felt that my family started with me, but seeing the painting today was a bridge to the family I lost. I’ve already decided that I need to come back to see it again next year when it’s hanging in Aberdeen Art Gallery.”
Mrs Livingstone first became aware of the painting when she reconnected with her mother and sisters in Swindon in 1985.
Many years later her daughter Suzanne discovered the painting was being displayed in London having been loaned by the art gallery.
Joan Eardley was born in Sussex but was trained at Glasgow School of Art and later moved to south Aberdeenshire.
“Seeing the painting today was a bridge to the family I lost”