Borders Art Showcase
Huge new investment celebrates past and present Kirkcudbright talent
A new gallery is highlighting the role Kirkcudbright played in the history of Scottish art
FOR more than a century, the quiet harbour town of Kirkcudbright was one of Scotland’s most important centres for artists, rivalling its cities by attracting some of the nation’s best painters.
From the mid to late 19th century, some of Scotland’s most renowned artists – from the Colourists to the Glasgow Boys and Girls – helped establish a thriving colony, which became hugely influential and eventually earned Kirkcudbright the title of The Artists’ Town, a name by which it is still known today.
Now, following a long campaign by the community, a significant new gallery is showcasing the unique and influential role Kirkcudbright has played in the history of Scottish art. Thanks to more than £3 million from organisations including the Heritage Lottery Fund and Dumfries and Galloway Council, the town hall has been developed into an open, accessible, modern space which combines a display of its nationally significant, historic collection with dynamic temporary exhibitions of contemporary art.
Kirkcudbright Galleries opened its doors last month with a permanent exhibition telling the story of The Artists’ Town alongside a short exhibition celebrating 40 years of Wasps, the national artists’ studio organisation. This month it will also showcase significant Scottish and international work from 16 galleries around the country with its Stars Of Scotland exhibition, including paintings by Picasso and Millais.
“It’s really going to highlight the collection we’ve got in Kirkcudbright,” says Rachael Dilley, arts officer with
Dumfries and Galloway Council. “A high percentage of the artworks in our collection have been in storage for many years – in fact many of the pieces have never been on display – so I think people will be amazed.
“Hopefully people will have a sense of pride as well, as all the artists that we’ll have on permanent display will either be from Kirkcudbright or else moved to Kirkcudbright and created their artworks here.”
The permanent collection, to be displayed on the ground floor, tells the story of what made the semi-rural fishing town on the Solway Firth appeal to so many artists in the first place. It highlights the Faed family from nearby Gatehouse of Fleet, whose talented eldest son John left school aged 11 and later moved to Edinburgh to study art, paving the way for his brothers and sister to follow.
John and four of his five siblings went on to have work exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh and the Royal Academy in London. The family kept up a close association with the area, and inspired and attracted other artists who then settled in the town.
“They were the family that started the whole recognition of the area as being well suited to art,” Rachael says. “John Faed was the forerunner, before the Glasgow Boys and Girls. He was the guide for people like Edward Atkinson Hornel, William Stewart Macgeorge and George Henry. They all looked up to him, and that’s why the Artists’ Town developed. Then obviously those artists attracted others – people like Samuel Peploe, who just stayed for short bursts of time.”
Rachael and her colleagues are also working in partnership with the National Galleries of Scotland and Silver/enamel belt buckle by Jessie King National Museums Scotland, and will be bringing regular touring exhibitions to the gallery, including Scotland’s Early Silver, which opens later this month and Edwin Landseer’s Monarch Of The Glen. They have an ongoing relationship with the local community, and the Kirkcudbright 2000 group, who first campaigned for an art gallery in the town nearly 20 years ago.
Gallery staff will also be working with contemporary artists on work including an installation for the new Festival of Light in October, as well as complementing events such as the Kirkcudbright arts and craft trail in August.
The range of arts events is testament to the continuing status as an artists’ town, Rachael says. “The trail is so popular – it’s not just visitors, locals are really engaged with it. Local artists open up their studios, and there really are a lot of them living in Kirkcudbright. As soon as you read the programme you realise how much art is being produced here – it is still very much at the heart of the town.”
For exhibition information and opening times visit kirkcudbrightgalleries.org.uk