Display shows broad sweep of Gillies’ work
William Gillies was one of the most influential Scottish artists and art educators of his day. Born in 1898 in Haddington, East Lothian, into a close-knit family beset by emotional trauma and physical illness, Gillies was at the forefront of reinterpreting trends in European art throughout the 20th century. Gillies taught for more than 40 years at Edinburgh College of Art, eventually becoming its Principal. Along the way, this Big Brother figure of Scottish art inspired generations of artists and helped shape the face of modern Scottish painting.
As a new free exhibition devoted to his life and work reveals, Gillies was a highly complex creative soul with a fearsome work ethic. He never stopped experimenting – painting right up to his death, aged 75, in 1973. He had a playful side too. Happy with a shift in style towards the end of his life, he told his friend, artist Robin Philipson: “Well, I think it’s about time to begin now.” William Gillies: Modernism and Nation at the Royal Scottish Academy in central Edinburgh features more than 100 artworks, including prints, sketches, watercolours, and oil paintings in still life, portraiture and landscape. Archival material in vitrines fleshes out his back story. The exhibition has been inspired by a new book, William Gillies: Modernism and Nation in British Art, by Andrew Mcpherson.
For me, the most beguiling work in this show is Gillies’ portraiture, including a stunning selfportrait painted in 1940. There are numerous paintings featuring his family; mother Emma and sisters Janet and Emma. They are all different, changing in style as the decades progressed and ill-health beset his sisters’ lives in particular. Gillies’ gorgeous 1921 portrait of his sister, Emma, would make you weep. Gillies’ father John’s abusive behaviour towards his family cast a shadow over his son’s art. Interiors loom large in the background of portraits, peppered with symbols by which the artist created a private visual vocabulary to voice his inner-most feelings.
This beautiful exhibition will tour venues in Scotland from February 2024.