Pioneering Painters: The Glasgow Boys 1880-1890
Open thru September 27 Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland.
www.glasgow=museums.com/venue/index.cfm?venueid=4
The biggest ever exhibition of paintings by The Glasgow Boys has opened at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Scotland’s largest museum and most visited site. The Exhibition is curated by Senior Curator Jean Walsh and Curator Hugh Stevenson.
I asked Ms. Walsh comments on the just opened Exhibit. She responded, “I have several favourites in the show as many of the
m are very beautiful but my special favourite is Lavery's Sewing in the Shade owned by a private collector which is illustrated on p15 of the wee book. It shows two young ladies, possibly the daughters of Madame Chevillon who owned the hotel at Grez where the Boys stayed, sitting sewing underneath the shade of a tree at the side of the river. The colours are gorgeous and the way the light falls on the girls' clothes is superb. But most joyous of all are the expressions on their two faces. The younger of the two is quite obviously trying to get the older one to blush or giggle instead of posing seriously for the artist. Takes me back to my mischievous tormenting of my big sister!.”
Running between April and 27th September 2010, Pioneering Painters: The Glasgow Boys 1880–1900 will feature more than 140 works by the group of influential artists who coalesced in the city in the late 19th century. This group like so many other painters of the period were strongly influenced by Jules Bastien Lepage.
This will be the biggest exhibition Kelvingrove has staged since it re-opened in 2006 and will be the most significant collection of The Glasgow Boys’ works ever displayed in the city.
A definitive retrospective of the works of artists such as Joseph Crawhall, Sir John Lavery, Sir James Guthrie, George Henry and Edward Atkinson Hornel, the exhibition will run until 27th September 2010 with highlights then moving onto the Royal Academy in London in October, the first time a Glasgow Museums exhibition has toured to that gallery.
The period 1880-1900 specifically focuses on a time when the group was influencing artists not just in Scotland, but across Europe and the world. Among the iconic works that will be on show include The Tennis Party, Old Willie – the Village Worthy, A Funeral Service in the Highlands and Schoolmates.
The Exhibit features two new books authored or co-authored by Senior Curator Jean Walsh which I soon will have in stock. The larger book contains 160 pages with 33 large color plates and 66 smaller color plates. The smaller book, containing 68 pages includes 34 color plates and 19 smaller color plates.
Ms. Walsh’s books will soon be available at www.dickbellbookmaven.com. Right now the shipment is stuck in the ashes.
John Guthrie Old Willie—the Village Worth
Sir John Lavery The Tennis Party