A MAJOR new exhibition is to celebrate the centuries-old artistic bonds between Scotland and Italy. The Italian Connection will demonstrate creative links that have endured since the 17th century and continue today, transcending geographical borders.
It is to be staged in Edinburgh with pieces from the city’s own fine art collection which contains nearly 5000 individual artworks and is considered to be one of the best collections of Scottish art in the country.
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Curator Helen Scott said many people did not realise the extent of the collection or even that it existed.
The new exhibition, which goes on show in September, is part of a series being held to raise awareness of the collection.
“We decided to look at the connection between Scotland and Italy and explore the nature of this multi-layered bond which has existed for centuries and is very strong,” she said.
“It’s really interesting to see the impact Italy had on Scottish artists’ future direction. We also wanted to look at the flow of creativity and ideas in the opposite direction and the positive impact immigrants from Italy have had on the art scene in Scotland.”
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She said the exhibition was a “really exciting” project to curate because of the sheer variety of artistic connections that have evolved over the years between Scotland and Italy.
"There are obvious links in terms of Scottish artists like Joan Eardley and Elizabeth Blackadder travelling abroad and depicting the Italian landscape.
‘‘There are also more subtle connections, such as John Duncan finding inspiration in Italian Renaissance painting techniques or Stanley Cursiter exploring the Italian futurist movement of the early 20th century,” said Scott.
“And Scottish art has also benefited enormously from the contributions of artists with Italian heritage, figures like Eduardo Paolozzi and Alberto Morrocco, whose parents emigrated from Italy to Scotland
"It is interesting to trace the long-established tradition of Scottish artists going to Italy to study, a practice which dates back hundreds of years and continues to have a major impact on the development of young artists through schemes like travelling scholarships.”
Those who began travelling to Italy to train under Italian masters include artists like Allan Ramsay who went to Rome in the 1730s and also trained in Naples before coming back to become a fashionable portrait painter. Henry Raeburn spent time training in Rome in the late 18th century while some of the Scottish colourists were heavily influenced by their travels.
“Francis Caddell went to Venice in 1910 and was inspired by the colour and light he encountered,” said Scott.
The son of a coal miner, Fife-born William Gear won the Dux Arts Medal at Buckhaven High School and went on to study at Edinburgh College of Art before making his name as an avant-garde artist following a posting in Siena in Italy during WW2.
During a stay in Venice in the late 1940s Alan Davie, who was born in Grangemouth in 1920, was introduced to abstract impressionism which had a big impact on his style.
Scott said: “Cursiter was influenced by Italian futurism just before WW1 and his works are unlike anything else people were doing in Scotland at that time.”
The free exhibition will be at the City Art Centre in Market Street from September 7 until May 2020.
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