A NEW exhibition at Edinburgh’s City Art Centre explores the work of Scottish artists during the 1920s – an evocative period of social, political and economic change.
Bright Shadows: Scottish Art in the 1920s marks 100 years since the dawn of the “Roaring Twenties”. It showcases over 35 artworks selected from the centre’s collection of fine art, including oil paintings, watercolours, drawings, etchings and sculptures.
Featured artists include DY Cameron, Stanley Cursiter and Dorothy Johnstone, as well as the Scottish Colourists SJ Peploe and JD Fergusson.
Curator Dr Helen Scott said: “People often think they know the 1920s, as a golden age of jazz music, Art Deco fashion and Bright Young Things. But it wasn’t all hedonism and decadent excess. It was a complex period of great social, political and economic change – all of which had a significant bearing on art and artists in Scotland.
“Curating this exhibition has been a brilliant opportunity to really focus on a particular time period within the City Art Centre’s collection, and draw out new stories and perspectives. I’m really looking forward to sharing these wonderful artworks with our visitors, as museums and galleries begin to reopen after lockdown.”
One of the highlights of the show is the striking portrait, Cecile Walton at Crianlarich (1920) by Eric Robertson. It arrived at the centre in late 2019 as a long-term loan from a private collector, and goes on public display for the first time as part of Bright Shadows.
It will also feature A Garment of War (1926) by DY Cameron, which is being shown for the first time since recent conservation work to restore the painting to its original splendour.
Bright Shadows shines a light on this fascinating period, exploring the styles, ideas and events that shaped artistic practice in Scotland. It brings together work by a range of artists, from mature figures like George Henry and SJ Peploe who were already celebrated, to younger talents like William Johnstone and James McIntosh Patrick who were just beginning to forge their own creative paths.
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