Patrick Elliott – författare

The 'Two Roberts': Robert Colquhoun (1914-1962) and Robert MacBryde (1913-1966), were two of the most important and celebrated Scottish artists of the twentieth century. Colquhoun studied at Glasgow School of Art where he met Robert MacBryde. The two became lovers. They were part of a celebrated Soho group that included Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud. Their post-cubist work - much influenced by Picasso - became enormously successful. In the 1950s they established worldwide reputations. Colquhoun's drinking and temperament caught up with him and he died almost penniless in 1962. MacBryde was killed in a car accident four years later. This catalogue with over 90 illustrations accompanies the only show to ever exhibit both artists together. The authors refer to previously unpublished letters and explore the 'Two Roberts' individual art practice as well as works the two executed together.

The Dutch artist M.C. Escher (1898-1972) created some of the most celebrated and extraordinary images in twentieth-century art, yet he remains an elusive figure. In the 1960s, when his reputation sky-rocketed, he was championed on the one hand by leading mathematicians who admired his grasp of geometry, and on the other by hippies who claimed him as the godfather of psychedelic art. Rock stars and teenagers were equally amazed by Escher's ingenuity and imagination, yet the art world looked upon him - and still looks upon him - with reserved judgement; in short, his work is ripe for rediscovery and reappraisal. This catalogue accompanies a major exhibition - the largest ever held in the UK - of nearly 100 of Escher's greatest drawings and prints. Based on the world-renowned M.C. Escher collection at the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague, the Netherlands, it has been organised by the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, and tours to the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London.

Joan Eardley (1921-1963) is one of Scotland's most admired artists. During a career that lasted barely fifteen years, she concentrated on two very distinct themes: children in the Townhead area of central Glasgow, and the fishing village of Catterline, just south of Aberdeen, with its leaden skies and wild sea. The contrast between this urban and rural subject matter is self-evident, but the two are not, at heart, so very different. Townhead and Catterline were home to tight-knit communities, living under extreme pressure: Townhead suffered from overcrowding and poverty, and Catterline from depopulation brought about by the declining fishing industry. Eardley was inspired by the humanity she found in both places.These two intertwining strands are the focus of this book, which looks in detail at Eardley's working processes. Her method can be traced from rough sketches and photographs through to pastel drawings and large oil paintings. Identifying many of Eardley's subjects and drawing on unpublished letters, archival records and interviews, the authors provide a new and remarkably detailed account of Eardley's life and art.

British realist art of the 1920s and 1930s is visually stunning - strong, seductive and demonstrating extraordinary technical skill. Despite this, it is often overshadowed by abstract art. This book presents the very first overview of British realist painting of the period, showcasing outstanding works from private and public collections across the UK. Of the forty artists featured in the show, many were major figures in the 1920s and 1930s but later passed out of fashion as abstraction and Pop Art became the dominant trends in the post-war years. In the last decade their work has re-emerged and interest in them has grown. Interwar realist art embraces a number of different styles, but is characterised by fine drawing, meticulous craftsmanship, a tendency towards classicism and an aversion to impressionism and visible brushwork. Artists such as Gerald Leslie Brockhurst, Meredith Frampton, James Cowie and Winifred Knights combine fastidious Old Master detail with 1920s modernity. Stanley Spencer spans various camps while Lucian Freud's early work can be seen as a realist coda which continued into the 1940s and beyond. Featuring many Scottish and women artists, this book promises a fascinating insight into this captivating period of British art.

This is the exceptionally rich story of Rembrandt's fame and influence in Britain. No other nation has witnessed such a passionate - and sometimes eccentric - enthusiasm for Rembrandt's works. His imagery has become ubiquitous, making him one of the most recognised artists in history. In this book, some of the world's leading experts reveal how the taste for Rembrandt's paintings, drawings and prints evolved, growing into a mania that gripped collectors and art lovers across the country. This reached a fever pitch in the late 1700s, before the dawn of a new century ushered in a re-evaluation of Rembrandt's reputation and opportunities for the wider public to see his masterpieces for themselves. The story of Rembrandt's profound and inspirational impact on the British imagination is illustrated by over 130 sumptuous works by the master himself, as well as by some of Britain's best-loved artists, including William Hogarth, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Eduardo Paolozzi and John Bellany.Foreword; Introduction; 1 Rembrandt's Fame in Britain, 1630 1900: An Overview- Christian Tico Seifert; 2 Rembrandt and Britain: The Modern Era - Patrick Elliott; 3 'The Finest Possible State': Cataloguing and Collecting Rembrandt's Prints, c.1700 1840 - Stephanie S. Dickey; 4 From Studio to Academy: Copying Rembrandt in Eighteenth-century Britain - Jonathan Yarker; 5 Regarding Rembrandt: Reynolds and Rembrandt - Donato Esposito; 6 Rembrandt: Paragon of the Etching Revival - Peter Black; 7 Rembrandt and Britain: A 'Picture Flight' in Three Stages, 1850 1930 - M.J. Ripps; Catalogue; Bibliography.

Raqib Shaw is one of the most extraordinary and sought-after artists working in the world today. Born in Calcutta in 1974 and raised in Kashmir, he came to London to study in 1998 and has lived there ever since. Inspired by a broad range of influences, including the old masters, Indian miniatures, Persian carpets and the Pre-Raphaelites, his paintings are infused with memories and longing for his homeland in Kashmir. His technique constitutes a completely unique kind of enamel painting. Spending months on preparatory drawings, tracings and photographic studies, he then transfers the composition onto prepared wooden panels, establishing an intricate design with acrylic liner, which leaves a slightly raised line. He adds the enamel paint using needle-fine syringes and a porcupine quill, with which he manoeuvres the paint. The finished works are intricate, magical and breathtaking in their colour and complexity.This book accompanies an exhibition of eight paintings by Raqib Shaw at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, alongside two paintings which have long obsessed him and have influenced specific works: Sir Joseph Noel Paton's The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania, 1849 (National Gallery of Scotland) and Lucas Cranach's An Allegory of Melancholy, 1528 (private collection). The book includes the first full-length biographical study of the artist.

A vivid portrait of much-loved artist, Joan Eardley, and her relationship with the Scottish coastal fishing village, Catterline. Joan Eardley, one of Scotland’s most loved artists, first visited the coastal fishing village of Catterline in north-east Scotland in 1951. It sparked a fascination that would last the rest of her life. She made the village her home and found inspiration in the dramatic light and rapidly changing weather. The gentle landscapes and wild rolling seascapes she painted there in wind, snow, rain and sunshine are among her best-loved works. Focussing on Eardley’s relationship with Catterline, this book includes previously unpublished archival material as well as specially conducted interviews with many of those in the village who knew her, shedding new light on Eardley’s life and artistic practice. A vivid portrait is painted both of Eardley and of the village, showing the vital part Catterline played in her development as an artist.

Collage is one of the most popular and pervasive of all art-forms, yet this is the first historical survey book ever published on the subject. Featuring over 200 works, ranging from the 1500s to the present day, it offers an entirely new approach. Hitherto, collage has been presented as a twentieth-century phenomenon, linked in particular to Pablo Picasso and Cubism in the years just before the First World War. In Cut and Paste: 400 Years of Collage, we trace its origins back to books and prints of the 1500s, through to the boom in popularity of scrapbooks and do-it-yourself collage during the Victorian period, and then through Cubism, Futurism, Dada and Surrealism. Collage became the technique of choice in the 1960s and 1970s for anti-establishment protest, and in the present day is used by millions of us through digital devices. The definition of collage employed here is a broad one, encompassing cut-and-pasted paper, photography, patchwork, film and digital technology and ranging from work by professionals to unknown makers, amateurs and children.Contents:Collage Over the Centuries, an introductory essay by Patrick Elliott; Collage Before Modernism by Freya Gowrley; On Edge: Exploring Collage Tactics and Terminology by Yuval Etgar; catalogue of exhibition works; a Chronology of Collage.