Take a trip through time with  Decades: The Art of Change 1900-1980

Decades: The Art of Change 1900-1980
Opening Saturday 29 April 2023
  

Free   

National Galleries Scotland: Modern Two 

Decades: The Art of Change 1900-1980, is an exploration of the modern art scene, from 1900 through to the 1970s.  See how artists have captured changes in society as you move through the free exhibition, opening at Modern Two this Saturday (29 April).

You will discover how the mood and atmosphere of the work reflects and embodies each changing decade with works that have been carefully selected to best represent the period.  

Filling all of Modern Two and spread across six rooms, the journey begins at the turn of the last century, in 1900. Meet the French artists who painted with electrifying colour in the first room, with work by Henri Matisse and André Derain.

Their brightly coloured landscape paintings were so radically different that the artists were given the derogatory label ‘Fauves’ – meaning ‘wild beasts’. The term stuck and Fauvism had a major impact on British and particularly Scottish art. 

Two new acquisitions, by Scottish Colourists FCB Cadell and JD Fergusson, feature in this room. JD Fergusson, who was born in Leith but lived in Paris before the First World War, was one of the key Scottish artists of the twentieth century.

Painted in 1911, Flowers and Pink Box, has bright bold colour and confident, energetic brushwork. Fergusson’s work of this time often had sexual overtones and covert erotic references. In this painting, the pink box depicted is believed to have been used to store his condoms. 

This is the first still life by Fergusson to enter the national collection. The Rose and the Lacquer Screen, by FCB Cadell, combines several of his favourite still-life props: a rose in a transparent vase, a black fan and its trailing ribbon and a detail of the lacquered screen that dominated the drawing room of his house in Edinburgh’s New Town.   

Moving into the 1930s, artists such as Piet Mondrian believed that abstract art could change society. This room features work by Alexander Calder, Paule Vézelay and Ben Nicholson.

Entering the 1940s, abstraction and idealism were replaced by grim realism. Paintings and sculptures by Francis Bacon, Joan Eardley and Bet Low, created during and immediately after the Second World War, speak of a new reality, reflecting the harsh times. Benno Schotz’s sculpture Lament (1943) speaks of the Holocaust while William McCance’s Atom Horizon refers to the bombing of Hiroshima. 

The 1950s saw a battle between Abstraction and Realism, played out in the shadow of the Cold War and the nuclear age.  This is illustrated in Decades: The Art of Change 1900-1980 by two mural projects created for the great Festival of Britain exhibition of 1951, which are shown together here for the first time.

Josef Hermann’s project shows a row of miners - builders of a new social order; Victor Pasmore’s mural project is instead a daring essay glimpse of spiralling abstract forms. The art of the 1950s reaches into the future yet seems steeped in anxiety.

The display from the 1950s also features exceptional works by Alan Davie, Louise Nevelson, Fernand Léger, Eduardo Paolozzi and Elisabeth Frink.

Art became celebratory, playful and experimental in the 1960s. Sculptors abandoned traditional materials such as bronze and marble for ‘soft sculpture’, exemplified in the work of Jann Haworth, Yayoi Kusama and Duane Hanson’s iconic Tourists.

A firm favourite with visitors to the Modern, Tourists, captures the banality of post-war, consumer society with humour and warmth. Although these two figures are presented as a couple, they were cast from life but never even met. David Hockney’s etching of two gay men in bed dates from 1967, the year in which homosexuality was legalised in England and Wales. 

Throughout the 1970s, artists took Abstraction and Minimalism to extremes. Fred Sandback’s Untitled, 1971 – two coloured cords which cut across the corner of the room – questions the very notion of art as something with three-dimensional form or narrative meaning. 

The Keiller Library presents a witty and original focus on the motif of the hand in Surrealist art and writing. Drawing on works by artists like Man Ray, Edith Rimmington and Salvador Dali, from the national collection’s world- class holding of Surrealist books and archive material. 

From a time when the motor car was just beginning to populate the roads to the dawn of the space race, the world changed significantly in the 80-year timespan that the exhibition covers.  This selection of one hundred works from the national collection shows ways in which artists have continually pushed the boundaries and created art which defines its time. These pieces still have the power to shock and make us think about our world today and the changes and innovations to come. 

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art 1 & 2, Dean Road, Edinburgh. National Galleries of Scotland.

Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland, Sir John Leighton, said: ‘National Galleries of Scotland is delighted to reopen Modern Two with an exhibition that celebrates the strength of the national collection.

“Featuring a fascinating range of works by many of Scotland and the world’s greatest artists, Decades: The Art of Change 1900-1980 encourages visitors to think about how art can both reflect and change the way we see the world around us. We welcome you to join us on a voyage of discovery through 80 years of bold artistic achievement.’ 

Neil Hanna Photography www.neilhannaphotography.co.uk 07702 246823

Simon Groom, Director of Modern & Contemporary Art, said:Decades is an amazing opportunity to discover the rich range and depth of art from the national collection in the 20th century.

“Arranged by decades – starting with the beautiful paintings of Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and the Scottish Colourists, the show takes us on fascinating journey to see how artists as diverse as Francis Bacon, Joan Eardley, Eduardo Paolozzi, Yayoi Kusama, Bridget Riley, David Hockney, and Joseph Beuys reflected and gave shape to our experience of the 20th century.’ 

On the Spot: National Galleries of Scotland acquires painting with unique view of Edinburgh in 1881

National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) has acquired a vibrant painting by renowned Italian artist, Telemaco Signorini (1835–1901), with support from Art Fund.

Entitled, ‘Waverley Bridge’ (1881), the striking work depicts the recently constructed Waverley Bridge from a vantage point near its northern end. Looking south towards the junction with Market Street and Cockburn Street, the spire of St Giles’ Cathedral is silhouetted against an overcast sky at the top.

The changing faces of the city are evident, with gas lamps on the bridge and businesses – including Cumming’s Bazaar, the offices of the Edinburgh Evening News, and the Cockburn Hotel – identified by the signage on their façades.

Smoke and vapour billow up from the steam engines in the station below. The scene is enlivened by a picturesque cast of local characters going about their business, most prominently a policeman and a mother and daughter with flower-pot hats.

Signorini painted this work during a month-long visit to Edinburgh in the early summer of 1881. In his journal for this trip the artist recorded painting on Waverley Bridge on six occasions and, given its modest size, we can be fairly confident that it was painted on the spot. 

Born in Florence and based there for most of his career, Signorini is perhaps the best-known and most talented of the group of mid-19th century painters known as the Macchiaioli. Other prominent members included Giuseppe Abbati, Giovanni Fattori, and Silvestro Lega.

They were united by a commitment to a realist approach to painting, often in the open air, with bold brushwork and strong contrasts of light and shade, and by their rejection of the academic tradition of artistic training.

The term ‘Macchiaioli’ derives from the word macchia, meaning spot or blot, and was coined by a critic in 1862 in mockery of the unfinished appearance of their work, but was then adopted by them.

They are in some respects the Italian equivalents of the Barbizon and Impressionist painters in France. Signorini was the most cosmopolitan of the Macchiaioli, travelling often to Paris, and was aware of artistic developments there.

Aidan Weston-Lewis, Chief Curator of European Art at National Galleries of Scotland, says:‘We are delighted to have secured this striking and rare little painting for the collection.

“We knew that Signorini had worked in Edinburgh, but only a handful of paintings resulted from his visit and none of these has appeared on the market for decades. So, when we were offered the opportunity to acquire Waverley Bridge, we jumped at the chance. It instantly becomes the most significant painting by any of the Macchiaioli artists in a British public collection.

“We are confident that this will be a popular new addition to the collection, a perfect complement to our fine group of Impressionist paintings. It is a bustling image of modern urban life which recalls, in particular, the work of Gustave Caillebotte. The only surprise is that we are in Edinburgh rather than Paris!”

The acquisition was made possible through a generous grant from Art Fund, and the National Galleries of Scotland is once again extremely grateful for its support.

Sarah Philp, Director of Programme and Policy, Art Fund, said:At Art Fund, we believe that artworks of cultural significance should be in public collections, available to everyone.

“And so, with the invaluable help of our members and supporters, we’re so pleased to award £70,000 to the National Galleries of Scotland for the acquisition of this wonderful painting, Signorini’s Waverley Bridge, painted during the Italian artist’s trip to Edinburgh.”

Telemaco Signorini’s ‘Waverley Bridge’ is now on permanent display and is free to view at The Scottish National Gallery, in Edinburgh,10am -5pm, Monday-Sunday.

Tell us what you think!

National Galleries Scotland consultation sessions 

Saturday 5th and Thursday 8th MarchTell us

National Galleries Scotland needs your views on the proposed National Collections Facility at Granton.

Drop-in public consultations take place at Madelvic House, Granton Park Avenue, Edinburgh EH5 1HS at the following times:

11am – 4pm on Saturday 5 March 2016

2pm – 8pm on Tuesday 8 March 2016

FD9685 NGS Granton A5 Flyer.1.3.AW

 

 

Tomorrow’s People team works it out!

TP1

The latest Tomorrow’s People team ‘graduated’ at a ceremony at Pincent Masons on Edinburgh Quay in Fountainbridge yesterday.

Most of the original twelve participants in the latest Working It Out – North Edinburgh programme have already moved on to pastures new – into work, training and further education – but stalwarts Danny, Donnie, Lewis and Tom were still there at the end and were presented with certificates at yesterday’s event.

Tomorrow’s People Task Force Leader Heather Law, who supervised the team, produced a short film which highlighted the group’s activities over the four month course – and they certainly put in some hard work, providing over 300 hours of volunteering!

Just some of the young people’s activities include: moving three tons of sand to fill a sandpit, ten weeks of training sessions with Edinburgh Rugby, painting and decorating, army training, producing a mural with National Galleries Scotland, planning and interview sessions with international law firm Pincent Masons and helping Community Action North to transform Muirhouse Shopping Centre for Christmas!

The event, kindly hosted by Pincent Masons, offered an opportunity to celebrate all that commitment and hard work – well done, guys!

A new batch of recruits will join Tomorrow’s People in January, but Danny, Donnie, Lewis and Tom and their team-mates will certainly be a hard act to follow!