Art & Exhibitions

Lemon Street Gallery director Louise Jones talks Edinburgh School of Painting exhibition (interview)

03rd April 2009

It would usually involve insider knowledge, a trek around Edinburgh and special permission to peek at some highly-prized private collections if you wanted to view the wealth of artworks going on show at a gallery in Truro this month.

The Edinburgh School of Painting, opening with a private view on April 3 at the Lemon Street Gallery, is a large-scale exhibition celebrating the centenary of the founding of Edinburgh College of Art and the leading artists who have emerged through its doors to make an outstanding contribution to the development of post-war Scottish art.

As gallery director Louise Jones points out, you wouldn’t expect the works gathered here to be on show together in their home city, let alone in Cornwall.

“It is a very special exhibition for me,” says Louise, who hails from Glasgow originally, and, after several years on the Continent, opened the Truro gallery almost a decade ago.

“The importance of it is that it celebrates the centenary of one of the oldest art institutions in the UK.

“Next year it will be 250 years since the college’s predecessor, the Trustees Academy, was set up in 1760.”

The exhibition has been curated by the respected Scottish academic Bill Hare, honorary curator and lecturer in Scottish art at the University of Edinburgh, and it endorses Louise’s ongoing commitment to modern and contemporary Scottish painting.

Works on loan have come from the collections of Edinburgh College of Art, the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh’s City Art Centre including pictures by William Gillies, William Crozier, William Gear, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Robin Philipson and Anne Redpath.

“Last year we showcased the Glasgow School of Painting. I’m not trying to say that the Edinburgh School is more interesting, but there is a great selection in this exhibition,” she adds.

Louise had to call in equipment and experts from the Royal Cornwall Museum up the road in Truro to help her establish that conditions in the gallery, including humidity and lighting, were of an acceptable standard for storage of some of the more sensitive pieces.

“Thankfully we’ve been able to prove that we are able to look after these paintings and we have managed to secure all the works we have requested,” says Louise.

She describes it as a museum-type exhibition. “Most of the paintings are not for sale – it is done for art’s sake,” she adds, stressing that there will be, of course, some paintings on the walls of the elegant three-storey Georgian townhouse that can be bought.

She acknowledges that in these tough financial times it may not be the most profitable show to be staging, but it’s essential to take chances.

“You have got to go with it, really, in the current climate,” she says. “You have to plan ahead and then keep to that plan.”

Other artists on show include Craigie Aitchison, Dame Elizabeth Blackadder, John Bellany, Alan Davie, Ann Oram, David McClure.

The rather beautiful show catalogue – “we have had lots of people saying it is the best one we’ve ever done” – includes a comprehensive essay by Bill Hare on the history of the Edinburgh School and a foreword by college principal Professor Ian Howard.

As well as staging the Scottish shows down here, Louise is proud to be giving Cornish contemporary painters a concurrent airing in Edinburgh’s Dundas Street Gallery, including Lemon Street favourites Kurt Jackson, John Hoyland, Gwyther Irwin and Breon O’Casey. An unusual Kurt Jackson still life exhibition has just come to a close.

“We have a lot going on in Edinburgh right now, and Edinburgh coming to Cornwall – for me that’s what art is all about,” says Louise.

“I think some of the paintings in this exhibition will also be of great interest to anyone who follows the Newlyn school.

“There is something here for everyone, really, and anyone who wants to come along to the private view and enjoy a glass of champagne will be more than welcome.”

The Edinburgh School of Painting exhibition runs at the Lemon Street Gallery, Truro, until April 25. Call 01872 275757 or visit www.lemonstreetgallery.co.uk

JACKIE BUTLER

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