This summer, Dovecot is celebrating the works of Scottish women artists across 250 years in a major new exhibition. Building on their long history of collaborating with ground-breaking artists, Dovecot is working with The Fleming Collection to show over 70 outstanding works by over 45 artists who have challenged and shaped the Scottish art scene. The exhibition, Scottish Women Artists: 250 Years of Challenging Perception, highlights key women artists who have changed society’s view over the centuries of what women should and could do, and the significance of work by women artists in Scotland’s cultural history. In an era when women lead Scotland’s government, galleries and art schools, Dovecot and The Fleming Collection celebrate the pioneering women who broke down prejudices and barriers, paving the way for the contemporary art scene in Scotland.
Embracing key artistic movements and developments from the last 250 years, including painting, photography and textile art, the exhibition is drawn from The Fleming Collection with additional works from major museums and galleries. It focuses on significant ‘firsts’ in Scottish art, such as Joyce Cairns, the first female president of the Royal Scottish Academy, appointed in 2018; Dame Elizabeth Blackadder, the first woman elected to both the Royal Academy and the Royal Scottish Academy; and Catherine Read, who was the first formally trained Scottish woman artist in the 18th century.
The Glasgow Girls – the first generation of Scottish women to be formally and professionally trained in the arts – play a key role, with works by Bessie MacNicol (1869 – 1904) and Frances Macdonald MacNair (1873 – 1921), combined with many 20th and 21st century Glasgow School of Art (GSA) graduates, all testament to the legacy of 19th century GSA director Francis ‘Fra’ Newbery.
20th century highlights include the radical post-war artist Joan Eardley (1921 – 63), whose originality and exceptional visual language stands outside any gendered values; Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (1912 – 2004), one of Scotland’s – and Britain’s – foremost abstract artists; and Anne Redpath (1895 – 1965), who fought against convention to win a place in the formal Scottish artistic community. These outstanding painters are widely celebrated today, but the story of Scottish art is incomplete without the innovative and experimental art of women working in alternative media – design, illustration, applied and decorative arts. Phoebe Anna Traquair (1852 – 1936), Hannah Frank (1908 – 2008) and Margaret Mellis (1914 – 2009) have all championed these media as important artistic forms.
Cutting-edge contemporary artists who are challenging what it means to be Scottish women artists include Alison Watt (b. 1965), Rachel Maclean (b. 1987) and Alberta Whittle (b. 1980). Dovecot is contributing to Scottish Women Artists with a striking tapestry made with award-winning Glasgow-based artist Sekai Machache (b. 1989), commissioned by Dovecot for the exhibition. Dovecot’s work with Blackadder, Eardley, Barns-Graham, Victoria Crowe (b. 1945) and Maclean will feature in the exhibition.
In sections exploring the themes of landscape, still life and national identity, the exhibition touches on the importance of artistic communities in supporting an artist’s development, including Kirkcudbright and Catterline in Scotland, as well as St Ives, London, Paris and artistic networks further afield. Another critical theme running throughout the exhibition is how the drive to travel, live and exhibit internationally can influence artistic development, as well as the importance of art prizes, policies and funding to support wider exposure for artists.
Celia Joicey, Dovecot Director, says, Scottish Women Artists showcases works of integrity and beauty, which place women at the heart of the story of Scottish art. It is a timely reminder that while ability is equally distributed, access to opportunity is not. As a world-renowned tapestry studio, Dovecot is keen to play a role in commissioning and collaborating with a new generation of Scottish artists to create compelling works of art.
James Knox, Director of Fleming-Wyfold Art Foundation, comments, In the very first year of its existence in 1968, the Fleming Collection acquired two key paintings by Joan Eardley. It went on to increase its holdings of this important artist and to form in-depth collections of other mid-century greats, Anne Redpath and Elizabeth Blackadder, as well as acquire historical rarities by earlier artists. Today this strategy continues apace, and collaborating with Dovecot offers a superb opportunity to celebrate the achievement of Scottish women artists and to engage with Dovecot on creating new work that reflects the strengths of contemporary art in Scotland.
