Newsletter No 46 Autumn 2014 From the Chair see that sports and culture do not have to be odds with one another. Within the SSAH, I would like to report that Greetings and I hope you have enjoyed the so far this year, the society has offered three tours. beautiful sunshine across Scotland! Glasgow has Dr Donal Bateson, Reader in Numismatics at the been in the news over the past few months. University of Glasgow, led a tour through the Tragically, the west wing of Mackintosh’s beloved Hunterian Art Gallery’s Scottish Gold exhibition on building at the Glasgow School of Art fell victim to 12 April. SSAH committee member and former a serious fire on 23 May. 90% of the structure and chair, Matthew Jarron, jumped into his role as 70% of the building’s content could be saved curator of the University of Dundee Museum thanks to the quick and efficient response by the Collections to give an expert tour of A Glimpse of a Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. But its famous Great Vision: The D’Arcy Thompson Art Fund library, the hen-run and a storage space were Collection at the Tower Foyer & Lamb Galleries, destroyed. This has left many of us devastated but University of Dundee on 07 June. Most recently, volunteers from organisations across Scotland SSAH members were treated to behind-the-scenes immediately pitched in to help with the salvage talks and tours at two National Museums Scotland efforts and I am pleased to report that all surviving sites. Also, we had such a great response to collections are now stabilized. Expert conservators featuring Warriston Cemetery, Edinburgh in our will assess them as part of a recovery programme last newsletter that we organised an upcoming that is scheduled over the next three years. visit and we are very grateful to Caroline Gerard, Unfortunately, many valuable books and journal- member of the Friends of Warriston Group, for runs from the library’s special collections perished generously giving her time to guide us. in the fire and an international appeal is under way Sadly, Dr Robyne E. Calvert had to leave her to rebuild –at least some- of this unique collection. post as committee secretary to return to her native The SSAH has donated a back run of its journal and United States and we currently have a vacancy. I if you think you might be able to help, please take would like to hereby thank Robyne for the great a look at the regularly updated ‘Wanted List’ at work she has done in the short time she served in http://lib.gsa.ac.uk/update-on-fire-affected- this role and we hope to find a replacement for her library-services/. in our next scheduled committee meeting. On a more positive note, Glasgow just hosted one of the most successful Commonwealth Games Sabine Wieber and the city was buzzing with energy and excitement. An extensive cultural programme accompanied the games and it was encouraging to 1 SSAH Research Support Grants microanalysis (SEM-EDX), Raman spectroscopy and fluorescent staining. My painting, Ben More from Iona of 1925, The Scottish Society for Art History promotes was one of several versions Peploe completed scholarship in the history of Scottish art and art during his regular summer painting trips to Iona. located in Scotland. To facilitate this, the SSAH My understanding of the difficulty of working en offers research support grants from £50 to £500 to plein air, especially with this island's changeable assist with research costs and travel expenses. climate, was enhanced by reading Peploe's letters Applicants must be working at a post-graduate to his wife on a visit to the Scottish National level or above and should either be resident in Gallery of Modern Art's archive in Edinburgh. Scotland or doing research that necessitates travel Heading to Edinburgh again, I was further to Scotland. Application deadlines: 30 November illuminated by talking to Guy Peploe, the artist's and 31 May. grandson, who has written extensively on his grandfather's working practice and took me to see To apply please send via e-mail: his surviving painting equipment, including a a cover letter pochade (portable paint box), brushes and current curriculum vitae palettes. a brief project description (300-500 words) Travelling to museums in Edinburgh and specifying how the grant will be used and how Kirkcaldy enabled me to study similar views of the it relates to a broader research agenda mountain, and build a better picture of the artist's a budget technique. Without these visits it would have been the name and e-mail address of one reference more difficult to analyse the paint cross-sections from the Hunterian's Ben More, which showed a Address applications to: complex layer build-up, unexpected from the SSAH Research Support Grants, c/o Dr Shannon spontaneous appearance of the work. This Hunter Hurtado, [email protected] research provides the first investigation of the technical aspects of Peploe's paintings, one which was much benefited by SSAH's generous funding. Project Report by Rachel Horsman Masters student, University of Glasgow I was lucky enough to receive a grant from the SSAH, enabling me to make research trips to further my study of the work of the celebrated Scottish Colourist S.J. Peploe (1871 - 1935). I am a Masters student at the University of Glasgow and my department, Technical Art History, has initiated a pilot project to study the Colourists in terms of their materials and methods. Collaborating with the Hunterian Art Gallery, we have been allowed unframed access to four paintings in their collection and have conducted a detailed technical examination of each work, supported by art historical research on their context and place in the artist's oeuvre. After first-hand observation, we S.J. Peploe, Ben More from Iona, 1925 took paint samples, which were later studied with © The Hunterian, University of Glasgow 2013 optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy combined with energy-dispersive X-ray 2 the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London in SSAH Events st 1951. Bringing us into the 21 century were paintings, prints, sculpture and video art created Tour of A Glimpse of a Great Vision: The D’Arcy by contemporary artists such as Will Maclean, Thompson Art Fund Collection, Tower Foyer and Marion Smith, Gemma Anderson, B.E. Cole, Susan Lamb Galleries, University of Dundee Derges, Alex Flett, Bruce Gernand, Jennie Pedley, By Claire Robinson, Museum Collections Unit, Andy Lomas, Lindsay Sekulowicz, Roger Wilson, University of St Andrews Mark Wright and Peter Randall Page. Inspired by ‘[…] the harmony of the world is made manifest in D’Arcy Thompson’s desire to collect, catalogue and Form and Number, and the heart and soul and all interpret the natural world, Maclean’s D’Arcy the poetry of Natural Philosophy are embodied in Thompson’s Daybook (2007) is part of a series of the concept of mathematical beauty’. mixed-media box constructions. It contains graphic D’Arcy Thompson, On Growth and Form (1917) and three-dimensional elements that represent D’Arcy’s many interests including marine biology, In June, SSAH members enjoyed a visit to an morphology, geometry and classics. exciting new exhibition - A Glimpse of a Great Vision. The Curator, Matthew Jarron, led us on an entertaining tour through the exhibition, which showcases the results of a two-year project by the University of Dundee’s Museum Services to develop a collection of artwork inspired by the pioneering biologist, mathematician and classical scholar, D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson (1860- 1948), who was the University’s first Professor of Biology. This project was one of only six in the UK funded by the Art Fund’s RENEW scheme supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. D’Arcy Thompson’s book On Growth and Form proposed the ground-breaking argument that biological form can reflect physical and mathematical principles. This landmark work had Reflecting the diversity of the collection and an immense impact on some of the most its interaction with the modern field of computer important artists of the 20th century, and continues art, the exhibition also features the specially to fascinate and inspire artists today. We had the commissioned computer art installation entitled opportunity to see works by renowned artists such Flowers (2012 - 2013) by Daniel Brown. This works as Henry Moore, Victor Pasmore, William Turnbull uses computer code to generate hyper-realistic, and Wilhelmina Barns-Graham. Barns-Graham is never-repeating images of flower blooms. Flowers unique within the collection as she was the only incorporates imagery, patterns and colours from artist who actually knew D’Arcy, having met him the collections of the D’Arcy Thompson Zoology when she was a child in her hometown of St Museum, University of Dundee, to create flower Andrews. Her work Overflow (1980), on display in textures and inspire flower shapes. the exhibition, is from a series of mixed media This visually impressive and thought- drawings based on wave formations which provoking exhibition provided a fascinating visualise D’Arcy’s idea that changes in natural form exploration of the links between art and science occur because of pressure from external forces. and made for a very enjoyable Saturday afternoon Further highlights of the exhibition include with SSAH members. the original catalogue from Richard Hamilton’s ground-breaking Growth and Form exhibition at 3 Natasha Ferguson from the Treasure Trove Unit who provided us with a fascinating introduction to the Treasure Trove system. The Treasure Trove law in Scotland ensures artefacts of archaeological significance are preserved for the nation in museums across Scotland.