Reframing the Hunterian Art Gallery

This April, The Hunterian at the University of Glasgow will reveal a full redisplay of its Hunterian Art Gallery.

Article Source: The Hunterian
Last Updated: 30 March 2023 12:54

Image Credit: Martin Shields

From 1 April, visitors will be able to see over 200 artworks spanning seven centuries in the revamped main gallery. Many of the works have never been on show before or have been hidden from view for a number of years.

The Hunterian Art Gallery, a much-loved venue in the west end of Glasgow, is home to the University of Glasgow’s extensive art collection which includes paintings of international importance, the largest print collection in Scotland, a growing contemporary art collection and an outdoor sculpture courtyard.

The iconic building was designed by William Whitfield and Partners and constructed between 1973 and 1981. It is an outstanding example of the architectural style known as brutalism, with its blocky shapes and walls of raw, ridged concrete.

To make these amazing collections and wonderful spaces more meaningful to more people, the artworks will be presented under new themes such as ‘What Makes a Portrait’, ‘Colour and Light, Art and Science’ and ‘Art Across Borders’, which will ask questions and invite discussion. Items from The Hunterian’s natural history and science collections will also feature, giving context to the artworks and highlighting the range and breadth of the collections.

Looking from new perspectives as opposed to a traditional historical narrative, the displays will ask questions such as: How do art and history influence each other? What can one picture tell us? What counts as art? How are artworks made?
They will include a significant number of works made by women, with 25 female artists represented including Bessie MacNicol, Phoebe Traquair, Joan Eardley, Victoria Dubourg, Helen Frankenthaler, Marie-Louise von Motesiczky and Christine Borland.

Works on view for the first time will include Gouffres Amers (1939) by English surrealist artist Ithell Colquhoun, Memories of the Sea (1936) by Josephine Haswell Miller, The Puppet Maker (1978) by James Cumming, and a rare, possibly unique impression of the print Sunday Afternoon (1941) by African American artist Dox Thrash.

The displays will also highlight a number of works that have not been on view for a number of years including Boite d'Allumettes (1963) by French Haitian artist Herve Telemaque, Sea Devil's Watchtower (1960) by Alan Davie, one of Scotland's most important modernist painters, A Paris Street by Scottish Colourist Samuel John Peploe and The Great Honey Coloured Moon (c.1911) by Glasgow Girl Jessie Marion King.

Also featured will be artworks that have undergone intense conservation, giving them a new lease of life, such as John Hoyland’s 18-6-69 and Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh’s stunning gesso panel The White Rose and the Red Rose, which has not been on display since 2016.

Regular visitors will still be able to see favourite works including A Lady Taking Tea by Jean-Simeon Chardin (once voted Glasgow’s second favourite painting), Les Eus by John Duncan Fergusson and a number of works by Whistler, the Scottish Colourists and the Glasgow Boys.

The redisplayed Hunterian Art Gallery main gallery opens on Saturday 1 April 2023. Admission is free.

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