Treat in store for Scotland’s art lovers
1 May 2014 01:06 PM
Cabinet Secretary tours John Ruskin exhibition
in Ottawa, prior to its Scottish run
Shona Robison, Cabinet Secretary for Commonwealth Games,
got a sneak preview of a major new exhibition coming to Scotland while in
Canada.
Aficionados of drawings and watercolours will not want
to miss the forthcoming John Ruskin exhibition at the Scottish National
Portrait Gallery.
That was the Cabinet Secretary’s verdict, as she
toured it this week in its current setting at the National Gallery of
Canada.
Ms
Robison was in Ottawa as part of her official Canadian visit, which coincides
with the Queen's Baton Relay being in the country.
From July 4 to September 8, the collection of 140
drawings, watercolours and early photographs on varied subject matter, from
architecture and landscape to nature studies, will be on display in Edinburgh,
thanks to a prestigious collaboration between NGS and NGC.
A
famous aesthete from a Scottish family, Ruskin (1819-1900) was best known as
the nineteenth century's greatest British art critic, and champion of
Turner.
His
own little-known, yet outstanding works, are brought to the fore in John
Ruskin: Artist and Observer, which unites loans from key collections in Canada,
the USA and Great Britain (both public and private). It is the first time some
have been shown in public.
Co-curated by NGC and NGS the
display at the Queen Street gallery will be the exhibition's only
showing outside Canada, as well as being the largest exhibition ever to focus
on Ruskin’s work as an artist.
Highlights include wild and spectacular Scottish and
Alpine landscapes, Gothic palaces in Venice plus birds, geological structures,
and plants painstakingly depicted and brilliantly coloured.
Ms
Robison said: "Ruskin visited Scotland a great deal and was passionate
about our beautiful landscapes and literary heritage.
"It is befitting an artist of his enormous talent
that the spotlight is shone firmly on him both at home and
abroad.
"I applaud the National Gallery of Canada and the
National Galleries of Scotland for this beautiful and striking exhibition, and
which ensures that Ruskin's legacy lives on by introducing his works to new
audiences."
Director of NGC, Marc Mayer gave Ms Robison a private
tour of the exhibition. He said: “John Ruskin: Artist and Observer
garnered rave reviews from the Canadian media and was very well received by the
public.
“Our collaboration with the Scottish National
Portrait Gallery – our first – has been both fruitful and very
enjoyable. We look forward to more.”
Christopher Baker, Director of the Scottish National
Portrait Gallery, said: “Ruskin was one of the great thinkers of the
nineteenth century, and the leading art critic of his day, but his remarkable
skill as a draughtsman and watercolour painter are largely
unknown.
“This fascinating and ambitious exhibition will
explore a private but hugely revealing aspect of Ruskin’s creative life,
and will be one of the highlights of our programme this
year.”
Background
A
major, scholarly catalogue complementing the exhibition is to be published by
the National Gallery of Canada.