January Exhibitions - William Gillies and William Johnstone
William Gillies, Landscapes and Still Lifes and William Johnstone, Marchlands will run from the 11th January - 3rd March 2012.
William Johnstone and William Gillies were near contemporaries at Edinburgh College of Art, but they could hardly have been more different. Gillies had a steely core but outwardly was quiet and retiring, leading by example. Johnstone had a powerful presence and made an impact wherever he went. Gillies’s art was not conservative, but he was cautious and stayed within a close range of references to landscape and still life. He was also suspicious of intellectuals of any kind and became the painter’s painter par excellence. Johnstone mixed with some of the most radical thinkers of the time. He became one of the first British artists to break with representation and paint purely abstract pictures. As a Principal in London at Camberwell School of Art and then at the Central School, he also had a revolutionary impact on art education. Both men were great artists and inspirational teachers, but Gillies’s decision to remain rooted in Scotland and his preeminence within the Royal Scottish Academy and Edinburgh College of Art has meant that his reputation is secure. It has taken longer for Johnstone’s radical thinking and extraordinary creativity to earn the recognition it so richly deserves.
Please note that our William Gillies and William Johnstone exhibitions are available to view on the website from the 27th December. Please contact us with any enquiries .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Catalogues are available to download from the website or as a hard copy on request.
