So rich is our history that few if any years pass without an anniversary of note.
2023 is no exception and indeed promises to be a rather special year.
In April we mark the 50th anniversary of the death, and in September the 125th anniversary of the birth, of Sir William George Gillies RA RSA RGI RSW. More tangibly these double anniversaries will be accompanied by an exhibition, which after its opening at the Mound in December will tour select venues across Scotland in 2024 and 2025.
The exhibition is taking as its focus a ground-breaking new book on Gillies by the author Andrew McPherson, which is being published by Edinburgh University Press and supported by the RSA through its role as the custodians of the Gillies estate and legacy.
Andrew has spent the last quarter century conducting new research into Gillies, delving into previously unexplored areas of his professional and personal life. The significant new information which he has unearthed fundamentally readdresses Gillies’ position in 20th century Scottish Art History.
The Academy is delighted to be working on this exciting project which draws heavily on the Academy’s Gillies’ Bequest Collection and Archive as well as developing the story first told by Joanna Soden and Victoria Keller in 1998 through the Centenary exhibition and accompanying book.
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About the author
Robin Rodger
Robin H. Rodger graduated as O. E. Saunders Prizeman in Art History from the University of St Andrews in 1983, before taking his Diploma in Art Gallery and Museum Studies at the University of Manchester in 1984. The next 26 years were spent at Perth Museum and Art Gallery, and since 2013 he has been Documentation Officer with the Royal Scottish Academy of Art and Architecture. A keen researcher, he has lectured and published widely on Perthshire artists and Perth silver, and is currently engaged in research projects relating to aspects of print and printmaking in Scotland.
