The Hunterian

Joan Eardley: The Centenary Celebration
3.00pm - 4.30pm
Tuesday 18 May 2021
Free online event

The Hunterian at the University of Glasgow is delighted to be hosting Joan Eardley: The Centenary Celebration, in partnership with The Scottish Women and the Arts Research Network (SWARN). This free online event will take place on Tuesday 18 May, on what would have been Eardley’s hundredth birthday.

Joan Eardley (1921–1963) is one of the outstanding figures of post-war Scottish art and is celebrated for her paintings of Glasgow children and the Aberdeenshire coast.

Convened by BBC Arts Correspondent Pauline McLean, Joan Eardley: The Centenary Celebration  brings together an incredible array of writers, curators and art specialists to celebrate the life and work of one of Scotland’s most popular 20th-century artists.

Curators from The Hunterian, Glasgow Museums, Paisley Museum and National Galleries Scotland will highlight their own holdings of works by Joan Eardley, covering collections that span her career, from early prints to late landscapes executed in the coastal village of Catterline. The Centenary Celebration will also feature arts journalist Jan Patience, Nick Curnow, Head of Fine Arts at Auctioneers Lyon and Turnbull and Joan Eardley’s niece, artist Anne Morrison-Hudson.

Attendees will be treated to a special screening from the Arran Arts Heritage project, who will share a short film on Eardley's formative years on Arran, featuring conversation between her and fellow artist Margot Sandeman and focusing on the studio they shared. Contributors will come together to explore Eardley’s career and legacy from a number of different angles, and to commemorate her contribution to Scottish art in the 20th century.

With multiple works on paper, numerous paintings and related archival material, the University of Glasgow is home to one of the most important collections related to Joan Eardley in the west of Scotland, covering most of her career. Her ability to capture the elemental energy of her subjects gives her work a timeless quality that resonates with today’s viewers as much as it did with her contemporaries.

“Joan Eardley's gift was to bring seemingly everyday surroundings to life,” says Anton Muscatelli, Principal of the University of Glasgow. “Her seascapes at Catterline are amongst my favourite paintings and we're very fortunate to have three in our University collection.”

In July of this year, The Hunterian will host a new Joan Eardley exhibition, Joan Eardley at The Hunterian, sharing with its visitors a rich array of material, from little known letters to some of her greatest masterpieces. Curated by Anne Dulau Beveridge, this exhibition will centre on The Hunterian’s collection, highlighting the strength of its Eardley holdings. Focusing on around twenty works, the exhibition will consider how they came to be part of the University’s collections and the stories their provenance can tell.

In 2021 a series of exhibitions and events from organisations all over Scotland will mark the centenary of Eardley’s birth. The Hunterian at the University of Glasgow is delighted to commence the celebrations planned around Eardley’s 100th birthday with Joan Eardley: The Centenary Celebration, and to toast the life and work of this beloved artist.

Tickets are free and available via Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/joan-eardley-the-centenary-celebration-tickets-150722068765

Speakers:

• Nick Curnow, Head of Fine Arts and Vice Chairman of Lyon and Turnbull
• Anne Dulau, Curator of Art at The Hunterian, University of Glasgow
• Victoria Irvine, Curator of Art at Paisley Museum & Art Galleries
• Joanna Meacock, Curator of British Art at Glasgow Museums
• Anne Morrison-Hudson, Artist and niece of Joan Eardley
• Jan Patience, independent arts journalist and editor
• Leila Riszko, Assistant Curator in Modern & Contemporary Art at National Galleries of Scotland

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For further information and images contact:
Rachel Hughes, Audience Engagement Assistant, The Hunterian: Rachel.Hughes@glasgow.ac.uk

Further information about Joan Eardley and the centenary can be found on the official Joan Eardley website: https://joaneardley.com/

Notes to Editors

The Hunterian

The Hunterian is one of the world's leading University museums and one of Scotland’s greatest cultural assets. Built on Dr William Hunter’s founding bequest, The Hunterian collections include scientific instruments used by James Watt, Joseph Lister and Lord Kelvin; outstanding Roman artefacts from the Antonine Wall; major natural and life sciences holdings; Hunter’s own extensive anatomical teaching collection; one of the world’s greatest numismatic collections and impressive ethnographic objects from Captain Cook’s Pacific voyages.

The Hunterian is also home to one of the most distinguished public art collections in Scotland and features the world’s largest permanent display of the work of James McNeill Whistler, the largest single holding of the work of Scottish artist, architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868–1928) and The Mackintosh House, the reassembled interiors from his Glasgow home.

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First published: 29 April 2021