Dr. Clare A.P. Willsdon, Senior Lecturer in History of Art at the University of Glasgow, has been awarded the 2002-3 Book Prize for the post-1800 category by the 'Historians of British Art', a North American organisation affiliated to the College Art Association. The Prize has been awarded for her book on Mural Painting in Britain 1840-1940: Image and Meaning.

The Prize is for the best single-authored book on a post-1800 topic in the field of British art, architecture and culture.

The Book Prize selection committee commended the book for the 'significance and originality of the subject, methodological approach, breadth and depth of research and sources' and 'quality of writing and production', describing it as an 'important contribution to the study of art in Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries'.

This pioneering survey and critical interpretation includes works by over 400 artists. It discusses and illustrates murals in state, civic, commercial, church and private locations and includes numerous paintings not normally accessible to the general public.

Dr. Willsdon said, 'Mural painting of the 19th and 20th centuries is a much neglected area of British art and the Award should help to bring it to a wider public - those interested in conservation, cultural heritage and national and local history, as well as those interested in education and the Arts.'

The book is part of a wider movement across Europe to document mural heritage. It is published by Oxford University Press.

Media Relations Office (media@gla.ac.uk)

For further information, please contact Dr. Clare A.P. Willsdon on 0141 330 6331 or 02920 755137 or 0141 946 7378.

Alternatively, please contact the University Press Office on 0141 330 3535 / 3683.

First published: 7 May 2003