Edinburgh: Modern 2

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Modern Scottish Women catalogueIn 1885 Sir William Fettes Douglas, President of the Royal Scottish Academy, declared that the work of a woman artist was “like a man’s only weaker and poorer”. Despite this view, between then and 1965 an unprecedented number of Scottish women trained and worked as artists. An exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art paid tribute to 45 of them, none, I can assure you, weak or poor!

Photography was not allowed in the exhibition (which is now closed – we caught it right at the end) so you will have to make do with this detail from the catalogue. It shows a stunning portrait of Anne Finlay (herself an artist featured in the exhibition) by Dorothy Johnstone. It was good to learn about names like these which were new to me, as well as to see work by old favourites such as Anne Redpath and Joan Eardley.

You would not, of course, expect us to take on an art exhibition without a good lunch inside us. The café at the gallery is excellent – look at that counter laden with cake and scones! I seem to have neglected to photograph my main course, but rest assured it was delicious – and followed by cake. The tiling is in the Ladies Room – not something I would normally take a picture of, but this one is particularly striking and, possibly, disorienting.

Ladies
Cafe
Lunch!

However, if you can’t take pictures of the art inside, you certainly can outside. The exhibition was in Modern 2, which originated as the Dean Orphan Hospital in 1833. A beautiful building, and beautiful grounds with sculptures by Nathan Coley, Richard Long and others.

Modern 2
Modern 2
Modern 2
Richard Long: Macduff Circle
Nathan Coley: There will be no miracles here
Sculpture by Dan Graham
Sculpture by Dan Graham
Sculpture

The sculpture below (and, stupidly, I didn’t note its title or the artist’s name) looked like either scissors or knitting needles depending on which way I approached it, and John has cropped one of his pictures to make a Saltire. (I think some lying on the grass might have been involved there too.)

Sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture

On our way back to the station, our glance was caught by St Mary’s Cathedral (Scottish Episcopal) which we’ve walked past many times but never entered. An orchestra was rehearsing inside so, once again, no interior shots as we could only tiptoe round the edges.

St Mary’s Cathedral
St Mary’s Cathedral
St Mary’s Cathedral
St Mary’s Cathedral

The cathedral dates from 1879 and was built thanks to Barbara and Mary Walker who left their estate in trust for its endowment. The 17th century Old Coates House next door was their home.

Old Coates House
Old Coates House
Old Coates House

We’ve given up, in recent years, visiting Edinburgh at festival time – it’s just too exhausting – but it’s lovely to be able to pop over for the odd day here and there. There’s always something new (to us) to discover.

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31 Comments »

  1. Loved all the picture.

    And hey, I’m relieved to know that, as a woman, I can write as any man, only weaker and poorer. You know. I fear I could not write at all 😉

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  5. That is some gorgeous old architecture! And I’d be scared to walk into that restroom. Flashes of color like that put me on edge. It looks like a maze!

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  6. I do like that colourful toilet tiling, though I could see how it could be disorientating. I was going to say that I hope they don’t serve drinks there, but it looks like that might be a picture of beer next to it! I visited the famous Hundertwasser toilets in Kawakawa, New Zealand, which are also a riot of tiling, though perhaps not quite as nausea-inducing.

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    • It was beer! But only one so it didn’t increase the effect of the tiles. I like the colours, though they’re a bit if a shock at first and not sure I’d have paired them with black and white.

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  8. Yikes the Ladies is certainly striking. Now I wonder whether it was a male or female who designed that!
    Sounds like a wonderful exhibition, hope it reappears somewhere one day.

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    • I wouldn’t go in with a headache! I do hope the exhibition reappears somewhere – most of the art is publicly available, but scattered. The impact of seeing them all together was amazing.

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  11. There are many women artists that never get the same accolades as the male artists do so it’s nice to see the, represented here. That bathroom looks like a funhouse at some amusement park:) The cathedral looks so nice and love the neo gothic.

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    • The whole area is very attractive (you’ll have probably seen it on Debbie’s blog too) and both branches, Modern 1 and Modern 2, are interesting. And both have good cafes!

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  14. Sounds like a powerful and well-deserved exhibition! I think those needle things are hedge shears! 🙂 So nice to be able to find new things and places to explore in a familiar city. Diversity is key for an exciting life, lifestyle and visit.

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  15. Thanks, Anabel, for showing me pictures of Edinburgh I didn’t see when I was there. 🙂 So, maybe the next time, as both my wife and I really would love to come back.
    Have a wonderful day,
    Pit

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