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20th Century Boys
A Memorial28 October - 21 November 2021
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RSA Lower Galleries
Free entry, no booking required
This autumn we are celebrating the careers of Royal Scottish Academicians David Evans (1942-2020), Alexander Fraser (1940-2020), Kirkland Main (1942-2020), James Morrison (1932-2020) and Alan Robb (1946-2020).
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Alexander Fraser RSA, Palette Table (detail), 2004
Throughout our long history, the Royal Scottish Academy has honoured its recently deceased Academicians with a memorial selection in the Annual Exhibition. In 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic impacted upon all of our daily lives, our Annual Exhibition – the ‘yearbook’ of the Academy – found itself in a very unusual position. In an unbroken line since 1826, this show has been a mainstay of the exhibition calendar in Scotland. The closure of the Academy didn’t halt us though and the exhibition moved online for both 2020 and 2021. We look forward to it returning to the galleries in 2022 where it will continue to be accompanied by its online version.
The move online brought significant benefits in that it could reach a wider, and international, audience. The artists and their studios could be further explored and there was a greater opportunity for a far-flung audience to take part in events. We found, however, that this was not the platform to best honour our Academicians with memorial presentations.
So, today we celebrate the careers of a selection of five Academicians whom we have lost over the past 20 months. All are men and all are painters who have spent their working lives as artists and as educators.
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David Evans RSA, Reception, 1981
These artists were not linked directly as part of any movement or group. Some worked together and were friends for decades. All have very distinct links to the east of Scotland, but this is by no means the limit of their repertoire. There are subtle similarities linking their work and there are stark differences. Ranging from traditional and abstracted landscapes, Pop Art to portraiture, their paintings encompass a broad view of Scottish painting in the mid to late 20th Century and into the 21st.
The stories of these artists begin in the post-war years and their careers are immersed in the latter half of the 20th Century – the period where their vigour comes to the fore. This timeframe is when they are balancing teaching commitments alongside exhibiting careers and the day-to-day wonder and struggles of family lives. For most, it is during this period that they were elected Associates then full Members of the Academy and the additional requirement of voluntary time and the bonus of camaraderie which this brings.
Their vigour was not lost however. As the 20th Century came to a close and they left their various teaching posts, uninterrupted studio time enabled an increase in their output and some of the most powerful paintings of their careers. This bridge into the 21st Century saw them all exhibiting widely with recent solo exhibitions in the Academy and beyond.
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Alan Robb RSA, Wonderlust (detail), 2019
This exhibition is but a snapshot of this energy - an opportunity to celebrate their terrific commitment to their art and their vision. We see the world through their eyes and these pictures are here for us to enjoy and deliver their story even after the artists are no longer here to tell us in words.
Although we have dipped into the rich resource of our own Collections to begin this grouping, the exhibition would not have been possible without the help and collaboration of the artists’ families. We extend a great thanks to all whom have sourced, researched, loaned and offered these works for the show.
I very much hope that you enjoy this selection of works by these artists. Sourcing the exhibition has been both a poignant and pleasurable experience. Memories of times spent with these artists have invariably given me time to ponder, smile and wonder at the just how fortunate I have been to have known them.
Colin R Greenslade, Director of the Royal Scottish Academy
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ALEXANDER FRASER RSA (1940-2020)
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Alexander Fraser RSASpotted Leopard, 2009Oil on canvas84 x 86 cm£ 4,500.00
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Alexander Fraser RSAThe Painter, his Trousers and Stilts, 2015-19Oil on canvas173 x 142 cm£ 8,500.00
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Alexander Fraser RSARough Studies for Valley Ranger, 1985Acrylic (spectracryl), acrylic medium, paper and canvas on plywood129.3 x 92.1 cm
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KIRKLAND MAIN RSA (1942-2020)
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Kirkland Main RSAFortrenn, 1988Oil on canvas152 x 182 cm£ 17,000.00
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Kirkland Main RSAAtalaya, 2003Oil on canvas155 x 155 cm£ 15,000.00
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Kirkland Main RSAThe Scottish Romantic Tradition - Tillietudlem, 1987-88Oil on canvas150 x 180 cm£ 17,000.00
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Kirkland Main RSARomanesque Restenneth, 1992-93Oil on canvas100 x 105 cm£ 7,000.00
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Kirkland Main RSATemenos, Kellie, c. 1993Oil on canvas95 x 60 cm£ 5,500.00
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Kirkland Main RSAThe Scottish Romantic Tradition, 2007Oil on canvas120.3 x 109.9 cm
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Kirkland Main RSADeconstruction, 2017OIl on canvas60 x 40 cm£ 2,800.00
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Kirkland Main RSAExcavation (Rough Castle Under Snow), 1985Oil on canvas152 x 182 cm£ 17,000.00
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DAVID EVANS RSA (1942-2020)
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JAMES MORRISON RSA (1932-2020)
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ALAN ROBB (1946-2020)
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Alan Robb RSAZe Palladio, 2010Acrylic on linen56 x 56 cm£ 3,500.00
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Alan Robb RSAI Live Now, 1999-2000Oil on linen168 x 184 cm
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Alan Robb RSAEmpty Beach with Tanker, 1995Oil on linen156 x 140 cm£ 9,000.00
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Alan Robb RSAWanderlust, 2019Acrylic on linen152 x 122 cm
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Alan Robb RSAClip Strip, 1978-2011Acrylic on canvas182.5 x 162.2 cm
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Alan Robb RSAOM Elephant Temple, 2018Acrylic on linen145 x 180 cm£ 12,000.00
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Alan Robb RSAHoppy Dolls – Mexico/Brasil - VotosDrawing on Arches paper75 x 62 cm£ 1,250.00
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Alan Robb RSAOxala, 2008Acrylic on board50 x 65 cm£ 3,500.00
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Alan Robb RSAEx Votos - BrasilDrawing on Arches paper76 x 62 cm£ 1,250.00
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Alan Robb RSAEbu Babba/Soul in Purgatory, 2005Water-based media on paper26 x 20 cm£ 1,950.00
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Alan Robb RSACrucifix of Artesans , 2004Water-based media on paper26 x 20 cm£ 1,950.00
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Alan Robb RSALoganede / Transgender, 2006Water-based media on paper26 x 20 cm£ 1,950.00
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Free Online Event
20th Century Boys – an online discussion
Thursday 4 November at 7pm on Zoom
Join RSA Director, Colin Greenslade, as he examines the work of painters David Evans RSA, Alexander Fraser RSA, Kirkland Main RSA, James Morrison RSA and Alan Robb RSA. He will discuss how they collectively gives a snapshot of mid-late 20th-century painting and how as tutors they have influenced generations of new talent.
