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Last Updated: 14/11/2024 11:14:37
Tam O'Shanter in Kirkcudbright
Friday, 21 June 2013 10:56
‘Tam O’Shanter in Kirkcudbright - Paintings by Alexander Goudie inspired by Robert Burns’ runs in Kirkcudbright Town Hall from 29 June to 26 August 2013.
Kirkcudbright 2000’s summer exhibitions at Kirkcudbright Town Hall have been a successful attraction in the town since 2000, all in the cause of promoting the case for the establishment a gallery of national importance in the “Artists’ Town”, and undertaken with the financial and technical support of Dumfries and Galloway Council.
This year’s exhibition is entitled ‘Tam O’Shanter in Kirkcudbright’ and has been kindly lent by the Rozelle Art Gallery in Ayr (South Ayrshire Council). The paintings are all the work of the late Alexander (Sandy) Goudie, who was inspired by Robert Burns’ famous poem to paint a large series of works illustrating the whole piece.
Alexander Goudie, born in Paisley in 1933 and with a lifelong love of Burns’ poetry, was highly respected for his portraits and still-lives, and died in 2004. His reputation puts him well up amongst the best Scottish painters of the late 20th century and his works have been collected world-wide. In later years he went back time after time to the story of the feckless Tam, and, according to his son Lachlan, also a successful painter, his paintings and sketches ‘just got bigger and bigger’. Big they certainly are – most of the canvases are well over 4 x 5 feet.
By 1996 Goudie had painted and sketched more than 60 images of Burns’ famous tale of Tam O’Shanter, the idle, often drunken, Ayr fellow who wandered off on his night-time adventure, leaving his long-suffering wife Kate to await his return. Bold colours, with atmospheric use of inky blues and fiery reds, are overlaid with fluorescent green and white chalks for the ghoulish events. The group was exhibited in Edinburgh during the Festival that summer to enormous acclaim and admiration. It was at first intended as a selling exhibition, but its many admirers felt that the paintings should be kept together as a significant visual rendition of the tale. Luckily, three years later, thanks to the enormous generosity of three Scottish private foundations a group of 54 Tam O’Shanter paintings was purchased and given to South Ayrshire Council.
Some of the paintings are on regular display in the McKechnie Institute in Girvan and more at Rozelle House in Ayr, but there has never been an opportunity to show the complete group. Sadly the Town Hall in Kirkcudbright cannot accommodate the whole sequence, but will have on loan 30 of the most striking and eloquent pieces for the exhibition.
Joe Campbell, Chairman of Kirkcudbright 2000, says ‘This is a story we all enjoy, brought to life with startling imagery, colour, movement and excitement. We have a new design for the exhibition and we are delighted to be able to remind people of the connection between Robert Burns and Kirkcudbright.’
Burns served as an Excise Officer in Galloway from 1789 until shortly before his death in 1794. He travelled to Kirkcudbright frequently in the course of his work and a couple of times for pleasure, memorably writing the ‘Selkirk Grace’ on his travels. ‘Tam O’Shanter’ was published in 1791 and would have been well-known in Galloway.
The exhibition opens everyday from 10am to 5pm and admission is free, but donations are very welcome to support the work of the Kirkcudbright 2000 group. Audioguides will also be available to hire at reasonable rates in the exhibition.
Ends Flyer 2013 Kirkcudbright Exhibition - Tam O'Shanter
Kirkcudbright 2000’s summer exhibitions at Kirkcudbright Town Hall have been a successful attraction in the town since 2000, all in the cause of promoting the case for the establishment a gallery of national importance in the “Artists’ Town”, and undertaken with the financial and technical support of Dumfries and Galloway Council.
This year’s exhibition is entitled ‘Tam O’Shanter in Kirkcudbright’ and has been kindly lent by the Rozelle Art Gallery in Ayr (South Ayrshire Council). The paintings are all the work of the late Alexander (Sandy) Goudie, who was inspired by Robert Burns’ famous poem to paint a large series of works illustrating the whole piece.
Alexander Goudie, born in Paisley in 1933 and with a lifelong love of Burns’ poetry, was highly respected for his portraits and still-lives, and died in 2004. His reputation puts him well up amongst the best Scottish painters of the late 20th century and his works have been collected world-wide. In later years he went back time after time to the story of the feckless Tam, and, according to his son Lachlan, also a successful painter, his paintings and sketches ‘just got bigger and bigger’. Big they certainly are – most of the canvases are well over 4 x 5 feet.
By 1996 Goudie had painted and sketched more than 60 images of Burns’ famous tale of Tam O’Shanter, the idle, often drunken, Ayr fellow who wandered off on his night-time adventure, leaving his long-suffering wife Kate to await his return. Bold colours, with atmospheric use of inky blues and fiery reds, are overlaid with fluorescent green and white chalks for the ghoulish events. The group was exhibited in Edinburgh during the Festival that summer to enormous acclaim and admiration. It was at first intended as a selling exhibition, but its many admirers felt that the paintings should be kept together as a significant visual rendition of the tale. Luckily, three years later, thanks to the enormous generosity of three Scottish private foundations a group of 54 Tam O’Shanter paintings was purchased and given to South Ayrshire Council.
Some of the paintings are on regular display in the McKechnie Institute in Girvan and more at Rozelle House in Ayr, but there has never been an opportunity to show the complete group. Sadly the Town Hall in Kirkcudbright cannot accommodate the whole sequence, but will have on loan 30 of the most striking and eloquent pieces for the exhibition.
Joe Campbell, Chairman of Kirkcudbright 2000, says ‘This is a story we all enjoy, brought to life with startling imagery, colour, movement and excitement. We have a new design for the exhibition and we are delighted to be able to remind people of the connection between Robert Burns and Kirkcudbright.’
Burns served as an Excise Officer in Galloway from 1789 until shortly before his death in 1794. He travelled to Kirkcudbright frequently in the course of his work and a couple of times for pleasure, memorably writing the ‘Selkirk Grace’ on his travels. ‘Tam O’Shanter’ was published in 1791 and would have been well-known in Galloway.
The exhibition opens everyday from 10am to 5pm and admission is free, but donations are very welcome to support the work of the Kirkcudbright 2000 group. Audioguides will also be available to hire at reasonable rates in the exhibition.
Ends Flyer 2013 Kirkcudbright Exhibition - Tam O'Shanter
Page last updated: 20/05/2022
