Duncan ShankS

16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh Eh3 6hZ Telephone 0131 558 1200Email mail@scottish-gallery.co.ukwww.scottish-gallery.co.uk

cover: The Shore – Culzean, 1984, watercolour on paper, 29 x 60 cms (detail) (cat. 28)Left: Resting, 1965, pastel on paper, 33 x 42.5 cms (detail) (cat. 5)

Duncan ShankSWorks on Paper 1957-20133-30 June 2015

2

forEWorD

a private man, Duncan Shanks prefers to work free, unobserved, and alone, and has always felt reticent to exhibit his work.

Since 1997 he has worked chiefly with The Scottish Gallery, producing a series of focussed exhibitions reflecting his responses to universal themes such as nature and Time through paintings carefully pre-selected by him.

I first encountered Duncan’s work through his sketchbooks and studio studies as part of a five-year research project based at The hunterian, university of Glasgow, and founded on the artist’s generous gift of his entire production of sketchbooks – 106 and counting. The research has led to a new understanding of the role of sketching and drawing in Duncan’s work, and is highlighted in The hunterian’s current exhibition, Duncan Shanks Sketchbooks: ‘The Poetry of Place’ (14 March – 16 august 2015), and in its accompanying publication.

unlike his paintings, Duncan’s sketchbooks were never intended to be seen by others. as such they offer an uncensored insight into the artist’s working process, thoughts and aspirations. Ideas first explored in these sketchbooks were often subsequently developed in studio

studies. When exhausted as useful reference points for future work, these studio studies are consigned to a large chest located in the basement of his house.

When Guy Peploe heard of the opening up of the chest as part of The hunterian project, he asked whether he too could look through its content with a view to organising an exhibition. To his surprise the artist agreed and the result of Guy’s trawl through the chest is presented here in this show.

This is not a retrospective but a selection of studies – many being works of arts in their own right – spanning five decades. often related to series of paintings and to specific sketchbook studies, they explore nature from every angle and reflect the richness of Duncan’s varied approaches to drawing and painting. Whether atmospheric evocations in ink and wash, moody mixed media works or semi abstract rearrangements of the landscape, this exhibition provides glimpses into one artist’s remarkable journey from his student days to maturity, and into his search for a language to describe impermanence.

annE DuLau BEVErIDGE curator – hunterian art Gallery

right: Self Portrait, 1975, gouache on paper, 46 x 30 cms (detail) (cat. 14)

3

4

1 Jim Hardie, 1957pastel on brown paper40 x 28 cms

5

6

7

2 A Street in Florence – Italy, 1961pen and ink on paper28.5 x 37.5 cms

8

3 Self Portrait – Florence, 1961pen and ink on paper33 x 23.5 cms

9

10

4 The Old Cart – Islay, 1963gouache on paper30 x 34.5 cms

11

5 Resting, 1965pastel on paper33 x 42.5 cms

12

6 Snow Berries, 1969oil on paper52 x 33.5 cms

13

7 Hedgerow – Coo Road, 1969watercolour on paper50 x 63 cms

14

8 White and Pink, 1969oil on paper56.5 x 39 cms

15

9 The Studio Cat, 1969watercolour and pastel on paper56 x 60 cms

16

10 The Oil Lamp, 1970gouache on paper53 x 71 cms

17

18

11 Model Resting, 1970oil and compressed charcoal on paper49 x 47.5 cms

19

12 The Old Apple Orchard, Crossford, 1972watercolour and pastel on paper51 x 61.5 cms

20

21

13 The Clyde – Summer, 1975oil pastel on paper51.5 x 58 cms

22

14 Self Portrait, 1975gouache on paper46 x 30 cms

23

24

15 Washing Day, 1978gouache on paper53 x 72 cms

25

26

16 Fence across the Burn, 1978watercolour on paper39.5 x 54 cms

27

28

29

17 Shower – Tinto, 1979gouache on paper57 x 81 cms

30

18 Park Trees – Autumn, 1979gouache on paper56 x 63 cms

opposite:19 Bedroom Window, 1979

watercolour and pastel on paper75 x 56 cms

31

32

33

20 The Studio Door, 1980watercolour on paper55 x 75.5 cms

34

21 The Clyde in Spate – Crossford Bridge, 1980pastel on paper43 x 37.5 cms

35

36

22 Roberton Burn, 1981watercolour and pastel on paper52 x 54 cms

37

38

23 Cut Flowers, 1982watercolour on paper39 x 52 cms

39

40

24 Patterns in the Sand – Culzean, 1984watercolour and pastel on paper34.5 x 45.5 cms

41

25 The Receding Tide – Culzean Beach, 1984watercolour and pastel on paper34.5 x 44 cms

42

26 Shore Window – Culzean, 1984watercolour on paper40.5 x 55 cms

43

27 Shore Burn – culzean, 1984watercolour on paper52 x 73 cms

44

28 The Shore – Culzean, 1984watercolour on paper29 x 60 cms

45

46

47

29 Flowers, 1985gouache on paper56 x 76 cms

48

30 Above Coulter, 1990watercolour on paper36 x 50.5 cms

49

50

31 Summer Path – Crossford, 1993acrylic on paper70 x 100 cms

51

52

32 Snowshower – The Clyde, Crossford, 1995watercolour and pastel on paper56 x 69 cms

53

54

33 Downpour – Tinto, 1995acrylic on paper25.5 x 24.5 cms

55

34 Above the Waterfall – Talla Reservoir, 1995acrylic on paper41.5 x 29.5 cms

56

57

35 Gannet, 1995acrylic and collage on paper25.5 x 21.5 cms

58

59

36 The Fall, 1996acrylic on paper70 x 76 cms

60

37 The Nethan River – Moonlight, 1998acrylic on paper43 x 42 cms

61

62

38 Moonlight, 1998watercolour and charcoal on paper56 x 70.5 cms

63

64

39 Flying Free, 1999acrylic on paper28.5 x 26 cms

65

40 Christmas, 2000acrylic on paper43.5 x 46.5 cms

66

67

41 Rooks, 2000acrylic and collage on paper100 x 71 cms

68

42 The Edge of the Field, 2000acrylic on paper21.5 x 25.5 cms

69

43 Valley Sunset, 2001acrylic on paper38 x 41 cms

70

44 Rocks and Scree – Tinto Path, 2005acrylic and pastel on paper28.5 x 39.5 cms

71

45 Tinto Gully, 2005acrylic and pastel on paper39 x 40 cms

72

73

46 Greenhouse, 2007acrylic on paper30.5 x 37.5 cms

74

47 Hedgerow and Meadow Flowers, 2009acrylic35 x 34.5 cms

75

48 Storm Clouds Approaching, 2011acrylic on paper21.5 x 18 cms

76

49 Storm Clouds – Crossford, 2012acrylic on paper49.5 x 70.5 cms

77

78

50 Summer Fields, 2012acrylic on paper49.5 x 66 cms

79

51 Mountain Sunset, 2012acrylic on paper33.5 x 33.5 cms

80

81

52 Mist over the Valley, 2013acrylic on paper70 x 71 cms

82

53 Magic Towers I, 2013acrylic on paper38 x 38 cms

83

84

1937 Born in airdrie1955-60 Studied Glasgow School of art1960 Post Diploma and Travelling Scholarship to Italy1961 Part-time lecturer at Glasgow School of art until 19791966 Married una Gordon, a fellow artist and lecturer at hamilton college of Education1967 Moved to Davingill house, crossford1979 Became a full-time painter

MEMBEr of1972 Elected associate of the royal Scottish academy1982 Elected Member of the royal Glasgow Institute of the fine arts1987 royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour1990 Elected full Member of the royal Scottish academy

SoLo ExhIBITIonS1974 first solo exhibition, Stirling university1981 Duncan F. Shanks, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh1984 Duncan Shanks Recent Works, The fine art Society, Glasgow and Edinburgh1988 Falling Water, Talbot rice art centre, university of Edinburgh; crawford centre, university of St. andrews;

MacLaurin art Gallery, ayr; catalogue introduction by Duncan Macmillan1990 Contemporary Art Season, Duncan Shanks, kelvingrove art Gallery, Glasgow1991 The fine art Society, Glasgow and Edinburgh1991-92 Patterns of Flight, Wrexham arts centre Touring Exhibition; catalogue introduction by roger Billcliffe1992 roger Billcliffe fine art, Glasgow1994 The Creative Process, hunterian art Gallery, university of Glasgow; catalogue introduction by chris allan Hill of Fire, roger Billcliffe fine art, Glasgow1997 Of Wet and of Wildness, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh1998 Duncan Shanks Capriccios, roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow2000 New Paintings, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh2002 Beyond the Valley, art London, with The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh2004 Along an Overgrown Path, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh2006 Air, Fire and Rain, roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow2007 In a Summer Garden, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh2008 Duncan Shanks, art London, with The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh2009 In Search of Time Past, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh2012 Across a Painted Sky, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh2013 Drawing the Year, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh2015 The Poetry of Place, hunterian art Gallery, university of Glasgow Works on Paper 1957-2013, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh

Duncan Shanks rSa rSW rGI

85

SELEcTED GrouP ExhIBITIonS1971 Art Spectrum Scotland, Scottish arts council Touring Exhibition 1975 Five Glasgow Painters, Edinburgh arts centre1981–82 Contemporary Art from Scotland, Touring Exhibition arranged by The Scottish Gallery Scottish Painting, Toulouse1984 Weather, Scottish arts council Travelling Gallery1985 About Landscape, Edinburgh festival Show, Talbot rice art centre, university of Edinburgh Western Approaches, South West Galleries association Contemporary Scottish Art, rio de Janeiro1986 Ten Scottish Painters, upstairs Gallery, royal academy of arts, London1988 The Scottish Show, oriel 31 Touring Exhibition, Wales1989 Ten Contemporary Scottish Painters, Thackeray Gallery, London1991 Looking at Nature – Looking at Art – Approaches to Landscape, Dundee art Galleries and Museums2000 Scottish Landscape, The Scottish Gallery2003 Six RSA Artists, university of central florida2015 Modern Masters IV, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh

aWarDSScottish arts council awardLatimer award and Macaulay Prize, royal Scottish academyTorrance award, cargill award and Macfarlane charitable Trust award, royal Glasgow Institute of the fine artsMay Marshall Brown award, royal Scottish Society of Painters in WatercolourProvost’s Prize for contemporary art, Goma, 1996royal Bank of Scotland award, rGI, 2001

PuBLIc coLLEcTIonSarts council of Great Britain Lillie art Gallery, MilngavieDunbartonshire Education authority Lothian Schools Picture collectionDundee art Gallery Low Parks MuseumEdinburgh city art centre Pitlochry festival TheatreGlasgow art Gallery Strathclyde regional council Education authorityGlynn Vivian art Gallery, Swansea university of EdinburghGovernment art collection university of Glasgowhighland council university of Stirling

Tapestry commissioned by coats Viyella, woven by Edinburgh Tapestry company, presented to Glasgow royal concert hall, 1991

86

PrIVaTE coLLEcTIonSWorks in many private and corporate collections in Britain, Germany and North America including:arthur andersen & co, GlasgowBank of Japanclydesdale Bank plcfleming-Wyfold art foundationhalifax Building Societyreader’s Digest, new Yorkross, harper & Murphy, Glasgowrowntree Mackintosh plcroyal Bank of ScotlandScottish amicableunited Distillers plcWilliam Teacher and Sons Ltd

LITEraTurE1990 William hardie, Scottish Painting: 1837 to the Present, London Duncan Macmillan, Scottish Art: 1460–1990, Edinburgh1993 William hare, Contemporary Painting in Scotland, Edinburgh1996 Duncan Macmillan, Scottish Art in the 20th Century, Edinburgh2015 anne Dulau Beveridge, The Poetry of Place, Duncan Shanks’s sketchbooks and the Upper Clyde, Glasgow

fILMSScottish Television, The Scottish Picture Show, 1988, with Duncan MacmillanScottish Television, Talking Pictures, 1992, with Vivien hamiltonBBc Education Scotland, Looking at Scottish Art, 1996

Duncan Shanks and Phoebe in his studio, 2011; photograph: John Mckenzie

87

88

16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh Eh3 6hZ Telephone 0131 558 1200Email mail@scottish-gallery.co.ukwww.scottish-gallery.co.uk

Published by The Scottish Gallery to coincide with the exhibition Duncan Shanks Works on Paper 1957-20133-30 June 2015

Exhibition can be viewed online at www.scottish-gallery.co.uk/duncanshanks

ISBn: 978-1-910267-16-5

Designed by www.kennethgray.co.uk Photography by John MckenziePrinted by J Thomson colour Printers

all rights reserved. no part of this catalogue may be reproduced in any form by print, photocopy or by any other means, without the permission of the copyright holders and of the publishers.

right: Mist over the Valley, 2013, acrylic on paper, 70 x 71 cms (detail) (cat. 52)

89

90