Born in Glasgow, Bone was a consummate draughtsman fascinated by the demolition of old buildings. After early training as an architect, he turned to art, concentrating on printmaking, as well as watercolours and drawings. Bone’s prints were avidly collected both in Britain and America during the first three decades of the twentieth century. He worked as a war artist for both the First and Second World War and was an important figure in the art worl, supporting and encouraging young artists such as Stanley Spencer, Jacob Epstein and David Bomberg.

This exhibition, drawn from a number of private and public collections in Britain, will feature watercolours, drawings, prints and several examples of the few oil paintings that Bone executed. It will also include work by several artists who were helped by Bone in their early careers.
Image: Sir Muirhead Bone Piccadilly Circus © The Artist’s Estate, FWAF

The Fleming Collection is delighted to be collaborating with The National Galleries of Scotland and mounting an exhibition of masterpieces from the Scottish National Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection.

The origins of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery can be traced back to the late eighteenth century and to the enthusiasm of one man, the mildly eccentric David, 11th Earl of Buchan and opened its doors to the public in 1889.

In April 2009, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery will close for a transformational refurbishment and reinterpretation of its collections. The Grade A listed building was designed by Sir Robert Rowand Anderson to be a celebration of the Scottish people and nation. The 2009 project, Portrait of the Nation, will reinvigorate the Gallery and Scotland’s priceless collection of national portraits. At the same time we will create essential new visitor facilities. The gallery will re-open in November 2011.

The exhibition at The Fleming Collection will include the following works amongst others:

Images from top to bottom: Anthony Van Dyck The Stewart Princesses; Donald Maclellan Ewan McGregor; Tilda Swinton. All reproduced courtesy of Scottish National Portrait Gallery

Scottish Colourists from The Fleming Collection
19 January - 1 April 2010

The exhibition shows the complete Colourist collection from The Fleming Collection. It is the first time the paintings have been viewed together since 2003.

Samuel John Peploe, Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell, George Leslie Hunter, and John Duncan Fergusson comprise the group known as the Scottish Colourists. The exhibition highlights the Colourists’ achievements as key players in the introduction of modern art in Britain, among the most forward thinking British artists of the early 20th century.

As well as Scotland, France figured largely in their lives. All were attracted by the lively artistic life of Paris, spending varying periods there as well as in the South of France where they enjoyed the brilliant light of the Côte d’Azur and further west at Cassis. At the time the Post-Impressionism of Cézanne and Van Gogh was giving way to Matisse and the Fauves, only to be followed by Picasso and the cubists. Image: SJ Peploe Vase of Pink Roses © FWAF