This display celebrates the life and work of the artist Joan Eardley (1921-63) in the centenary year of her birth. It draws upon works from the National Galleries of Scotland collection, featuring nine oil paintings, 11 works on paper, and a selection of photographs and archival materials.
Eardley is one of Scotland’s most popular twentieth-century artists. Inspired by her immediate surroundings, she made powerful and expressive paintings of everyday subjects, including the Scottish coastline and Glasgow’s street children. During her lifetime she was considered a member of the post-war British avant-garde, who portrayed the realities of life in the mid-twentieth century. The display provides visitors with an insight into Eardley’s working practice and focuses on her works in Catterline, south of Aberdeen, where she worked from the early 1950s.
