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william wilsonmaster printmaker

william wilsonmaster printmaker

7-31 october 2015

16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZ tEl 0131 558 1200 Email [email protected]

www.scottish-gallery.co.uk

inside front cover: From My Window, 1935 (detail) (cat. 25)

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like many of the significant Scottish artists of the 20th century, William Wilson was not satisfied with the restrictions of one medium, but focused his energies on three. throughout his life he fixed intently on each in turn; etching, watercolour painting and latterly stained glass design, which brought him an international reputation. However, it is his work in etching, made between 1925 and 1940 which is arguably his most powerful and successful work, and a unique contribution to Scottish art history.

Wilson was born in Edinburgh in 1905, the son of John Wilson a gas meter index maker. His uncle thomas worked for the local firm of stained glass artists James Ballantine and Son, with whom Wilson first worked for in 1920, aged 15. Wilson attended evening classes at Edinburgh College of art and was taught there by adam Bruce thomson, who was 20 years his senior. Bruce thomson recognised Wilson’s skill as a draughtsman and encouraged him to study at the College full time, which he did, enrolling in 1932. this was to be the start of an important friendship for both artists, which would last up until Wilson’s death in 1972. the entirety of this exhibition has come from the estate of adam Bruce thomson, Wilson having gifted each print to his friend and fellow artist.

Printmaking in Britain had undergone a revival at the turn of the 20th century. New printmaking methods had become popular, including woodcutting and linoleum cuts, as well as new developments in the techniques of lithography and monotype. the founding of the Society of Painter-Etchers in 1880 was a driving force behind the

growing interest in etching in particular. this was fuelled by a number of publications by london art dealers, including James mcNeill Whistler’s etchings of cityscapes. Printmaking began to be appreciated as a fine art, rather than solely an illustrative medium. Scotland had already a strong printmaking heritage. DY Cameron, James mcBey and muirhead Bone championed the importance of printmaking at the start of the twentieth century, and helped the revival of the interest in etching. From 1908 printmaking was established as part of the curriculum at Edinburgh College of art, under the tutelage of the young Ernest S. lumsden.

in 1921 the Society of artist Printers was established in Glasgow. this was to prove an important asset to printmakers working in Scotland, as it afforded them a platform to exhibit work. Previously, printmakers had to rely on london dealers for exposure, as mcBey and Cameron had done. the Society of artist Printers relocated to Edinburgh in 1931 with E.S. lumsden taking the role of president. thus Wilson found himself at the centre of a flourishing group of printmakers and with the encouragement of two older artists, adam Bruce thomson and E.S lumsden, Wilson threw himself into work. it was at this time that Bruce thomson introduced Wilson to ian Fleming. Fleming was a Glasgow artist with a keen interest in printmaking.

From the mid 1920s Wilson travelled extensively to the continent. His first etching of Paris, Pont Neuf, 1925 (cat. 1) was completed when he was still working as a young apprentice with James Ballantine. later trips to Germany in 1928 form the basis of the works The Walls, Rothenburg (cat. 9) and

foreword

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Rothenburg (cat. 8). Unlike Cameron, mcBey and Whistler, who looked to French art for inspiration, Wilson’s main influence was art from Northern Europe, and his interest in the work of Durer and Breughel can be seen in works such as Der Klein Soldat, 1932 (cat. 18) Adam and Eve, 1932 (cat. 19) and in his heavily worked rural scenes. Whilst mcBey and Whistler had a tendency to convey the quality of light through leaving the etching plate ‘blank’, and so to give the idea of space, Wilson responded differently. instead he often filled his etching plates completely, margin to margin. these dark, structural images reached their zenith in a series of plates made in Scotland in the mid 1930s. Of which Sutherland, 1934 (cat. 27) and West Highland Landscape, 1934 (cat. 28) are examples.

Wilson moved to london in 1935 to study engraving at the Royal College of art then returned to Edinburgh in 1937, moving into a studio at 57 Frederick Street. Wilson began to exhibit his watercolours at the Royal Scottish academy from 1936, and this marked the slow turn of his attention to the difficulties and challenges which watercolour entailed. in Scottish painting there is a long tradition of major figures placing great emphasis on the importance of work on paper. this is perhaps best seen in the work of ‘the Edinburgh School’.

His contemporaries and close friends, adam Bruce thomson, William Gillies, anne Redpath and William mactaggart were all watercolour painters. it could be said that their influence swayed his priorities from etching toward painting. (a show of intent was made when in 1947, he resigned from his post of Honorary Secretary at the Society of artist Printers). His watercolours from the late 1930s and 1940s focus on French travels, as well as locations in Fife and Skye and bear close similarities with his Edinburgh School contemporaries. Stained glass

was a constant preoccupation throughout his life, and he worked off and on for James Ballantine and Son right up until the mid 1940s. His work in etching and watercolour did not detract from his interest in stained glass, but helped inform it and from 1938 Wilson started to receive commissions for stained glass windows with increasing regularity. the necessity for new windows from bomb damaged churches, as well as memorial windows added to Wilson’s workload, and enabled him to set up a stained glass studio in Belford mews in 1947. Notable

Self Portrait, etching, 1937. Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art

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commissions included windows for Canterbury Cathedral, St Giles in Edinburgh and John Knox memorial Church in Ottawa, Canada. Wilson was very much at the heart of the revival of the stained glass movement and it is for this he is most notably remembered.

From the early 1950s Wilson began to lose his sight through complications with diabetes. a cruel hand to be dealt, but even more so for a man whose life was centred on the visual arts. His stained glass studio was carried on through close work between Wilson and his apprentice John Blyth who translated Wilson’s ideas into glass. But his work in etching and watercolour had to come to an abrupt end. Even with his sight lost, Wilson still played an active role in the artistic scene of Edinburgh, a governor of the Edinburgh College of art, as well as an active member of the Royal Scottish academy and the Scottish Committee of the arts Council (where he championed up-and-coming artists, including Joan Eardley). His studio in Belford mews was a hotbed for intellectual discussion, and his interests ranged from art to music and current affairs. He was awarded an OBE to his services to art in 1961.

From the late 1960s Wilson’s quality of life began to decline, and he relinquished his membership to the Royal Scottish academy to make way ‘for someone who could take a more active part…’. illness and blindness necessitated a move to lancashire to live with his sister. at this time, in response to a family crisis, Wilson sanctioned new editions of around twenty etchings. these, printed in the early 1970s, were not signed by the artist, and although

they are wonderful images, do not compare to the original editions of the 1930s. He died in 1972.

Fiona Pearson has documented a total of 138 different etchings from William Wilson, but a full catalogue raisonné has still be to be completed. Wilson heralded a new wave of printmaking in Scotland, not through developments of technique but through a modern approach to design and content. Whilst the previous generation, Cameron and mcBey, had been primarily concerned with the documentation of landscape and atmospheric effect, Wilson’s interest lay in the structural qualities of an image, often realised through architectural subjects; relishing the angular juxtapositions of roof, wall and landscape. Wilson’s draughtsmanship is superb, his line as suggestive as Gill and his tonality in a tradition that goes back to Samuel Palmer and Rembrandt. His etchings are visually rich and suffused with atmosphere and represent a body of work to match mcBey and Cameron.

Printmaking in Scotland is still thriving. Glasgow and Edinburgh Print Studios are both producing work from an array of notable artists. DCa in Dundee, Peacock in aberdeen, Graal Press too, on the outskirts of Edinburgh produce works from Scottish artists such as Wilhelmina Barns-Graham and Victoria Crowe. No single artist however, then or since, has placed such importance on the power of a single image etched onto plate. For this we are indebted to William Wilson, Scotland’s master printmaker.

tOmmY ZYW, tHE SCOttiSH GallERY

William Wilson creating his stained glass window for Liverpool Cathedral, c.1946

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1 Pont Neuf , 1925etching, 18 x 23 cmssigned lower right

provenancethe estate of adam Bruce thomson and thence by descent; impression in the Scottish National Gallery of modern art

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2 Rue Couverte, Provins , 1926etching, 15 x 18 cmstitled lower left, signed lower right

provenancethe estate of adam Bruce thomson and thence by descent

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3 Chauvigny , 1928etching, 16.5 x 17 cmstitled lower left, signed and dated lower right


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4 Delt , c.1928etching, 10.5 x 7 cmssigned lower right


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5 Culross , 1928 etching, 19 x 17.8 cms, edition 1/12signed and dated lower right


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6 Dunfermline , 1928 etching, 14 x 19 cmstitled lower left, signed and dated lower right


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7 Edinburgh , 1928 etching, 14 x 17 cms, edition 2/30titled lower left, signed and dated lower right


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8 Rothenburg , 1928etching, 15.5 x 21 cmstitled lower left, signed lower right, inscribed to ‘mr aB thomson’


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9 The Walls, Rothenburg , 1928etching, 21.5 x 20.5 cmstitled lower left, signed lower right, inscribed to ‘mr aB thomson’


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10 The Farm , 1929 etching, 12.5 x 16 cms, edition 3/25titled lower left, signed and dated lower right


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11 San Gimignano , 1930etching, 22.8 x 26 cms, edition 3/45titled lower left, signed and dated lower right

exhibitedimpression exhibited at Society of Scottish artists, 1930


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12 Christ and the Woman of Samaria , 1931etching, 16 x 14 cmstitled lower left, signed and dated lower right

provenancethe estate of adam Bruce thomson and thence by descent; finished impression in the Scottish National Gallery of modern art

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13 Mezzogiorno , 1931 etching, 18.5 x 23 cmstitled lower left, signed and dated lower right


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14 Siena , 1931etching, 25 x 20 cms, edition 1/30titled lower left, signed and dated lower right


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15 Castle near Verona , 1932 etching, 23.5 x 29 cms, edition 3/20 titled lower left, signed and dated lower right


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16 Noli Me Tangere , 1930 etching, 16.5 x 10.5 cmssigned and dated lower right


illustratedFiona Pearson, William Wilson, Scottish masters 19, National Galleries of Scotland, 1994, p6

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17 The Gipsy , 1931 etching, 14 x 16 cmstitled lower left, signed and dated lower right


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18 Der Kleine Soldat , 1932 etching, 14 x 9.5 cms, edition 5/20titled lower left, signed and dated lower right



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19 Adam and Eve , 1932etching, 28 x 21.5 cms, edition 4/30, titled lower left, signed and dated lower right, inscribed aBt on mount


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20 Avila, Spain , 1933 etching, 29 x 36.5 cms, edition 2/20signed and dated lower centre


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21 Church Gate, Colinton , 1933 etching, 18.5 x 23 cms, edition 6/20signed and dated lower right


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22 Low Tide , 1933 etching, 11.5 x 9.5 cms, edition 2/10titled lower left, signed and dated lower centre


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23 Bridge of the Scaligers, Verona , c.1932etching, 26.5 x 20 cmssigned lower right, inscribed ‘impression by HK’


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24 St. Martin’s Bridge, Toledo , 1933 etching, 35 x 42.5 cmstitled lower left, signed and dated lower right



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25 From My Window , 1935 etching, 10.5 x 11.5 cms, Christmas card to aB thomson, signed lower right, inscribed ‘From my Window 23 Dec 1935’ lower left


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26 Railway Siding, Colinton , 1934 etching, 21 x 25.5 cmstitled lower left, signed and dated lower right


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27 Sutherland , 1934etching, 30 x 40 cms, edition 13/30titled lower left, signed and dated lower right, inscribed to ‘to aB thomson’


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28 West Highland Landscape , 1934etching, 36 x 39 cms, edition 3/30signed lower right, inscribed ‘W. Wilson to a. Bruce thomson’



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29 Loch Scavaig, Skye , 1935 etching, 29.5 x 38 cms, edition 1/35titled lower left, signed and dated lower right, inscribed ‘to aB thomson, 1935’


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30 Sea Wall , 1936etching, 13.5 x 16 cms, Christmas card to aB thomsontitled lower left, signed and dated lower right


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31 A Tower House (Christmas Card) , 1938 etching, 12.5 x 6.5 cms, Christmas card to aB thomsonsigned lower centre


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32 Christmas Greeting, Edinburgh Castleetching, 17 x 11.5 cms, Christmas card to aB thomsonsigned lower right, inscribed ‘From Willie Wilson’ lower left


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33 A Village in Winter (Christmas Card)etching, 5.5 x 11 cms, Christmas card to aB thomsoninscribed ‘Greetings from William Wilson’


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34 In This Year of Our Lord , 1939 etching, 11.5 x 9.5 cms, Christmas card to aB thomson


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1905 Born 21st July, son of John Wilson, a gas meter index maker1920 Started work at James Ballantine and Son, stained glass artist. His uncle thomas was also in

their employ1920 attended evening classes at Edinburgh College of art, where he attracted the attention of

adam Bruce thomson1925 First trip to France where he completed his first etching Pont Neuf1928 travelled to Germany1929 artistic trip to East Neuk of Fife and italy1930 Elected member of Society of Scottish artists1931 Society of artist Printmakers moved to Edinburgh under presidency of E.S. lumsden1930 travelled extensively, including Siena, Soave, San Gimignano, Bruges and Ghent1932 Got leave from James Ballantine to study at Edinburgh College of art full time1932 awarded RSa Carnegie travelling Scholarship1933 Wilson became Honorary Secretary of Society of artist Printmakers1933 introduced to ian Fleming through adam Bruce thomson1933 trips to the Scottish Highlands and toledo, Spain1934 Won the Guthrie award at the RSa and the andrew Grant Fellowship at the Edinburgh

College of art. Bought own printing press1934 Successful trip to the highlands1935 Starts Engraving course at Royal College of art, london. made associations with museums

print rooms and dealers in london1935 Studies stained glass in Germany1935 meets fellow printmaker and likeminded individual, Edgar Holloway1936 moves to Netteswell Common, near Harlow in Essex with Holloway. Buys a ten inch printing

press1936 His print Sutherland illustrated in Campbell Dodgson Fine Prints of the Year1936 Began to illustrate watercolours at the RSa1936 Visits Vienna with Holloway. Saw work of Breughel1937 Began commission of 20 stained glass panels for Cameron Nursery School in Edinburgh

william wilsonobe rsa rsw (1905-1972)

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1937 Visits Paris, sees French Print exhibition1937 Returns to Edinburgh, moves to 53 Frederick Street Works freelance for Ballantine1938 Empire Exhibition at Bellahouston Park, Glasgow. Commissioned to design a window for the

choir of the Church of St andrew, designed by Jack Coia1938-40 Wilson commissioned to do three monumental windows for Caledonian insurance

Company on George Street, Edinburgh1939 Designed windows for churches in Dalkeith, Edinburgh and innerwick1939 Elected associate of RSa1940 took up post of art master at Fettes College1942 Joins auxiliary Fire Service1945 Returns to Fettes1946 Elected member of RSW1947 took over studio of Phyllis Bone at 11a Belford mews1947 Ceases his association with Society of artist Printmakers1948 Elected member of RSa, takes up role as librarian1949 three large panels commissioned for the Royal High Schoolc.1950 active member of the Scottish Committee of the arts Council, including championing work

of Joan Eardley1950 Queen unveils a three-light window at St Salvators Chapel in St andrews1957 trip to France to study stained glass designs1959 lost his sight, through diabetes. Stained glass studio is kept on through close working

relationship with his team, including John Blyth1961 awarded OBE for services to art in Scotland1968 awarded civil list pension1969 Wilson asks to resign his membership of RSa ‘for someone who could take a more active

part in the work of the academy’1971 moved to his sister’s in Bury, lancashire1971 Resigned from Governors of Edinburgh College of art1972 Dies in Bury, lancashire

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SElECtED StaiNED GlaSS COmmiSSiONSc.1946 anglican Cathderal, liverpool1949 three large panels commissioned for the Royal High School1950 Queen unveils a three-light window at St Salvators Chapel in St andrews1951 East Kent memorial window for Canterbury Cathedral1952 Brechin Cathedral, his largest series of stained glass windows1954 St Giles Cathedral1955 & 1968 John Knox memorial Church, Ottowa, Canada1956 Cameronians Regimental window for Glasgow Cathedral1957 St machar’s Cathedral, aberdeen1957 Synagogue on Salisbury Road, Edinburgh1959 liberton Secondary School

SElECtED GROUP ExHiBitiONS1924 Royal Scottish academy, Edinburgh (exhibited every year from 1927-1960)1928 Society of Scottish artists, Edinburgh1936 15th annual exhibition of the Society of Artist Printers, Edinburgh1937 Society of Artist Printers, municipal museum and art Gallery, Belfast, ireland1940 Joint exhibition with potter alexander inglis, aitken Dott, the Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh1947 Joint exhibition of watercolours with ian Fleming, aitken Dott, the Scottish Gallery,

Edinburgh1954 Recent Paintings by Redpath, Gillies, Wilson, Fleming, Festival Exhibition, the Scottish Gallery,

Edinburgh1959 Scottish Society of artists1964 14 Scottish Painters, the Commonwealth institute, the arts Council – Scottish Committee,

Glasgow

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SElECtED SOlO ExHiBitiONS1962 Paintings by William Wilson, the Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh1982 William Wilson, the Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh1994 Watercolours, Etchings and Stained Glass, Bourne Fine art in conjunction with the Open Eye

Gallery, Edinburgh1994 William Wilson, Painter and Stained Glass Artist, Scottish National Gallery of modern art,

Edinburgh2015 Master Printmaker, the Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh

COllECtiONSaberdeen art Gallery and museumBritish museum, londonCreative ScotlandGlasgow art GalleryGracefield arts Centre, DumfriesRoyal Scottish academy, EdinburghScottish National Gallery of modern art, EdinburghVictoria and albert museum, londonWest Riding County Council

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Published by the Scottish Gallery to coincide with the exhibition William WilSON: maStER PRiNtmaKER7 – 31 October 2015

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

iSBN: 978 1 910267 25 7

Designed by www.kennethgray.co.ukPhotography by William Van EslandPrinted by Barr 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.

aCKNOWlEDGEmENtSthe Scottish Gallery would like to thank Elizabeth and andrew Hall for their help with this exhibition. thanks also to alice tod at the National Galleries Scotland.

image on p4 © the Scotsman Publications ltd. licensor www.scran.ac.uk

16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZ tEl 0131 558 1200 Email [email protected]

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