THE NEWSLETTER OF THE GLASGOW ART CLUB WINTER 2012/13 No. 38

President’s column

Thanks for asmooth startI can’t believe that my first year of

Presidency is quickly winging to a closeand I can now begin to look back on awhirlwind of Council meetings, socialevents, exhibition openings, businesslunches and formal dinners. I have tosay it has been a most enjoyableexperience and many thanks must goto my hard working team of councilmembers who have supported me sowell in my first year in office. Thissupport has been vital to me as I stillcontinue to exhibit fully as aprofessional artist, with recent soloexhibitions in London and Dunkeld,and a major solo exhibition inGlasgow in September 2013.

In October I had the pleasure ofhosting a gala dinner and presentationof a stained glass panel in honour ofLord Macfarlane. The panel, designedand produced by Anne Ferguson, wascommissioned by the Club to thankLord Macfarlane for his contributionto the arts in Scotland for more thanfifty years. My personal thanks go toGeorge Devlin and Hazel Nagl forbringing this event to fruition.As you will be aware there is a new

staff structure in the Club. Dan Luckand Gary Gilday have taken over therunning of the club as operationsmanagers and Naoimh has steppeddown as general manager. She willcontinue in the marketing role until shedeparts the Club, after nearly ten years,in the spring.Having survived the festive season, I

hope you will agree that when we lookback over the year the Club has neverbeen livelier. We enjoyed a fullprogramme of art and music eventswhich carried us through into 2013.The annual Christmas party, whichsaw around 100 guests enjoy theArthur Short Big Band, was a roaringsuccess and also allowed me as yourPresident to revive an old Art Clubtradition and produce a painting topromote the party. As well as being asource for posters, the painting wassold at the Winter Exhibition, with amajor share of the price going directlyto the furniture restoration fund. Kind regards to you all.

It seems not long since there was acall for a hundred new members tostrengthen the Club and boost itsactivities. That sounded like quite achallenge, but it is just what wasachieved in 2012. Thanks to word ofmouth, marketing, and the efforts ofmembers and staff, a total of 106names has been added to the roll callin the past year, 48 listed in thespring newsletter and another 58printed on page 6.Already we are seeing plenty of new

faces around in the dining room andat events such as the Christmasparty. We trust that they all feelwelcomed and are enjoying the

Catching them young at artThere was a full turnout for theopening of the Club’s Small Worksexhibition, organised by councilmember Jacki Marno (left in bigpicture.) Over 130 works weresubmitted by pupils, mainly seniorsspecialising in art, and certificates wereawarded in four categories - design,printing, photography and expression.There was a £250 prize for the winner,and help in kind from the sponsors ABFraming Ltd.

facilities, and hope that they willbegin to take part in shaping thefuture of the institution. Come tomeetings, talk to Council members,maybe volunteer to join a workinggroup dealing with Club activities.

In particular the Events Team iskeen to add fresh blood to the smallcommittee chaired by Shona Barr: ifyou have ideas for parties andperformances which would appealto more recent members, and can fitin a meeting once a month, why notput your name forward? The morebecome involved, the merrier theprogramme!

President’s granddaughter KirstyRobson displays the glass panelrecording Lord Macfarlane’svaried interests, which nowhangs in the dining room.See also page 8.

Posterproof ofsuccess.

Membership drive beats the ton

Bankies, veterans and shipyard workers were among thedozens of visitors who packed the Gallery for the opening ofTom McKendrick’s retrospective exhibition in the autumn.Many of the paintings, over 70 of them produced over 55years, drew on his experience as a loftsman in John Brown’sshipyard: they range from The Burning, a massive triptich infiery watercolour, to smaller seeming abstracts in metallicmixed media which show details of the painstaking work. One wall of the main Gallery was given over to striking

portraits in acrylic and pastel of military men of differentages and ranks, whose moving stories were attached. Theseare the first ten in a series of 100 which Tom is planning tocomplete. A raffle for one of his smaller paintings was heldduring the evening and raised £1300 fir Combat Stress andBLESMAIn a follow-up evening Conversation. Tom explained how

growing up in Clydebank with local memories of the blitzaffected his awareness of the industrial process and its visualimpact. He also enthralled pupils involved in the Club’seducation programme with an account of his career.

Originating in a casual gathering ofartists who had walked from Glasgowto a tavern in or about Duntocher, theArt Club, after a period of creakywicker chairs in an upstairs flat inBothwell Circus, turned two housesinto one in Bath Street, and has nowfor many years had the cosiest clubquarters in the city.

Externally inconspicuous, the ArtClub is difficult to find during the day,but in the evening you have only tohail a taxicab, give the chauffeur akind word and a cigar, and he willintuitively drive you to the doorwithout instructions.Every element of the majestic has beencarefully left out of the club’s interiordecoration, there is not enough marbleabout it to make a paperweight, norare any other unnerving opulentfeatures to suggest the head-office of abank. It is so like home that many

1. Greet guests of honour

members would probably keep theirslippers there if it were not contrary tothe rules.When the two houses were taken over,they had the washing-greens behind,which are now the site of the ArtClub’s star feature - a hall of baronialdimensions which is at once smoke-room, lounge, concert-room, andpicture-gallery. Ladies’ afternoons,evening harmonies at which the mostrenowned of operatic singers andinstrumentalists take part, and lecturesnot too remotely dissociated from artperiodically fill the room tooverflowing. A suggestion made onone occasion that a ProminentPolitician of redoubtable fluencyshould be invited to give an instructiveevening had curiously sinister results:the proposer disappeared next day,and has never been heard of since.The only male on the establishment is

a boy in buttons, the Art Club hasconsistently maintained that thecorrect home atmosphere is only to besecured by feminine management.

McKendrick setsGallery aglow

Three steps tolaunch a panel(see finished article on front page)

Memories sparked off by vital memberAmong the organisations making use of the Club’s facilities is the Neil

Munro Society which is holding its winter meeting in 185 Bath Street thisFebruary. Munro, the popular journalist and author of Para Handy, was an

enthusiastic member in the early years of last century: this entertainingaccount was published in the Glasgow Evening News in 1924

2. Draw back the curtain

1. Greet guests of honour

Tom presents picture to raffle winner Mrs May Elliot.

Below, L to RJim Davis declaresexhibition open.Blythe Duff draws thelucky ticket.Friends packedinto Gallery

Printed by ReproprintTel: 0141 440 1919Email: info@repro-print.co.uk

Was it the stories or was it the art thatmade this summer’s exhibition in theGallery such a pleasing show? A bit ofboth, no doubt. Every Picture Tells aStory was the brainchild of the Club’snew gallery curator Philip Raskin.Philip had invited, cajoled and indeedbadgered members to contribute awork of art from their own collectionsand to add a caption explaining whythey liked it or what special meaning ithad for them. As a result the Gallery was filled with

a wondrous gallifmaufry of works ofart from highly wrought oils to themost cursory of caricatures in a richdiversity of style and subject. Here,centre stage, was a large Hornel ofchildren at play in typical flower-richsetting, there in a corner was a tinyengraving of Burns’ cottage by D OHill, elsewhere a sketch by DanFerguson showing ‘Goudie Having aRant’ – a sly tribute from one formermember to another.

Many of the works held intimatememories for their owners of peopleand places. ‘The house in which myfather was born and brought up’; afishing smack drawn up on aGalloway shore ‘painted by mymother’; ‘Happy memories of carefreedays of wine and roses’ – this,referring to a chalk drawing of a sultryoriental princess (what lay behind thatone? I wondered).

One exhibitor recalled a trickymoment for a newly-wed : ‘My wifewent bananas when I brought thishome, as we had no carpets on thefloor’. Still, since the picture was thepainting ‘Morning, Ardnamurchan’ by

John Cunningham, connubial blissmay soon have been restored. Thecarpets would come later.One illustration by Edward Ardizzoneof the ‘Public Bar at the George’ – aLondon howff – recalled to one Clubmember the occasion when, as a shy

student at art college in Camberwell inthe early fifties, he met the artist andwas too tongue-tied to speak. ‘Wouldyou like a pinch of snuff?’ askedArdizzone.

Presents given or received hold aspecial significance – a ‘first present Ibought for my wife’, or DavidDonaldson’s ‘Quarry in Lot etGaronne’ given by the artist as ahouse-warming gift ‘when I moved toGlasgow’.

Chance discovery played a part in thehistory of more than one favouritepicture. One ‘dark, dirty anddamaged’ relic with a broken framedisinterred from a garage on the deathof a grandparent turned out to be asketch by D O Hill for his painting ofLeith Pier which hangs in the NationalGallery. Another contributor vividlyremembered a fiery sunset scene insnowy woodland, with a man andsmall child in the foreground, whichshe found comforting when visitingher grandparents ‘in the bleak 1940s’.It hung above the wireless set in theirhome but disappeared when the housewas sold. ‘It was found longafterwards, dirty, in my parents’garden shed’.‘The Art Club Ball’ – the design for a1929 poster by Sir John Laveryshowing an elegantly gowned ladyscanning a dance list displayed on aneasel – was found by a club membernot in garage or garden shed but in aChristie’s catalogue, offered for sale byGlasgow Art Club, no less. (Whatwere they thinking about? Was theClub on its uppers?) Determined thatthe Lavery should remain in Glasgow,she bought it herself.One caption to a particularly garish

oil painting brought me up short whenI read: ‘This painting depresses me’.How on earth…? And then I read on:‘If only I could paint like this’.

It’s good to know that anotherpicture-story exhibition is planned fornext year. It’s a sort of two-for-the-price-of one show. Nice pictures, livelytales. Well done, Philip.

Every picture tells a storyand John Fowler has enjoyed them all

Oxana Shevchenko,the brilliant young

winner of the 2010Scottish International

Piano Competition, gavea scintillating recital to a

sell-out audience in theautumn. She took her

bow in front of one ofTom McKendrick’smoving portraits ofmilitary characters.

President Robert Kelseyand Karen Currie of theRGI at the dinner for theInstitute’s annualexhibition.

Members are being offered the chance to tell theworld that they belong to a prestigiousorganisation with a proud history and promisingfuture. A discreet pin on collar or lapel announcesto the cognoscenti that the wearer is a signed-upmember of Glasgow Art Club.The logo which identifies the Club on menus,

programmes and publications is now available asan elegant badge suitable for wear by either sex.It features the familiar head of Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom, the arts,

trade and most positive activities of civilised society, though the helmet also hintsat some warlike qualities. Her Greek equivalent was Athena. The image haschanged over the years - a different Minerva appeared in the Club’s centenarybrochure - but just when it was adopted is still unclear. No mention has been foundin the records though the goddess appears on an ex-libris label in a minutes bookfor the late 1870s.The badge was designed and made in hallmarked silver by a reputable jeweller in

Carradale, Kintyre. It comes in a presentation box and would make a splendidpresent for any member - partners and friends may order on their behalf! Eachbadge costs £17.50 and orders should be placed through the Club secretary.

Return plans up in flamesArtist member Michael Clark recallsevery family’s holiday nightmare.

We were on our way home fromFrance last summer when our car wenton fire! We lost everything, clothing,artwork, cameras cash, wallet,passport mobile phones and about 60bottles of lovely Rhone wine in theroof box!It all happened so quickly, we had

about 3 seconds to get out of the carwhich was already on fire as I tried toreach the hard shoulder! But we aresafe! I grabbed my camera as weescaped the car.Marysia Donaldson ( widow of DavidDonaldson) and Chris Stanton came toour rescue. We then had to travel toParis to obtain replacement passportsand finally a flight home!

Now you canwear your arton your lapel

It is difficult to accept that GeorgeDevlin, has been an artist member ofthe Club for half a century. Though it is15 years since he served his term asPresident, he still devotes precious timeto Club activities when not in France orother foreign parts gathering materialfor his latest exhibition. It is fitting thata major retrospective of his work,including paintings from public andprivate collections, should be one of thelast to occupy the Club gallery before itcloses down for its major restoration:the opening by Guy Peploe of theScottish Gallery in Edinburgh, will be asignificant milestone in the Club’shistory. George joined the Club in 1963, just

three years after leaving GlasgowSchool of Art where he won premierawards and national scholarships. He

As the Club adjusts to more restrictedpremises over the next 20 months, it ismore important than ever that full useshould be made of all facilities. Theseinclude the big screen in the BilliardRoom which is designed to be seen by asizeable audience.Plans are now being drawn up forregular evenings where members mayshare a favourite DVD and discuss itwith friends over a light meal. If you areinterested do let us know what films youmight provide - or like to attend. Please email the Club or speak to a

member of staff to register your interest- then watch out for posters givingnotice of the first movie nights.

Peter Russell joined us more than a yearago, though he made little use of theClub till after he retired from managingthe Lord Provost’s office in GlasgowCity Council. He’d always been a fan of Brain of

Britain,so he applied and took part inone of the later heats, to be broadcast onTuesday 11 February. Since programmes are recorded well in

advance and all involved are sworn tosecrecy, all he could say beforehand wasthat itt was’very exciting’and that he’dlike to try other quizzes ‘Most of thecontestants seemed to know the format -and one another’ he admits. “It’s clearlyquite addictive’

went on to add almost all the initials inthe business - RSW, RGI, RBA, ROI,ARWS and FRSA - and was electedpresident of the Club in 1997. He hastaught composition in GSA and run hisown painting school both here and inFrance, as well as sharing his insightsthrough lectures and demonstrationsfor members and the general public.The exhibition runs from 7 to 23February.Next comes a solo show in Edinburgh’sScottish Gallery in May, closelyfollowed by joint shows in two Londongalleries where George will becontributing work inspired by visits toRajastan and Malta, while in June he’llbe dispatching work to Johannesburgwhere he has been with the EverardRead Gallery for 20 years.

Golden year for George

Don’t watch alone .and the score so far is...

Yvonne Cunningham who died twodays after Christmas, was made anhonorary member of the Club after thedeath of her husband John, adistinguished painter and formerPresident of Glasgow Art Club.

Although she was not a frequentvisitor, Yvonne always kept an interestin the Club and its developments viamembers with whom she stayed intouch on a regular basis. Sometimesthey met for lunch at the Club butmore often Yvonne would go withindividual friends to film, classicalconcerts or the opera, or invite themfor a cosy or interesting chat at home. Yvonne had many interests and lots ofsocial qualities; she was honest, veryhospitable and never had a need totalk about her own achievements. Shewas a confident, caring and lovingfriend who leaves a big gap and will besadly missed by many.

Theo van Asperen and Delny Goalen.

Yvonne Cunningham07.06.1937 - 27.12.2012

OBITUARY

Charles Randak spotted the work ofLeicester-based Paul Wright in a shop

window, and was struck by the scale andspontaneity of this powerful oil portrait: he

offered it to the show because 'It reminds mewhat painting is all about'.

Why is the work needed?The 19th century building is in a severe state of dilapidation -

when a window was removed for repair it simply crumbled tobits!

The Gallery includes some of the earliest work of CharlesRennie Mackintosh which is of vital interest to art historians andarchitects.The Club which holds a proud place in the artistic life of the city

could not survive without premises fit for the 21st century.

What has been done to date?A surprising amount more than members would suspect!

The enabling works started with what could be called ‘the heartof the Club’ - bar area, kitchens, toilets and offices have all beenrenewed and upgraded. At one stage two rear walls and the roofhad to be demolished and rebuilt - while members enjoyed aleisurely lunch, they had no idea that behind the partition wasopen to the sky as the cupola was being replaced..

A professional survey of all the leaded glass was carried out,and two large panels were moved from behind the bar andrestored to replace others which were missing: with backgroundlighting they create an attractive new feature for the space.A new accessible toilet has been created from a dilapidated store

cupboard in the entrance hall, and the ladies room has beenupgraded with a separate cloakroom for 60 coats. Crumblingwindows have been replaced. In the gents, new ventilation andflooring has been installed.

There is a new door entry system with a smart brass panelcovering the accumulated holes in the timber and matching theoriginal door bell. Replacement handrails for the front steps areon their way.

All this has been achieved while the Club was in full use - it hasnot interfered with any functions or meetings.

All set for a Spring StartIn April the Club embarks on the most important refurbishment in its history. The work

will affect every part of an important Glasgow building and secure the future ofa distinguished institution, but it will be done with a minimum of

disruption to members and their activities

The Project Group insist that the front door will never beblocked by the work going on in the gallery.

First the gallery will be closed off:since there is no back door to thebuilding, access for all workers andmaterials will be via a scissor lift fromthe basement. The site office will takeover the space now used as a rarebooks shop, which will move totemporary premises during the project.All roof coverings for 185 Bath Street

will be replaced. A canopy will beerected over the entire gallery area.The cupola and the 1950’s glazedpanels will be removed.Dry rot affecting three of the external

structural walls will require treatment.The two ornamental mantlepieces willbe dismantled and restored to treat therot behind them.Artist members will be consulted on

the design of flexible lighting, audio-visual and sound systems as well as thedecor.Throughout the project every effort

will be made to minimise disruption tothe activities of the Club and thecomfort of members. External scaffolding will be designed

to fit within the basement wall and thepavement.All contractors’ offices and facilities

will be provided in the basement toavoid unsightly site huts. And the front door will be kept clear

to show that the Club is open forbusiness at all times throughout theprocess.

What about the frieze?The restoration of the CRM frieze is akey feature of the rehab programmewhich has attracted funding frompublic bodies notably Heritage LotteryFund.Turn to page 6 for an update.

What happens now?All necessary planning consents have

been secured and the £1.2m funding isnow in place, 50% from public bodies,the rest from private trusts anddonations.

The Glasgow Art Club PropertyCompany Limited has been formedand trustees appointed to oversee theproject. The Building Steering Group,chaired by Paul Dowds, is managingthe work on its behalf and hasappointed the design team. Tenders for the fully-costed scheme of

works have been issued to five of themany interested contractors and .these are now being returned forscrutiny and selection of a maincontractor.A tight programme has been drawn

up, due to start in May 2013 and becompleted in December 2014.

A sub - committee has been formed to see that thereplication work is properly and diligently carriedout within the framework of the generalrestoration. The design content of the frieze isbeing left to the specialist knowledge of theMackintosh experts advising the Club.A detailed specification was drawn up with the

help of our architects and quantity surveyors andduly issued to four approved specialist sub-contractors. The firm of Nevin of Edinburgh (also known as

Mackay Decorators) were eventually chosen tocarry out the work. This firm regularly do workfor Historic Scotland.

It was agreed by Roger Billcliffe, Dr JamesMacaulay and Professor Pamela Robertson ofGlasgow University that the illustrations drawnby Mackintosh for “The Bailie” (7th June 1893)were and are the most reliable evidence for whathad been created for The Glasgow Art ClubGallery frieze and that no evidence contrary tothis has ever come to light. An illustration in theEvening Times of 5th June 1893 also appearedconsistent. Advised by the CRM specialists, JohnNevin has been instructed to proceed with theproduction of conceptual roughs based on “TheBailie” designs and to present these to the CRMspecialists, as soon as was practicable, for theirconsideration and approval.

This illustration from the Bailie Cartoon Supplement of 7thJune 1893 is a prime source for the reconstruction of the

Gallery frieze.

What’s happening to the CRM frieze?(continued from page 3)

Marcus R N Males Mr Lay Country EdinburghFarhat A Malik Mr Lay Town GlasgowHelen McCook Ms Young Artist NP BirminghamDavid McCue Mr Young Lay GlasgowMarion McDonald Mrs Lay Town PaisleyJames McDonald Mr Lay Associate PaisleyJames McNaught Mr Young Lay GlasgowJohn Moore Mr Lay Country EdinburghClare Munn Ms Retired TroonPhilip Murnin Mr Lay Associate GlasgowJames O'Donnell Mr Lay Country CrieffIain R Pender Mr Young Lay GlasgowStewart Readman Mr Lay Country Sanquhar Aidan Reilly Mr Young Lay RenfrewMaggie Ritchie Ms Lay Corporate GlasgowAndrew Robb Mr Young Lay LanarkCraig Robertson Mr Young Lay GlasgowShirani Sabaratnam Ms Lay Town GlasgowA E H Salvesen Mr Honorary PathheadHugh Siegle Mr Lay Country BerkhamsteadMarie Smart Sheriff Lay Town GlasgowBrian Souter Sir Honorary PerthElaine Speirs Ms Artist Country EdinburghJudith M Tatham Mrs Honorary GlasgowAnna Toal Miss) Artist Country LondonA Boyd Tunnock Mr Lay Town GlasgowLinzi Watson Miss Young Lay GlasgowMatthew Whiteside Mr Young Artist NP GlasgowHilary Wood Ms Lay Town Milngavie

Craig Armstrong Mr Lay Town GlasgowSara Barker Ms Artist Town GlasgowRobin Barr Mr Honorary GlasgowBeverley Benson Ms Artist Country TenterdenIan Black Mr Lay Associate MilngavieCara Broadley Ms Artist Town GlasgowPeter Broughan Mr Lay Town GartocharnRichard Burns Honorary EdinburghFiona Chautard Mrs Lay Town GlasgowStuart Cosgrove Mr Lay Associate GlasgowJanice Crean Ms Lay Retired KilmacolmPatrick T Doyle Mr Lay Country TwickenhamTom Farmer Sir Honorary EdinburghJane Gardiner Ms Artist Town GlasgowLing Ge Dr Young Lay LondonFelicity Grainger Dr Lay Town GlasgowAlison Gray Lay Town GlasgowFran Hanley Mrs Artist Town GlasgowKaye Horsfall Dr Lay Associate GlasgowLisa Hotchkiss Miss Young Lay GlasgowStuart Hudson Mr Young Lay LondonCaroline Inglis Mrs Honorary MilngavieScott Inglis Mr Honorary MilngavieDorothy Kenny Mrs Artist Country Anstruther Scott Langlands Mr Young Lay GlasgowCatherine MacDonald Ms Young Lay GlasgowHamish Macfarlane Hon LayTown GlasgowJimmy Mackellar Mr Lay Town SkelmorlieSheila Macmillan Ms Artist Town Glasgow

Welcome to new members enrolled by end of 2012

Don’t miss the chance to say au revoir to the Gallery. Book your tickets for the party on 13th April.

There was Todi next, whereCharlton Heston was once filmedplaying Michaelangelo in thechurch, and where one of the mostperfect medieval piazzas in Italy wasbuilt in 1213. Then Assisi, whichwas home to St. Francis, and itsmassive Basilica built in his name.The interior of the church is entirelydecorated with stunning frescoes -the creations of several artists. Themost famous of these is Giotto andwe were most excited at the prospectof seeing his work. Sadly, during theearthquake of 1997, valuable worksof art were destroyed here, especiallythe 1290s cycle of frescoes in theupper church of the Basilica of StFrancis

In Orvieto, probably Umbria'sgrandest hill-town, which lends itsname to the crisp, white OrvietoClassico wine, we discovered thejoys of using the town’s funicular. Itwould have been more of a joy hadit not taken so long to get going, butthe lengthy wait was soon forgottenwhen we emerged from the tightly-packed cabin to discover that thetown is a natural hill-topfortification, and sits at a majesticheight above the valley floor.Dominating the town is the stylishblack and white striped Duomo diOrvieto, the façade of whichcontains elements of design from the

14th to the 20th centuries, includinga large rose window, sumptuousgolden mosaics and three massiveverdigris bronze doors. It was in Orvieto that some of us

ventured into the famous Pozzo diSan Patrizio - the 175 foot deep StPatrick’s Well - designed using adouble-helix pattern, and built by a1500s Pope to supply himself and,presumably, the townspeople withwater whilst under siege. It was herethat we had another very long waitand then started to wonder whetherwe had lost Douglas Forbes who hadventured downward thinking thatthere would be a handy exit and thathis toil would be over when he got tothe bottom: he was, unfortunately,mistaken! Even on the last day there was a

chance to visit the lovely Villa d’Esteat Tivoli – a UNESCO WorldHeritage site - on our way back tothe airport. It is a High Renaissancetriumph of sculpture and statuarywith what seems like an endlessdisplay of fountains, grottoes andwater features. We arrived only just in time to catchthe haunting but brief sounds of thefamous water organ which ‘comes tolife’ daily at the Temple of Neptune.it was a fitting end to ten days ofItalian sunshine and splendour.

Here’s thevery spotGib Steele finds a familiar sceneduring the Club trip to Italy

A considerable number of yearsago I bought a painting fromConrad McKenna. It was of anattractive archway leading to abuilding in Perugia, which hekindly took me to see during therecent Art Club holiday.In 1950 Conrad was awarded a

travelling scholarship by GlasgowSchool of Art and visited Perugiafor the first of many times. Whilstthere he was befriended bymembers of the Salusti familyamong others, and the friendshiphas endured over the years.Grandfather Salusti was a highly

successful lawyer (Perugians,according to Conrad, are foreverbattling over inheritance) whoowned this building – a multi-storied townhouse which, over theyears, was home to variousmembers of the family who livedon different levels of the property.One of these was the grand-daughter, Teresa, and her husband,Aldo Bombetti, a dentist whosepractice was on the ground floor.The building is no longer in the

family and Teresa and Aldo live inthe outskirts of the city, in an airyvilla with extensive grounds. I andsome others were privileged tohave been invited to lunch therewith Conrad, where we enjoyedlocal dishes, washed down withsome excellent wine produced bythe gardener, from his own vines.A tour of the grounds revealed the

location of a secret tunnel to thenearby monastery - centuries agothe property was a convent! - alongwith a well-preserved Etruscantomb.So my painting was brought to life

in a very memorable way

Art-lover Kaye Horsfall recallshighlights of the Club’s latest trip

Ever onwardsand upwardsin Umbria

Following the success of the 2011visit to Sicily, the Club returned toItaly last September, basing its trip inthe medieval walled city of Perugia.Twenty-four of us spent ten days inUmbria where the weather wasalmost uniformly sunny - just what aparty of Glaswegians, jaded by theimpossibly grey summer, longed for.We flew direct to Rome, and after

some confusion at the airport wewere transported to the beautifulUmbrian capital, set amid lushrolling hills, and surrounded byancient medieval villages.

In Perugia, which dates back toEtruscan times, we were verysatisfied with the delightful HotelRosetta where the staff werepleasant and attentive. However, notall of us had a ‘Room with a View’.A dilemma had already arisen:would immediate room changes bedemanded, or, as in many cases,would there be a pragmaticacceptance of what had beenassigned ? After all, would a viewreally be missed when the room wasdestined to be packed with pre-prandial partygoers? The city proved to be an excellent

base as there was easy access to themuseums and architectural sites, and(speaking for myself) scope for somemuch-anticipated shopping. Wevisited the Galleria Nazionale

dell’Umbria in which the greatestrepresentation of the UmbrianSchool of painting can be seen. Thishuge collection displays the richartistic heritage of the regionthrough works covering the periodfrom the 13th to the 19th century.We also saw the 13th centuryfountain by Nicola and GiovanniPisano which stands at the centre ofthe main square, where it symbolisesthe freed city of Perugia, and isconsidered to be one of the finestfountains still in existence. A greatfavourite with everyone was theMuseo Archaeological Nazionaledell’Umbria which has anextraordinary collection of Etruscanartefacts.From Perugia we had excursions to

the hill-towns nearby, Our firstouting was to Urbino where we sawthe beautiful Palazzo Ducale, andsome of us went to discover thebirthplace of one of the greatestpainters of the Italian Renaissance,Raphael.Arezzo and Cortona were optional

tours, and in the former we saw thegreat paintings of Piero dellaFrancesca.Though all the locations we visited

are both ancient and strikinglyattractive, it is Cortona which has tobe the epitome of ‘old Italy’, as itappears to have remained largely

untouched for centuries. Here wehappened upon a British weddingparty, all dressed up and seatedaround the village’s main square,eating Italian cuisine, drinkingchampagne and celebrating.

Italian food is known for itstraditions and diversity, and it didn’tdisappoint, largely because wepestered Conrad McKenna, whosefluency in the Italian languagetogether with his encyclopaedicknowledge of Italian restaurants ingeneral and his favourites inparticular, gave us the insideinformation we needed to samplemany local restaurants in every townwe visited.The food was, of course, delicious.

We took the view that as Italian foodand wine are an integral part ofItalian cultural heritage, we, asculture seekers, should search for thebest we could afford….which bringsme to the wines! A lot of time wasspent comparing and contrasting themolto buoni vini … and, yes, wetried them all … or so it seemed. Infact, we discovered that Umbria’swines were first produced by theBenedictine monks and that most ofthe best red wines are made with theSangiovese red grape - the full-bodied Sagrantino di Montefalco isnow a great favourite!

Guide points out details of the Etruscan gate.

Lunch in a cool cellar out of the sun Relaxing on terrace above the cityReady to explore

Gathering outside the hotel Fountain in Perugia centre

Orvieto Cathedral Musical fountain in Tivoli