Scottish Artists in an Age of Radical Change

About the Book: 

The visual arts throughout the post-war era have made an invaluable contribution to the cultural development of modern and contemporary Scotland.

Joan Eardley, Alan Davie, Eduardo Paolozzi, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Boyle Family, Craigie Aitchison, Barbara Rae John Bellany, Alexander Moffat, John McLean, Bill Scott, Joyce Cairns, Steven Campbell, Ken Currie, Lys Hansen, Alison Watt, Douglas Gordon and Kevin Harman – these are some of the artists whose work reflects the radical and complex transformations of the post-war period. These Scottish artists not only observed and absorbed the socio-economic and technological changes taking place during this era, but also devised a wide range of innovative ways to represent and creatively re-present those changes and their powerful impact on our times.

Through a compilation of in-depth interviews with the artists themselves and accompanying critical essays, Bill Hare here examines the richly diverse work of these important figures in modern and contemporary visual culture, revealing the intellectual power and artistic imagination of those who have created one of the greatest eras in the history of Scottish art.

Reviews: 

Bill Hare’s survey of Scottish Art since 1945 is a landmark book. By placing individual artists at the centre of the story, rather than an analysis of movements and styles, Hare gives us a unique insight into their work and tells how those artists contributed to the richness and variety that constitutes visual art in Scotland today. His writings range widely… from major figures such as Alan Davie and Joan Eardley in the post World War 2 years to Jock McFadyen and Douglas Gordon, but at the same time making sure less fashionable artists like Matthew Inglis and Helen Flockhart are properly recognised and critically valued. As a highly readable, yet scholarly introduction to contemporary Scottish art, Hare’s new book will be hard to beat. ALEXANDER MOFFAT

A fine balance between readability for the lay person and valuable insights to inform the scholar. JOYCE CAIRNS, President of the Royal Scottish Academy

Each reader will have their favourites in this substantial, and beautifully designed book. PETER HILL, Art North

About the Author:

BILL HARE was born in Edinburgh in 1944 and studied at the University of Edinburgh and the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, in the 1970s. Since then he has taught art history at the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh College of Art and the Open University. In 1985 he was appointed Exhibitions Organiser at the Talbot Rice Gallery working with many Scottish artists as well as those from wider afield.

Since 1995 he has concentrated on teaching and freelance curating, with his main focus on Scottish art since 1945. He has curated a number of important exhibitions both in Scotland and abroad, and has published books and catalogues on a range of different aspects of historical, modern and contemporary Scottish art. He is currently an Honorary Fellow in Scottish art history at the University of Edinburgh.