Description

pp. 128, “This book will accompany an exhibition of the same name which will be held at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh from 3 December 2016 to 21 May 2017

• Many of the works in this book have never been published before
• Features maps showing the exact locations where the artist completed her works
• Includes previously unpublished extracts from the artist’s letters
• Detailed marketing plan being implemented to promote the book widely. Includes a press release to broad range of print and broadcast media
• Bookmarks available for till – please let us know how many you would like
• National Galleries of Scotland Publishing shortlisted as Saltire Scottish Publisher of the Year, 2016 (winner to be announced in late November)

Joan Eardley (1921–1963) is one of Scotland’s most admired artists. During a career that lasted barely fifteen years, she concentrated on two very distinct themes: children in the Townhead area of central Glasgow, and the fishing village of Catterline, just south of Aberdeen, with its leaden skies and wild sea. The contrast between this urban and rural subject matter is self-evident, but the two are not, at heart, so very different. Townhead and Catterline were home to tight-knit communities, living under extreme pressure: Townhead suffered from overcrowding and poverty, and Catterline from depopulation brought about by the declining fishing industry. Eardley was inspired by the humanity she found in both places.

These two intertwining strands are the focus of this book, which looks in detail at Eardley’s working processes. Her method can be traced from rough sketches and photographs through to pastel drawings and large oil paintings. Identifying many of Eardley’s subjects and drawing on unpublished letters, archival records and interviews, the authors provide a new and remarkably detailed account of Eardley’s life and art.”