Honouring a Great Artist

JANETTE PARK sets the scene for a major retrospective of the work of Orkney artist Stanley Cursiter for Highland 2007

THE ORKNEY Museum’s summer exhibition will celebrate the life and work of Stanley Cursiter, RSA, RSW, CBE in his home town of Kirkwall.

Along with works from the Orkney Islands Council Collection, the exhibition will feature works on loan from the National Galleries of Scotland, City Arts Centre in Edinburgh, Cursiter’s family and local collectors.

Lithographs, book illustrations, architectural plans and design will also be seen together with the expected landscapes and portraits. Accompanying the exhibition will be a programme of workshops and lectures for all ages.

A book entitled ‘Stanley Cursiter: A Life of the Artist’, edited by Pam Beasant, will be published to coincide with the exhibition. This has been long overdue and has been met with an enthusiastic response from all who have been approached to contribute. The book tries to show all facets of the man with articles from leading academics as well as pieces written by family and friends.

The book shows different opinions, or points of view. The exhibition will do the same by having extracts from the book as accompanying text for some of the paintings. If there is more than one point of view expressed about a painting, then you may just see both, so you can make up your own mind!

It is perhaps not widely known that Stanley Cursiter is the only 20th century Scottish artist to be represented in all three of the National Galleries of Scotland.

In the National Gallery one can see ‘Twilight’ (1914), a large scale conversation piece set in a fashionable Edinburgh drawing room; ‘Chez Nous (Self Portrait with Phyllis and Poppy Low)’ (1925) is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery; and ‘Regatta’ (1913) is in the Gallery of Modern Art.

Nonetheless, examples of Cursiter’s work in the National Collection allude only to part of his diverse repertoire.

Stanley Cursiter (1887 – 1976) had a varied career in which he excelled in many things. He was a leading figure in 20th century Scottish Art, but has not enjoyed the recognition he deserves. He was a successful portrait painter and landscape artist fluent in both oil and watercolour.

He was Director of the National Galleries of Scotland from 1930–1948, and was the last artist to hold this position. As Queen’s Limner from 1948 he painted many Royal portraits, always painting official scenes in a characteristically direct manner even if they did not suit the agenda of the commission.

This will be the first major retrospective exhibition of Cursiter’s work since the show at the Pier Arts Centre in 1987.

Looking Back: Stanley Cursiter – A Retrospective runs from 2 April until 29 September, 2007, in the Orkney Museum, Kirkwall

Janette Park is Curator of Social History, Orkney Museums and Heritage

© Janette Park, 2007