Bringing some light to a dark Edinburgh...temporarily.

On the Tuesday of our last week in Edinburgh Mara joined us for lunch at the award winning *Scottish Cafe & Restaurant under the National Galleries. After lunch we visited an exhibition of  38 Turner watercolours within the Galleries.The collection was left to the nation by the art collector Henry Vaughan in 1900. At his bequest they can only be exhibited during the month of January when natural light levels are at their lowest to preserve their quality and viewing must be free to all.

 

We also had a look around the other temporary exhibition of the work of Scottish artist Sir William Gillies who we knew little of before our visit.Below is a short biography courtesy of the National Galleries Scotland.

Self portait of  Sir William Gillies

'Bornin Haddington near Edinburgh, Gillies studied at Edinburgh College of Art. After graduating, he taught there for more than forty years until his retirement as Principal in 1966, having influenced several generations of artists. A college grant enabled Gillies to go to Paris in 1923 to study, and for a brief period he worked in a cubist style. But, by nature, he was more inclined to the traditional, and in his later work only his still lifes show a general debt to Cubism. Gillies concentrated on landscapes and still lifes, and was particularly fond of depicting the Lothian, Fife and Border regions.'

I have to admit to being a bit of philistine when it comes to art - the 'Red House' above 'screams' bad to me but then what do I know?

Mara brought her own 'light' to the afternoon.

*Sadly not a great dining experience.