Two of Scotland’s best-loved paintings will be coming to Perth Museum and Art Gallery this summer.
For the first time ever, National Galleries Scotland (NGS) will be loaning Richard Wilson’s Flora Macdonald and William Mosman’s Prince Charles Edward Stuart. This is the first time these two portraits have been on public display outside Edinburgh.
Flora Macdonald will be at the centre of an exhibition entitled ICONS. Whilst the portrait of Prince Charles Edward Stuart will be the focal point for Perth Museum and Art Gallery’s new summer exhibition ‘Jacobite Clans.’
‘Jacobites Clans ’ will highlight the role the Jacobites in the local area played in Scottish history. It has been developed by working with external partners, such as Blair Castle and Archive, the Library of Innerpeffray, National Galleries Scotland. A number of private collections have also allowed us to secure new loans for objects, some of which have never been on public display.
Head of Museums and Galleries for Culture Perth and Kinross said, “All of us at Culture Perth and Kinross are thrilled that these important works are coming on loan to Perth. We are very grateful to our colleagues at NGS for their support to make this possible. We worked together successfully to bring the Monarch of the Glen to the region over the Winter of 2018/19. The two Jacobite-themed exhibitions this summer present the ideal opportunity for us to work collaboratively again for the benefit of all of our visitors, who will be able to see works from Scotland’s national collections on display locally at Perth Museum and Art Gallery.”
Icons
The ICONS exhibition will be the first in a series of exhibitions exploring the concept of ‘icons’. Over the period, Culture Perth and Kinross will be questioning how individuals and artworks become ‘iconic’, what this means and how it affects their meaning or impact.
In each exhibition, a creative/artist will be invited to produce a contemporary response to the iconic work that will be displayed alongside it in the gallery. This response will begin a dialogue of questioning. This will help visitors to Perth Museum and Art Gallery understand the iconic works in a different context or unpack the histories, ideas or traditions that created or uphold its iconic status.
Flora Macdonald is an iconic Scottish political heroine. Culture Perth and Kinross are inviting contemporary creatives and artists to submit proposals for original responses that explore this status. Full details of this opportunity can be found here.
Jacobite Clans and ICONS open on Saturday 29th June.