John Faed Centenary Exhibition

John Faed Centenary Exhibition

August 3rd/4th - 31st 2002

View over Gatehouse

There is a unique opportunity this August to see a large selection of paintings and drawings by one of Britain's leading Victorian artists - not in London, not in Edinburgh, but in Kirkcudbright and Gatehouse-of-Fleet.

This weekend sees the opening of an exhibition celebrating the life and work of one of Galloway's famous artists - John Faed - arguable the pioneer in whose steps the likes of Hornel and others of the Kirkcudbright School followed.

John Faed was the eldest of a remarkable family of talented artists from Barlay Mill, near Gatehouse. Born in 1819, he died nearly 100 years ago, in October 1902.

After a successful career in London, he chose to return to Gatehouse, where he spent the last 22 years of his life. Here, he continued to paint, serving as something of a role model for the younger Kirkcudbright artists and he also becoming involved in community projects in his hometown, such as the building of the clock tower and town hall.

Dumfries and Galloway Museums Service and the Friends of the Mill on the Fleet, Gatehouse have collaborated to produce a joint exhibition - one half in the Tolbooth art Centre, Kirkcudbright, and the other in the Mill on the Fleet, Gatehouse.

In the Mill, the exhibition focuses particularly on John Faed's time in Gatehouse - the building of his house 'Ardmore', his use of local models such as Sandy Inglis (who appears in 14 of his paintings), his literary friends such as George Sproat (author of 'Bonnie Gallowa') and much more. The show includes paintings by John and other members of his family. But the undoubted highlight of this part of the exhibition is Faed's magnificent painting of the town - 'View over Gatehouse' - which was originally painted for the town hall, but has recently been conserved and moved to the Mill on the Fleet's new Theatre Gallery.

The main focus of the other half of the exhibition, in Kirkcudbright's Tolbooth Art Centre, is John's career in Edinburgh and London. For this a collection of around 30 paintings and drawings has been assembled from local public and private collections together with loans from the National Gallery of Scotland, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Royal Scottish Academy, Rozelle House Gallery (Ayr), Bury Art Gallery and Museum, and Wolverhampton Art Gallery. These illustrate the range of John Faed's output, from miniature to full size portraits, and historical and literary theme subjects, which were popular in the Victorian period.

Faed's illustrations of the works of Robert Burns are explored in particular detail in a related exhibition, which also opens this weekend in Broughton House, Kirkcudbright. The collections there also contain fascinating correspondence between Faed and E A Hornel and other local artists, which provide evidence of the benevolent influence which the established artist had on the younger up-and-coming Kirkcudbright generation.

These exhibitions provide a rare opportunity to see an extensive collection of John Faed's paintings and drawings, in the centenary year of his death. They are unlikely to be repeated for many years, and therefore must be seen! The exhibitions open at the Tolbooth and Broughton House on Saturday, August 3rd, and at the Mill on the Fleet on Sunday, August 4th.

Please contact David Devereux at the Stewartry Museum, Kirkcudbright, for further details. Tel /Fax - 01557 331643 or e-mail davidd@dumgal.gov.uk

The Faeds: A Remarkable Artistic Family

Gatehouse Development Initiative
E-MAIL: enquiries@gatehouse-of-fleet.co.uk