William Wilson - The Scottish Gallery

william wilson
master printmaker
william wilson
master printmaker
7-31 october 2015
16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZ
tel 0131 558 1200 email [email protected]
www.scottish-gallery.co.uk
Inside front cover: From My Window, 1935 (detail) (cat. 25)
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foreword
Like many of the significant Scottish artists of the
20th century, William Wilson was not satisfied
with the restrictions of one medium, but focused
his energies on three. Throughout his life he fixed
intently on each in turn; etching, watercolour
painting and latterly stained glass design, which
brought him an international reputation. However,
it is his work in etching, made between 1925 and
1940 which is arguably his most powerful and
successful work, and a unique contribution to
Scottish art history.
Wilson was born in Edinburgh in 1905, the son
of John Wilson a gas meter index maker. His uncle
Thomas worked for the local firm of stained glass
artists James Ballantine and Son, with whom Wilson
first worked for in 1920, aged 15. Wilson attended
evening classes at Edinburgh College of Art and
was taught there by Adam Bruce Thomson, who
was 20 years his senior. Bruce Thomson recognised
Wilson’s skill as a draughtsman and encouraged
him to study at the College full time, which he did,
enrolling in 1932. This was to be the start of an
important friendship for both artists, which would
last up until Wilson’s death in 1972. The entirety of
this exhibition has come from the estate of Adam
Bruce Thomson, Wilson having gifted each print to
his friend and fellow artist.
Printmaking in Britain had undergone a revival
at the turn of the 20th century. New printmaking
methods had become popular, including
woodcutting and linoleum cuts, as well as new
developments in the techniques of lithography and
monotype. The founding of the Society of PainterEtchers in 1880 was a driving force behind the
growing interest in etching in particular. This was
fuelled by a number of publications by London
art dealers, including James McNeill Whistler’s
etchings of cityscapes. Printmaking began to be
appreciated as a fine art, rather than solely an
illustrative medium. Scotland had already a strong
printmaking heritage. DY Cameron, James McBey
and Muirhead Bone championed the importance
of printmaking at the start of the twentieth century,
and helped the revival of the interest in etching.
From 1908 printmaking was established as part of
the curriculum at Edinburgh College of Art, under
the tutelage of the young Ernest S. Lumsden.
In 1921 the Society of Artist Printers was
established in Glasgow. This was to prove an
important asset to printmakers working in Scotland,
as it afforded them a platform to exhibit work.
Previously, printmakers had to rely on London
dealers for exposure, as McBey and Cameron had
done. The Society of Artist Printers relocated to
Edinburgh in 1931 with E.S. Lumsden taking the
role of president. Thus Wilson found himself at the
centre of a flourishing group of printmakers and with
the encouragement of two older artists, Adam Bruce
Thomson and E.S Lumsden, Wilson threw himself
into work. It was at this time that Bruce Thomson
introduced Wilson to Ian Fleming. Fleming was a
Glasgow artist with a keen interest in printmaking.
From the mid 1920s Wilson travelled extensively
to the continent. His first etching of Paris, Pont
Neuf, 1925 (cat. 1) was completed when he was
still working as a young apprentice with James
Ballantine. Later trips to Germany in 1928 form the
basis of the works The Walls, Rothenburg (cat. 9) and
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Rothenburg (cat. 8). Unlike Cameron, McBey and
Whistler, who looked to French art for inspiration,
Wilson’s main influence was art from Northern
Europe, and his interest in the work of Durer and
Breughel can be seen in works such as Der Klein
Soldat, 1932 (cat. 18) Adam and Eve, 1932 (cat. 19)
and in his heavily worked rural scenes. Whilst
McBey and Whistler had a tendency to convey the
quality of light through leaving the etching plate
‘blank’, and so to give the idea of space, Wilson
responded differently. Instead he often filled his
etching plates completely, margin to margin. These
dark, structural images reached their zenith in a
series of plates made in Scotland in the mid 1930s.
Of which Sutherland, 1934 (cat. 27) and West Highland
Landscape, 1934 (cat. 28) are examples.
Wilson moved to London in 1935 to study
engraving at the Royal College of Art then returned
to Edinburgh in 1937, moving into a studio at
57 Frederick Street. Wilson began to exhibit his
watercolours at the Royal Scottish Academy from
1936, and this marked the slow turn of his attention
to the difficulties and challenges which watercolour
entailed. In Scottish painting there is a long tradition
of major figures placing great emphasis on the
importance of work on paper. This is perhaps best
seen in the work of ‘The Edinburgh School’.
His contemporaries and close friends, Adam
Bruce Thomson, William Gillies, Anne Redpath and
William MacTaggart were all watercolour painters.
It could be said that their influence swayed his
priorities from etching toward painting. (A show of
intent was made when in 1947, he resigned from his
post of Honorary Secretary at the Society of Artist
Printers). His watercolours from the late 1930s and
1940s focus on French travels, as well as locations
in Fife and Skye and bear close similarities with his
Edinburgh School contemporaries. Stained glass
Self Portrait, etching, 1937.
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
was a constant preoccupation throughout his life,
and he worked off and on for James Ballantine and
Son right up until the mid 1940s. His work in etching
and watercolour did not detract from his interest in
stained glass, but helped inform it and from 1938
Wilson started to receive commissions for stained
glass windows with increasing regularity. The
necessity for new windows from bomb damaged
churches, as well as memorial windows added to
Wilson’s workload, and enabled him to set up a
stained glass studio in Belford Mews in 1947. Notable
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commissions included windows for Canterbury
Cathedral, St Giles in Edinburgh and John Knox
Memorial Church in Ottawa, Canada. Wilson was
very much at the heart of the revival of the stained
glass movement and it is for this he is most notably
remembered.
From the early 1950s Wilson began to lose his
sight through complications with diabetes. A cruel
hand to be dealt, but even more so for a man whose
life was centred on the visual arts. His stained glass
studio was carried on through close work between
Wilson and his apprentice John Blyth who translated
Wilson’s ideas into glass. But his work in etching
and watercolour had to come to an abrupt end. Even
with his sight lost, Wilson still played an active role
in the artistic scene of Edinburgh, a governor of
the Edinburgh College of Art, as well as an active
member of the Royal Scottish Academy and the
Scottish Committee of the Arts Council (where
he championed up-and-coming artists, including
Joan Eardley). His studio in Belford Mews was a
hotbed for intellectual discussion, and his interests
ranged from art to music and current affairs. He was
awarded an OBE to his services to art in 1961.
From the late 1960s Wilson’s quality of life began
to decline, and he relinquished his membership
to the Royal Scottish Academy to make way ‘for
someone who could take a more active part…’. Illness
and blindness necessitated a move to Lancashire
to live with his sister. At this time, in response to a
family crisis, Wilson sanctioned new editions of
around twenty etchings. These, printed in the early
1970s, were not signed by the artist, and although
they are wonderful images, do not compare to the
original editions of the 1930s. He died in 1972.
Fiona Pearson has documented a total of 138
different etchings from William Wilson, but a full
catalogue raisonné has still be to be completed.
Wilson heralded a new wave of printmaking in
Scotland, not through developments of technique
but through a modern approach to design and
content. Whilst the previous generation, Cameron
and McBey, had been primarily concerned with
the documentation of landscape and atmospheric
effect, Wilson’s interest lay in the structural qualities
of an image, often realised through architectural
subjects; relishing the angular juxtapositions of roof,
wall and landscape. Wilson’s draughtsmanship is
superb, his line as suggestive as Gill and his tonality
in a tradition that goes back to Samuel Palmer
and Rembrandt. His etchings are visually rich and
suffused with atmosphere and represent a body of
work to match McBey and Cameron.
Printmaking in Scotland is still thriving. Glasgow
and Edinburgh Print Studios are both producing
work from an array of notable artists. DCA in
Dundee, Peacock in Aberdeen, Graal Press too,
on the outskirts of Edinburgh produce works from
Scottish artists such as Wilhelmina Barns-Graham
and Victoria Crowe. No single artist however, then
or since, has placed such importance on the power
of a single image etched onto plate. For this we
are indebted to William Wilson, Scotland’s master
printmaker.
TOMMY ZYW, THE SCOTTISH GALLERY
William Wilson creating his stained glass window for Liverpool Cathedral, c.1946
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1 Pont Neuf, 1925
etching, 18 x 23 cms
signed lower right
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent; impression in The Scottish National
Gallery of Modern Art
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2 Rue Couverte, Provins, 1926
etching, 15 x 18 cms
titled lower left, signed lower right
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent
9
3 Chauvigny, 1928
etching, 16.5 x 17 cms
titled lower left, signed and dated lower right
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent
10
4 Delt, c.1928
etching, 10.5 x 7 cms
signed lower right
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent
11
5 Culross, 1928
etching, 19 x 17.8 cms, edition 1/12
signed and dated lower right
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent
12
6 Dunfermline, 1928
etching, 14 x 19 cms
titled lower left, signed and dated lower right
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent; impression in The Scottish National
Gallery of Modern Art
13
7 Edinburgh, 1928
etching, 14 x 17 cms, edition 2/30
titled lower left, signed and dated lower right
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent; impression in The Scottish National
Gallery of Modern Art
14
8 Rothenburg, 1928
etching, 15.5 x 21 cms
titled lower left, signed lower right, inscribed to ‘Mr AB Thomson’
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent; impression in The Scottish National
Gallery of Modern Art
15
9 The Walls, Rothenburg, 1928
etching, 21.5 x 20.5 cms
titled lower left, signed lower right, inscribed to ‘Mr AB Thomson’
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent
16
10 The Farm, 1929
etching, 12.5 x 16 cms, edition 3/25
titled lower left, signed and dated lower right
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent
17
11 San Gimignano, 1930
etching, 22.8 x 26 cms, edition 3/45
titled lower left, signed and dated lower right
exhibited
Impression exhibited at Society of Scottish Artists, 1930
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent; impression in The Scottish National
Gallery of Modern Art
18
12 Christ and the Woman of Samaria, 1931
etching, 16 x 14 cms
titled lower left, signed and dated lower right
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent; finished impression in The Scottish
National Gallery of Modern Art
19
13 Mezzogiorno, 1931
etching, 18.5 x 23 cms
titled lower left, signed and dated lower right
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent
20
14 Siena, 1931
etching, 25 x 20 cms, edition 1/30
titled lower left, signed and dated lower right
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent; impression in The Scottish National
Gallery of Modern Art
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15 Castle near Verona, 1932
etching, 23.5 x 29 cms, edition 3/20
titled lower left, signed and dated lower right
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent
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16 Noli Me Tangere, 1930
etching, 16.5 x 10.5 cms
signed and dated lower right
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent; impression in The Scottish National
Gallery of Modern Art
illustrated
Fiona Pearson, William Wilson, Scottish Masters 19, National Galleries of Scotland, 1994, p6
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17 The Gipsy, 1931
etching, 14 x 16 cms
titled lower left, signed and dated lower right
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent
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18 Der Kleine Soldat, 1932
etching, 14 x 9.5 cms, edition 5/20
titled lower left, signed and dated lower right
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent; impression in The Scottish National
Gallery of Modern Art
illustrated
Fiona Pearson, William Wilson, Scottish Masters 19, National Galleries of Scotland, 1994, p20
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19 Adam and Eve, 1932
etching, 28 x 21.5 cms, edition 4/30,
titled lower left, signed and dated lower right, inscribed ABT on mount
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent; impression in The Scottish National
Gallery of Modern Art
28
20 Avila, Spain, 1933
etching, 29 x 36.5 cms, edition 2/20
signed and dated lower centre
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent; impression in The Scottish National
Gallery of Modern Art
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21 Church Gate, Colinton, 1933
etching, 18.5 x 23 cms, edition 6/20
signed and dated lower right
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent; impression in The Scottish National
Gallery of Modern Art
31
22 Low Tide, 1933
etching, 11.5 x 9.5 cms, edition 2/10
titled lower left, signed and dated lower centre
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent
32
23 Bridge of the Scaligers, Verona, c.1932
etching, 26.5 x 20 cms
signed lower right, inscribed ‘Impression by HK’
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent; impression in The Scottish National
Gallery of Modern Art
33
24 St. Martin’s Bridge, Toledo, 1933
etching, 35 x 42.5 cms
titled lower left, signed and dated lower right
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent; impression in The Scottish National
Gallery of Modern Art
illustrated
Fiona Pearson, William Wilson, Scottish Masters 19, National Galleries of Scotland, 1994, p21
34
25 From My Window, 1935
etching, 10.5 x 11.5 cms, Christmas card to AB Thomson,
signed lower right, inscribed ‘From my Window 23 Dec 1935’ lower left
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent; impression in The Scottish National
Gallery of Modern Art
35
26 Railway Siding, Colinton, 1934
etching, 21 x 25.5 cms
titled lower left, signed and dated lower right
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent
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27 Sutherland, 1934
etching, 30 x 40 cms, edition 13/30
titled lower left, signed and dated lower right, inscribed to ‘To AB Thomson’
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent; impression in The Scottish National
Gallery of Modern Art
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28 West Highland Landscape, 1934
etching, 36 x 39 cms, edition 3/30
signed lower right, inscribed ‘W. Wilson to A. Bruce Thomson’
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent; impression in The Scottish National
Gallery of Modern Art
illustrated
Fiona Pearson, William Wilson, Scottish Masters 19, National Galleries of Scotland, 1994, p22
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29 Loch Scavaig, Skye, 1935
etching, 29.5 x 38 cms, edition 1/35
titled lower left, signed and dated lower right, inscribed ‘To AB Thomson, 1935’
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent; impression in The Scottish National
Gallery of Modern Art
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30 Sea Wall, 1936
etching, 13.5 x 16 cms, Christmas card to AB Thomson
titled lower left, signed and dated lower right
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent; impression in The Scottish National
Gallery of Modern Art
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31 A Tower House (Christmas Card), 1938
etching, 12.5 x 6.5 cms, Christmas card to AB Thomson
signed lower centre
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent
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32 Christmas Greeting, Edinburgh Castle
etching, 17 x 11.5 cms, Christmas card to AB Thomson
signed lower right, inscribed ‘From Willie Wilson’ lower left
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent; impression in The Scottish National
Gallery of Modern Art
45
33 A Village in Winter (Christmas Card)
etching, 5.5 x 11 cms, Christmas card to AB Thomson
inscribed ‘Greetings from William Wilson’
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent; impression in The Scottish National
Gallery of Modern Art
46
34 In This Year of Our Lord, 1939
etching, 11.5 x 9.5 cms, Christmas card to AB Thomson
provenance
The estate of Adam Bruce Thomson and thence by descent; impression in The Scottish National
Gallery of Modern Art
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William Wilson
OBE RSA RSW (1905-1972)
1905
1920
Born 21st July, son of John Wilson, a gas meter index maker
Started work at James Ballantine and Son, stained glass artist. His uncle Thomas was also in
their employ
1920Attended evening classes at Edinburgh College of Art, where he attracted the attention of
Adam Bruce Thomson
1925
First trip to France where he completed his first etching Pont Neuf
1928Travelled to Germany
1929Artistic trip to East Neuk of Fife and Italy
1930
Elected member of Society of Scottish Artists
1931
Society of Artist Printmakers moved to Edinburgh under presidency of E.S. Lumsden
1930Travelled extensively, including Siena, Soave, San Gimignano, Bruges and Ghent
1932
Got leave from James Ballantine to study at Edinburgh College of Art full time
1932Awarded RSA Carnegie Travelling Scholarship
1933
Wilson became Honorary Secretary of Society of Artist Printmakers
1933Introduced to Ian Fleming through Adam Bruce Thomson
1933Trips to the Scottish Highlands and Toledo, Spain
1934
Won the Guthrie Award at the RSA and the Andrew Grant Fellowship at the Edinburgh
College of Art. Bought own printing press
1934
Successful trip to the highlands
1935
Starts Engraving course at Royal College of Art, London. Made associations with museums
print rooms and dealers in London
1935
Studies stained glass in Germany
1935Meets fellow printmaker and likeminded individual, Edgar Holloway
1936Moves to Netteswell Common, near Harlow in Essex with Holloway. Buys a ten inch printing
press
1936
His print Sutherland illustrated in Campbell Dodgson Fine Prints of the Year
1936
Began to illustrate watercolours at the RSA
1936
Visits Vienna with Holloway. Saw work of Breughel
1937
Began commission of 20 stained glass panels for Cameron Nursery School in Edinburgh
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1937
1937
1938
Visits Paris, sees French Print exhibition
Returns to Edinburgh, moves to 53 Frederick Street Works freelance for Ballantine
Empire Exhibition at Bellahouston Park, Glasgow. Commissioned to design a window for the
choir of the Church of St Andrew, designed by Jack Coia
1938-40 Wilson commissioned to do three monumental windows for Caledonian Insurance
Company on George Street, Edinburgh
1939
Designed windows for churches in Dalkeith, Edinburgh and Innerwick
1939
Elected associate of RSA
1940Took up post of art master at Fettes College
1942
Joins Auxiliary Fire Service
1945
Returns to Fettes
1946
Elected member of RSW
1947Took over studio of Phyllis Bone at 11a Belford Mews
1947
Ceases his association with Society of Artist Printmakers
1948
Elected Member of RSA, takes up role as Librarian
1949Three large panels commissioned for The Royal High School
c.1950Active member of the Scottish Committee of the Arts Council, including championing work
of Joan Eardley
1950
Queen unveils a three-light window at St Salvators Chapel in St Andrews
1957Trip to France to study stained glass designs
1959Lost his sight, through diabetes. Stained glass studio is kept on through close working
relationship with his team, including John Blyth
1961Awarded OBE for services to art in Scotland
1968Awarded civil list pension
1969
Wilson asks to resign his membership of RSA ‘for someone who could take a more active
part in the work of the Academy’
1971Moved to his sister’s in Bury, Lancashire
1971
Resigned from Governors of Edinburgh College of Art
1972
Dies in Bury, Lancashire
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Selected Stained Glass Commissions
c.1946Anglican Cathderal, Liverpool
1949Three large panels commissioned for The Royal High School
1950
Queen unveils a three-light window at St Salvators Chapel in St Andrews
1951
East Kent Memorial window for Canterbury Cathedral
1952
Brechin Cathedral, his largest series of stained glass windows
1954
St Giles Cathedral
1955 & 1968 John Knox Memorial Church, Ottowa, Canada
1956
Cameronians Regimental window for Glasgow Cathedral
1957
St Machar’s Cathedral, Aberdeen
1957
Synagogue on Salisbury Road, Edinburgh
1959Liberton Secondary School
Selected Group Exhibitions
1924
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (exhibited every year from 1927-1960)
1928
Society of Scottish Artists, Edinburgh
1936
15th annual exhibition of the Society of Artist Printers, Edinburgh
1937
Society of Artist Printers, Municipal Museum and Art Gallery, Belfast, Ireland
1940
Joint exhibition with potter Alexander Inglis, Aitken Dott, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
1947
Joint exhibition of watercolours with Ian Fleming, Aitken Dott, The Scottish Gallery,
Edinburgh
1954
Recent Paintings by Redpath, Gillies, Wilson, Fleming, Festival Exhibition, The Scottish Gallery,
Edinburgh
1959
Scottish Society of Artists
1964
14 Scottish Painters, The Commonwealth Institute, The Arts Council – Scottish Committee,
Glasgow
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Selected Solo exhibitions
1962
Paintings by William Wilson, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
1982
William Wilson, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
1994
Watercolours, Etchings and Stained Glass, Bourne Fine Art in conjunction with The Open Eye
Gallery, Edinburgh
1994
William Wilson, Painter and Stained Glass Artist, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art,
Edinburgh
2015
Master Printmaker, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
Collections
Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum
British Museum, London
Creative Scotland
Glasgow Art Gallery
Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
West Riding County Council
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Published by The Scottish Gallery to coincide with the exhibition
WILLIAM WILSON: MASTER PRINTMAKER
7 – 31 October 2015
Exhibition can be viewed online at
www.scottish-gallery.co.uk/williamwilson
ISBN: 978 1 910267 25 7
Designed by www.kennethgray.co.uk
Photography by William Van Esland
Printed by Barr Colour Printers
All rights reserved. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced in
any form by print, photocopy or by any other means, without the
permission of the copyright holders and of the publishers.
Acknowledgements
The Scottish Gallery would like to thank Elizabeth and Andrew Hall
for their help with this exhibition. Thanks also to Alice Tod at the
National Galleries Scotland.
Image on p4 © The Scotsman Publications Ltd.
Licensor www.scran.ac.uk
16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZ
Tel 0131 558 1200 Email [email protected]
www.scottish-gallery.co.uk
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