Identifier | EERC/DG/DG54/1 |
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Interviewer | Cowan, Gordon, McKay, Sheena |
Dates | interview: 2018-03-18 coverage: 20th century |
Extent | 1 digital audio file(s), 6 digital photograph(s) |
Notable persons / organisations | Rey, Dorothy, 1903-1973 (Scottish artist), Taylor, Ernest Archibald (EA Taylor), 1874-1951 (Scottish artist), King, Jessie M. (Jessie Marion), 1875-1949, Hornel, Edward Atkinson, 1864-1933 (Scottish painter), Cowan, Gordon, |
Subject | Art, Community Life, Social Systems, Childhood, Kirkcudbright, Gatehouse of Fleet |
Interview summary | This interview forms part of the Kirkcudbright Artists Remembered project. This project was active during the refurbishment of the Kirkcudbright Town hall into the Kirkcudbright Galleries centre and was undertaken as a partnership between the Kirkcudbright Harbour Cottage Trust and the EERC. David Steel (aged 69) talks about a number of the artists connected to Kirkcudbright, particularly Jessie M King who was the cousin of David's grandmother. He has a photograph, which was taken when he was a small child, of when he was taken to Kirkcudbright to be introduced to Jessie M King. He shares memories of other artists he met including: Dorothy Rey, Vera Alabaster, E A Taylor, Anna Hotchkis and John Faed. He felt the artists were accepted in the town and recalls that everyone knew what colour their aura was because Jessie M King maintained that everyone had an aura. David also recalls memories of being painted by Cecile Walton and reflects that he didn’t enjoy the process so much. Between the wars, when money was scarce, payments were often made in art and many of the artists were producing ten-bob paintings for tourists. (This practice is referred to in Dorothy L Sayers novel, 5 Red Herrings.) David also talks about some of the Gatehouse-of-Fleet artists, including Alick Sturrock, who was captain of the golf club where original artworks were often given as prizes. Towards the end of the interview, David, who had worked with the EU in Brussells, talks about his work on the Artists’ Footsteps project, a website dedicated to (primarily oil) paintings of Dumfries and Galloway which he has contributed a great deal to. He reflects on the opening of the new gallery and notes that the status of artists’ town has helped Kirkcudbright thrive over time. |
Access | Open |
Usage Statement | We give permission for the re-use of our collections material for non-commercial purposes under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial 4.0 International Licence. |
Audio links and images | |
Transcript |