The Royal Scottish Academy Presents the Art of Sylvia Wishart RSA

Written by Jordan Blaylock Tuesday, 10 January 2012 23:56

Edinburgh.- The Royal Scottish Academy is pleased to present "The Art of Sylvia Wishart", on view at the academy through February 29th. Sylvia Wishart was a painter of terrific ability. Her location in Orkney and subsequent distance from her peers in the ‘art world’ has meant that her career has been somewhat overshadowed. However, her place in the story of Scottish painting is if the utmost importance, as a teacher, aesthete and artist of the highest calibre. The Orkney landscape takes pride in this exhibition which concentrates on Sylvia’s two Orkney homes; North House, her cottage on Hoy, renovated from a near ruin and Heatherybraes, her home on mainland Orkney, above Stromness. Sylvia spent much of her career between Orkney and Aberdeen, where she was a lecturer in the Painting and Drawing Department at Gray’s School of Art. In 1967, she took rental of North House at Rackwick, falling in love with the cottage and renovating it back to an inhabitable state. This venue becomes her home and studio and many of the works produced here are expressive oils on bare board. Paint is applied in a thick heavy impasto and pared down to the simplest, yet incredibly sophisticated, mark-making.

These paintings feature Rackwick in all its glory, in all weathers and in many differing moods. Stones are formed in one brush-stroke and skies hang heavy with brooding dark slaps of paint. In the painting ‘Broken Croft in Rackwick’ we are invited to look into a derelict dwelling. Ravaged by the relentless Atlantic winds and salt, the building stands in an inhospitable landscape yet welcomes us into its meagre shelter. To many, Sylvia’s painting will always be connected to the views from Heatherybraes, her home in Outertown, Stromness. The vistas over Hoy Sound towards Hoy and the Scottish mainland are seen again and again in changing seasons and light. However, these paintings are not alike - crops ripen, geese leave and return, ferries and tankers mark time and movement. Inside the window frame, bowls of pears, pot-plants, vases of flowers and a ship in a bottle change places and are reflected in the foreground. There is a great revelling in the natural world and, coupled with the man-made, the mix of subject matter celebrates all that is around the artist, blurring the definition of inside and outside. In turn, this depicts both a strong interest in the glory of nature and a nod to religious enlightenment. The works in this exhibition are but a small selection of the Sylvia Wishart retrospective ‘A lamp in the seaward window, the art of Sylvia Wishart’ which premiered at The Pier Art Centre during summer 2011. In drawing together a number of works for the Edinburgh exhibition, I have also included two works from the Academy’s own Collection which had featured in the Orkney exhibition and deserve pride of place in the showing here in the capital. The exhibition will also include a few small key early works and a range of objects which appear in the later paintings. In addition, the RSA has also assisted to fund a new film about the artist, which will be on show for the duration of the exhibition, and a new publication about the work of Sylvia Wishart will be available.


The Scottish Academy was founded in 1826 at a meeting of 11 artists in Edinburgh. The first Annual Exhibition was held in 1827, and as the Academy developed in stature its membership increased in the disciplines of painting, sculpture and architecture. By 1830 the Academy had begun to acquire books and prints for its library and in 1840 opened its Life School which aimed to improve the training of artists in Scotland. The Academy was granted a royal charter in 1838 and from thenceforth has been known as the Royal Scottish Academy. In 1850 Prince Albert laid the foundation stone of a new building on The Mound in Edinburgh, which was to house the newly formed National Gallery of Scotland and the Royal Scottish Academy. The RSA first held its Annual Exhibition in its new galleries on the eastern side of the building in 1855 and these continued here until 1910. During the late 19th Century it became clear that art exhibition and art education provision in Edinburgh had become overly complex and muddled. A Government Report of 1903 was followed by a Parliamentary Order of 1910 which transferred the Academy to new premises in an adjacent building, previously called the Royal Institution. Renamed the Royal Scottish Academy this building has been the venue for the Academy's Annual Exhibitions since 1911. Art teaching was transferred to the newly established Edinburgh College of Art, and from this period onwards the Academy became less active in this role. Instead, the RSA assisted young artists through a programme of scholarships, awards and exhibition opportunities. In 1948 the Academy began to mount a series of special exhibitions for the Edinburgh International Festival. During the 1950's and 1960's memorable exhibitions included Edgar Degas (1952), Georges Braque (1956) and Georges Rouault (1965). The Royal Scottish Academy building was fully refurbished as a world class exhibiting space and re-opened its doors in 2003. Sharing the exhibition galleries with the National Galleries of Scotland, the RSA offices continue to be housed here, presenting a year round programme of exhibitions and invigorating scholarship & award initiatives. In 2007, the RSA Charter was revised with a number of significant amendments. The Academy widened the traditional remit of painting, sculpture, printmaking and architecture to accept artists working in all media, reflecting the diversity of contemporary artistic practice today. Associate Membership (ARSA) was also abolished introducing only one level of membership of the Academy. Full status of Royal Scottish Academician (RSA) was gained on deposition of a Diploma work into the RSA Collection and this did not affect the Honorary Membership. Visit the academy's website at ... http://www.royalscottishacademy.org

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