NEWSLETTER - Edinburgh DFAS

AUGUST 2016
ISSUE 18
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EDINBURGH DECORATIVE & FINE ARTS SOCIETY
NEWSLETTER
RIDDLE’S COURT & PATRICK GEDDES
This year’s Society Lecture, given by Professor Murdo
MacDonald, was about Sir Patrick Geddes, who had a
profound effect on conservation and planning, not just
in Edinburgh but also throughout the world. EDFAS has
supported the Scottish Buildings Preservation Trust with
its project to restore Riddle’s Court to
create the Patrick Geddes Centre.
Riddle’s Court in the Lawnmarket is a
document in stone, plaster and paint
portraying over four centuries of Scotland’s
history. Work started on site last summer
to repair the building’s precious fabric and
sympathetically adapt and upgrade it as
the Patrick Geddes Centre for Learning.
Even before the Patrick Geddes Centre
opens to the public in autumn 2017, the
first learning activities are being delivered.
The next event will be a Study Day on
Mansion houses of the Royal Mile held on
30 September 2016 at Moray House, Edinburgh. This event
will explore the high status buildings of the Canongate and
compare them to Riddle’s Court.
After the EDFAS Society Lecture our President, Lady Rosebery,
gave a vote of thanks for the lecture as well as presenting
EDFAS’s donation to The Scottish Historic Buildings Trust.
She was a most appropriate person to do this as she had spent
many weeks at Riddle’s Court when in Edinburgh as part of the
Edinburgh Fringe in the early 1950s. She was at Art College in
Oxford and very involved with Oxford University Dramatic Society
and gave us a highly amusing account of those days at the
Fringe. She recalled sleeping in the lovely painted room upstairs,
watching mice picking up crumbs under the camp beds.
The food budget was 23/- per week per head. Neil Rosebery,
OUDS backstage crew member, was the electrician. Later, in
1954, they became engaged. Living locally, he brought in fruit
cake and huge lumps of cheese from Dalmeny. Frank Dunlop,
who went on to be the Director of the Edinburgh Festival,
produced Moliere. Maggie Smith was amongst those who slept
on the floor at Riddle’s Court. She was at the Oxford Playhouse
Theatre School and a showstopper at her first Fringe production.
Finally, Lady Rosebery said she did indeed understand the
premise under Patrick Geddes’s dictum: learn by living – and that
was ‘from the horse’s mouth!’.
For more information about any aspect of the Riddle’s Court
project, please phone on 0131 220 1232 or to book on
a Hard Hat Tour or the Study Day, please go to
www.patrickgeddescentre.org.uk where you will find the
Eventbrite booking page links.
After reminiscing about the Fringe at
Riddle’s Court, she went on to present a
cheque on behalf of EDFAS to the National
Museum of Scotland for the development
of the new Fashion and Style Gallery,
another appropriate gesture because
Lady Rosebery had been a Trustee of the
museum for some years.
Professor Murdo MacDonald, Gail Guest,
Lady Rosebery, Dr Gordon Rintoul of NMS,
and Una Richards, SHBT
Patrick Geddes lived from 1854 to 1932. He coined the phrase, ‘Think global, act local’ and his life’s work involved empowering
communities to change for the better. His ideas and approaches to the environment, conservation and learning can stimulate
fresh responses to some of today’s most pressing issues. Patrick Geddes inscribed ‘Vivendo Discimus’ (by living we learn) above
the entrance to Riddle’s Court when he converted the building to a University Hall at the end of the nineteenth century. The vision
encapsulated by this phrase is no less than a call to radically rethink how, when and why we learn, integrating creativity and
action into learning. This approach informs the Patrick Geddes Centre, which will be a base for debate and discussion and offer a
distinctive programme of active learning for all ages.
My Favourite Picture…
Lester Borley, formerly The Director of the National Trust for Scotland, and a longtime EDFAS member,
has chosen his favourite picture from the NTS collection at Fyvie Castle.
Clearly, the Batoni portrait of Colonel William Gordon, purchased on his Grand Tour, is the iconic Fyvie picture,
and a mouth-watering collection of Raeburn is hard to resist. But of all the collection, it is the very early
Sir Thomas Lawrence portrait of Susanna, Countess of Oxford, which attracts me back to Fyvie. Painted in
1789 when he was twenty and Lady Oxford was sixty-one, it helped Lawrence make his mark as the only real
successor to Romney as a portrait painter. Lawrence went on to paint royalty, and a whole gamut of generals
who had fought with Wellington, and which now adorn the walls of the Waterloo Chamber in Windsor Castle.
Lady Oxford, daughter of William Archer of Welford, Berkshire, married Edward, the fourth Earl of Oxford, in
1751. At her death, the ‘Gentleman’s Magazine’ of November 1804 said of her: ‘to the poor she was a liberal
benefactress, and her death will long be regretted by everyone who knew her’. Who can resist a picture of such
a benign lady who has chosen her terrier to be her companion forever?
Do you have a favourite picture, building, garden or sculpture that you would like
to share with EDFAS members? If so, please contact the Editor.
Susanna, Countess of Oxford by
Sir Thomas Lawrence. By courtesy
of The National Trust for Scotland
A Me m b e r S o c i e ty of t he Nat ional A s s o ciation of Decor ative and Fine Ar ts Socie ti e s
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EDINBURGH DECORATIVE & FINE ARTS SOCIETY
NEWSLETTER · AUGUST 2016
EDFAS Tour to
the West Midlands
BURSARY
EDFAS had another Spring trip this year, again ably led
by Neil Hynd. Below is a précis of the tour, based on
contributions from several members of the group.
Above: Orlaigh Murray,
the recipient of our first
College of Art Bursary,
is pictured here with
Committee member
Anne Mason Brown at
her degree show. Orlaigh
studied jewellery design,
but plans to go on to
further education to study
Art Therapy.
Above: Harvington Hall
Above right: Madresfield Court
Right: Eastnor Castle
We assembled in Birmingham for this year’s most enjoyable
and varied Tour. We set off to Worcester stopping en route
at Hanbury Hall c1700, a lovely mellow brick building with
recently restored gardens in the period style. In Worcester we
stayed in an old converted glove factory now a hotel which
was very comfortable and which looked after us very well.
The next day we visited Eastnor Castle c1810, an austere
castle-style house with wonderfully rich gothic interiors
equipped with much of the furniture especially designed for
the house. At lunch, we enjoyed wine tasting at the Three
Choirs Vineyard, and later we attended an uplifting Choral
Evensong at Tewkesbury Abbey. The next day we were given
a guided tour of Madresfield Court, a multifaceted medieval
house with later alterations, as well as significant Arts and
Crafts additions. It was chosen as a suitable residence for
the Royal Family, should they have had to leave London
during WW2. The next day we visited Whitley Court, now a
ruin and its church c1735, as well as Harvington Hall, mainly
Elizabethan, with six priest holes. We also saw round Ragley
Hall, a Palladian mansion with Georgian interiors. In 1969
the 8th Marquis commissioned Graham Rust to paint a
spectacular mural on the north staircase and hall, depicting
his family and friends in an architectural setting.
This was followed by Croome Park, a Robert Adam house
with a Capability Brown landscape now being restored by the
National Trust. On our final evening we had a delicious dinner
at the Royal Worcester Porcelain Museum, whose archives
are being restored by Heritage Volunteers from the Malvern
Hills DFAS. Their Leader, Lady Nicholls, talked to us about
their work and showed us some examples of the cleaned
and repaired pattern books. On our last morning we visited
the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham, which had
a good collection of Old Masters as well as fine Dutch and
Impressionist collections. Our thanks to Neil, his wife Sarah
and our coach driver Jeff for a very memorable time.
Right: Marianne McLennan,
who was awarded an
EDFAS bursary, is pictured
here with Committee
Member Neil Hynd as well
as Marianne’s son, at her
degree show. Marianne
studied graphic design.
DONATIONS
You will see from the list of donations that EDFAS has
been able to support a variety of organisations primarily
with the Gift Aid tax rebate received on subscriptions.
Further support has been in conjunction with various
visits in our events programme. Thirdly, additional Young
Arts support has been possible from members’ direct
contributions when renewing their Society membership.
University of Edinburgh (College of Art Bursaries)..........£4,000
Silver Cloth (NMS).................................................................£300
Central Mosque.....................................................................£100
WHALE Arts project...........................................................£1,000
Leith School of Art.............................................................£1,000
Scottish Historic Buildings Trust.......................................£6,000
NMS (Society Lecture + Islam visit).................................£1,500
St Andrew’s Ambulance ......................................................£350
NGS (Melville + Print Room Visits)....................................£1,500
Friends of RSA (Schools Workshops)..................................£250
TOTAL DONATIONS............................ £16,000
Thank you to Grace Durham,
our indefatigable Editor,
for another excellent edition
of the Newsletter.
Gail Guest, Chairman
EDINBURGH DECORATIVE & FINE ARTS SOCIETY
NEWSLETTER · AUGUST 2016
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WHALE ARTS
Whale Arts is a terrific community-led arts charity in Wester Hailes which the committee has
selected for EDFAS to support. Grace Durham and Filly Nicol visited the centre in March to
see the work that The team do and the courses they run so we could choose which projects
EDFAS would be involved with.
We were hugely impressed by their dreams and schemes
for stretching the vistas and imaginations of the children of
Wester Hailes. The staff run courses for children from six
months to 18 years, engaging with really young children in the hope of inspiring them to want
to stay in touch. They work with the local schools in school hours and run out of school and
holiday courses. We saw a splendid morning’s course of school children making dinosaurs and
diverse creatures with the view to creating a play or tableau at the end of the morning. All the
children were totally absorbed and loving it. The team also take children into the museums and
galleries in Edinburgh: many of these children never having been into Edinburgh proper before.
EDFAS supported the following projects:
•
•
•
•
•
Easter Arts - where children are invited to ‘get creative with eggs,
paint and glitter’
Mini gardens - children making tiny fairy gardens or dinosaur lands
A trip to the Festival Theatre to explore the costumes and scenery
backstage at the theatre
Easter crafts - making fabric craft creations to take home
Creative adventures: working with ‘glow in the dark’ paints
Below is a selection from several ongoing projects that WHALE runs:
• ‘Creative Adventures’ is a multi-art project for young people with Additional Support Needs
and their families. Staff work with dance, music, art and drama.
• ‘Street Arts’ takes interpretive art into the streets to the young people out there who often
have nothing to do and nowhere to go. This is challenging for all concerned and WHALE
works with the Edinburgh Festival Theatre on this project.
• ‘Generate’ helps 10 - 18 year olds ‘form a band, write lyrics and create songs,
perform live and record your tracks’.
EDFAS is proud to support these imaginative projects.
VOLUNTEERING
CHURCH TRAILS
A Church Trail is a two-sided A4
questionnaire for children (aged
8-12) with an answer sheet for
accompanying adults. The aim
of a NADFAS church trail is to
encourage children to explore a
church in order to inspire an interest
in the art, architecture, history and
furnishings found there. Volunteers
who create a church trail have the
chance to discover more about
our rich heritage, to expand their
knowledge and learn new skills. Church trails
are manageable, achievable, affordable and can be
made relatively quickly by a small team of volunteers.
They leave a legacy in churches for children and
accompanying adults to enjoy for years to come.
We have completed only one church trail in Edinburgh
and I would very much like to work towards completing
more: there are so many interesting churches in the
city. If you would like to become involved in this very
rewarding volunteering project, please get in touch with
Jen McDowell: jjmcdowell@ymail.com
National Museum of Scotland –
EDFAS volunteers help preserve
Silver Collection
One of the most fascinating items to be
displayed in the new NMS galleries in
Chamber Street is the travelling service
of the Emperor Napoleon’s sister,
Princess Pauline Borghese. Supplied
by Napoleon’s official goldsmith
for Pauline’s marriage to Prince
Camillo Borghese in 1803, it contains
more than 100
silver-gilt items
carefully stacked and arranged inside a
wooden case. The items were cleaned
in preparation for the new display and
were stored inside Pacific Silver Cloth
storage bags until they were required.
The expensive conservation cloth was
purchased with money donated by
EDFAS and the bags were stitched
by EDFAS volunteers.
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EDINBURGH DECORATIVE & FINE ARTS SOCIETY
NEWSLETTER · AUGUST 2016
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
In March we welcomed back to Edinburgh
Sandra Pollard to deliver her lecture on
Lady Ottoline Morrell (1873-1938).
During her life Lady Ottoline, a wonderfully
flamboyant and eccentric aristocrat, lived on a very
grand scale. With her gift for friendship, she was a
true patroness of the arts, introducing young and
struggling artists to the many wealthy and influential
people she knew in London. Even when those who
enjoyed her hospitality most abused her generosity,
she appeared never to lose her will to share her
passion for art and literature.
The new programme of lectures will commence on Tuesday 11th
September when Sally Hoban will talk about the Art of Enamelling.
Lectures will continue to be held in Central Hall Tollcross until
further notice. In the meantime, I confirm the committee will keep
you up to date about our future venue plans.
After our December lecture on Islam and The Mosque, members
visited the King Fahd Mosque and Islamic Centre of Edinburgh.
Designed by Dr. Basil Al Bayati, the architecture combines traditional
Islamic features with some Scots baronial style. The main hall holds
over a thousand worshippers with women praying in the balcony
overlooking the hall. This was followed by a talk in the nearby National
Museum of Scotland on the revival of interest in Islamic Art.
We were lucky to be able to organise our February visit to the
Print Room at the NGS before it closes as part of the recently
announced NGS refurbishment plan. The Print Room houses an
extensive collection of prints and drawings by Scottish Artists
and members were able to view works by Ramsay, Wilkie and
MacTaggart amongst others.
On a bright sunny day in April a group travelled to Perthshire for a
visit to the Library of Innerpeffray followed by Megginch Castle.
The historic library at Innerpeffray near Crieff
(above left), houses more than 5,000 books and is
the oldest free public lending library in Scotland.
Member Maureen Toft remembered visiting the
library with her grandparents aged 10 and was
delighted to find their names recorded in the
Visitors’ Book. Do go if you are in the area.
(www.innerpeffraylibrary.co.uk)
Megginch (left), a 15th century turreted castle, has
been in the Drummond family since 1664. Warmly
welcomed by the present owner, The Hon Mrs
Drummond-Herdman hosted a delicious lunch
followed by a tour of the house and gardens.
In April Colin Bailey’s lecture on Catherine the Great
and the Formation of The Hermitage Collection
emphasised the fact that she is known as one of the
world’s foremost collectors filling her palaces with an
abundance of dazzling pieces of rarity and beauty,
including paintings, porcelain, gold, silver and jewels.
For this lecture Colin concentrated on how she formed
her art collection by hiring skilled connoisseurs to
source as many of the very best pictures money could
buy to leave a legacy of staggering proportions.
Following our recent trend of introducing new areas
of art and artists to our lecture series, we invited Eveline
Eaton to speak on Expressionism - Emotion versus
Intellect. This well presented lecture included references
to members of the Blue Rider Group, Die Brucke,
Kandinsky and others. Although many of the names
were unfamiliar, Eveline brought their art to life by way of
her excellent images, promoting many to recall the visual impact
of a NGS 2012 Edinburgh exhibition which included works by
Kandinsky.
In June we ended the current season with William Beckford (17601844) Patron of Silversmiths by Tim Schroder. Being immensely
rich, William Beckford was an obsessive collector and in particular
of new silver, often made to his own designs and of astonishingly
high quality. Rather like marmite, you either loved or hated the
items he commissioned, but I am sure you agree the detail and
workmanship had to be admired.
Jean Bareham’s Walking Tours of Royal Mile Gardens
to explore hidden gardens behind the towering tenements
proved to be very popular with members, particularly the
picturesque Dunbar’s Close next to Canongate Kirk (left).
A Midsummer Cocktail Party held on the top floor of the
New Club on the 23rd June – EU Referendum Day. With its
spectacular view over Princes Street Gardens and up to the
Castle, members relaxed in the evening sunshine while the
votes were being counted before the momentous result.
I want to end with a vote of thanks to Pilla Scott Moncrieff
who is retiring as Vice Chairman of the Society after
the AGM in October. Pilla has masterminded a host of
interesting events, including her inspired Mosque visit earlier
this year. Her continued support of the Society by organising our
forthcoming visit to new NMS galleries on the 26th October is
much appreciated. I hope you have enjoyed reading this edition of the
Newsletter and on behalf of the Committee, look
forward to welcoming you all to our new lecture
and events programme.
Edinburgh
Edinburgh Decorative
Decorative and
and Fine
Fine Art
Art Society
Society
A Member Society of the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies
A Member Society of the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies
President: The Countess of Rosebery
President: The Countess of Rosebery
EDINBURGH
DECORATIVE
& F I N E A RT S
SOCIETY
Chairman: Mrs Gail Guest Tel: 0131 556 3678 chairman@edfas.co.uk
Chairman:
Lady
Fiona
Campbell
Tel: 01721
Vice
Chairman:
Miss
Anne
Mason Brown
Tel: 760252
0131 225chairman@edfas.co.uk
1080 vicechairman@edfas.co.uk
Vice Chairman
& Visits
Secretary:
Mrs Gail
Guestlecture@edfas.co.uk
Tel: 0131 556 3678 vicechairman@edfas.co.uk
Editor:
Miss Grace
Durham
Tel: 0131
225 5363
EDFAS
EDFAS is
is aa charity
charity registered
registered in
in Scotland
Scotland (No.
(No. SC039651)
SC039651)
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It is said that moving house is one of life’s more stressful
experiences. However, EDFAS members managed to change their
long established lecture venue for a new one with the minimum
of fuss and were able to continue to enjoy the varied programme
of lectures on offer at Central Hall Tollcross starting again in the
New Year with James Bolton’s excellent lecture on Sir Joseph
Paxton (1803-1865). James eloquently described this action man
of many talents, vision, application and charisma, the mastermind
of the Great Exhibition of 1851 and a true colossus of his time.
With the saucy title of Great Tarts in Art,
the next lecture captured the attention of the
audience as Linda Smith skilfully detailed
the scandals and anecdotes of some of
history’s most notorious mistresses and
courtesans. We thank Linda not only for
a lecture full of social history, but for her
light hearted look at changing attitudes to
sexual morality down the ages which kept
members alert as well as entertained.