biography

Alexander Goudie rp rgi (1933–2004)

Alexander Goudie is widely acclaimed as having been one of Scotland’s finest figurative painters.

Goudie was born in the Renfrewshire town of Paisley in 1933. He studied at The Glasgow School of Art under William Armour, David Donaldson and Benno Schotz. For many years he was a tutor at the school, before dedicating himself to his own studio work.

As a portraitist his sitters included Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Lord Chancellor Lord Mackay of Clashfern, Billy Connolly and a host of other figures drawn from the worlds of politics, commerce and entertainment. Although he achieved great renown as a portrait painter Alexander Goudie distinguished himself in a range of other creative spheres.

1933 Born Paisley 1950-55 Studied Drawing, Painting and Sculpture, Glasgow School of Art Awards: Somerville Shanks Prize for Composition; Newbery Medal for Distinction; Postgraduate Scholarship; Keith Award – Royal Scottish Academy 1953 First visit to Paris 1956 Elected Member of Glasgow Art Club 1957 Painting trip to Toledo and Madrid 1958 Tour of France; visiting Rouen, Royan, Bordeaux, Bayonne, Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, Saint-Lizier, Nimes, Arles, Avignon, Annecy, Reims 1959 First visit to Brittany 1962 Marries Marie-Renée Dorval 1962 First of annual painting trips to Loctudy 1966 First major exhibition of Breton Paintings, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh 1970 Exhibition, La Forêt-Fouesnant, Brittany Elected Member of Royal Society of Portrait Painters 1974 Second exhibition, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh 1977 Festival Exhibition, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh Breton Images, Glasgow Art Club

1979 Portrait, BBC Television series featuring comedian Billy Connolly, mountaineer Chris Bonington and Sir Edwin Brammal. 1982 Drawings, Pastels, Watercolours, The Macaulay Gallery, Stenton 1983 Studio Exhibition, 33 Tite Street, Chelsea, London Goudie at 50, major retrospective, The Fine Art Society, Glasgow 1986 Breton Idyll, The French Institute, Edinburgh and the Fine Art Society, Glasgow 1987 Breton Sketchbook, The Macaulay Gallery, Stenton 1988 Portrait of the Lord Chancellor, Lord Mackay of Clashfern 1987-89 Décor for Brittany Ferries flagship, Bretagne 1990 Exhibition, Saint-Pol-de-Léon, Brittany Awarded the Freedom of Saint-Pol-de-Léon Publication of Goudie’s Brittany 1991 Goudie’s Venice, Harari and Johns, London 1992 Goudie’s Brittany, The Fine Art Society, Glasgow 1993 Portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, for the Caledonia Club, London Posthumous portrait of The 14th Duke of Hamilton 1994 Salome, Edinburgh Festival Exhibition, The TSB Atrium, Edinburgh 1995 Décor for the First Class Passenger salons of the Val de Loire, Brittany Ferries Collaboration with the Musée de la Faïence de Quimper, Brittany 1996 Tam o’Shanter, Edinburgh Festival Exhibition, Freemason’s Hall, Edinburgh 1998 Goudie Céramique, the Musée de la Faïence de Quimper, Brittany 1999 Tam o’Shanter, The Tale in Pictures, The Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow Goudie Céramique, The Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow 2000 The Goudie Collection of Tam o’Shanter paintings opens on permanent display at Rozelle House, Alloway, Ayrshire 2001 The Artist and his Muse, The Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow 2002 Breton Works, The John Davies Gallery, Stow on the Wold 2003 Tam o’Shanter; New Works, The Glasgow Art Club, Glasgow Portrait of the 15th Duke and Duchess of Hamilton 2004 Died at his home in Glasgow 2005 Breton Drawings and Watercolours, Ewan Mundy Fine Art, Glasgow 2006 Alexander Goudie Memorial Exhibition, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh Brittany Ferries collection exhibition L’Art est un Voyage, Musée National de la Marine, Paris Goudie’s Glasgow, Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow 2007 L’été Mediterranean, Ewan Mundy Fine Art, Glasgow 2008 Joie de Vivre! The Art of Alexander Goudie, Paisley Museum, Paisley Publication of Tam o’Shanter, illustrated by Alexander Goudie A Portrait of Spain, Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow 2009 Tam o’Shanter – Works on Paper, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh 2011 Still Lifes and Interiors, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh 2016 Alexander Goudie RP RGI: A Retrospective, Mall Galleries, London 2021 Alexander Goudie – An Artist’s Life, act i, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh

Public Collections

BBC Scotland City of Glasgow College Dumfries and Galloway Council (Kirkcudbright) East Dunbartonshire Council Glasgow Museums McLean Museum and Art Gallery, Inverclyde Council Museums & Galleries Edinburgh Paisley Museum and Art Galleries Perth & Kinross Council RIBA Collections Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh South Ayrshire Council The Fleming Collection, London The Hunterian, University of Glasgow University of St Andrews University of Stirling University of Strathclyde

From top: Alexander Goudie, James D. Robertson, Forbes W. Yule, exhibition Three former students of Glasgow Art School, c.1956; Portrait and sculpture by Alexander Goudie; Alexander Goudie, c.1956

Published by The Scottish Gallery to coincide with the exhibition

ALEXANDER GOUDIE An Artist’s Life act i 1–24 July 2021

Exhibition can be viewed online at www.scottish-gallery.co.uk/alexandergoudie

ISBN: 978-1-912900-37-4

Designed by Kenneth Gray Printed by PurePrint

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.

Front cover: Self Portrait at The Glasgow School of Art, c.2000, oil and chalk on board, 112 x 81 cm (detail) (cat. 27)

Inside front cover: Self Portrait with Palette and Black Smock, c.1985, oil on canvas, 117 x 96 cm (detail) (cat. 33)

Back cover: Alexander Goudie in the studios of The Glasgow School of Art, c.1970 acknowledgements The Scottish Gallery would like to thank the Goudie family, James Knox, Roger Billcliffe, Professor John Morrison for contributing to this publication.

Self Reflected in Studio Window, c.2000 Private collection