Alexander Goudie
Alexander Goudie (11 November 1933 – 9 March 2004) was a Scottish figurative painter.
Education and Training
Alexander Goudie was born in the Renfrewshire town of Paisley, Scotland, in 1933. He studied at the Glasgow School of Art under William Armour, David Donaldson, and Benno Schotz. There he was awarded the Somerville Shanks Prize for Composition.[1]
For many years he was a tutor at the school, before dedicating himself to his own studio work.
Career
The portraitist
As a portraitist his sitters included Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Lord Chancellor Lord Mackay of Clashfern, and the comedian and actor Billy Connolly, as well as a host of other figures drawn from the worlds of politics, commerce, and entertainment. He was elected a member of the Glasgow Art Club in 1956[2] and a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 1970.[3]
In 1979, he was the focus of a three-part BBC Television series, entitled 'Portrait'.
Brittany and the faienceries
Although he achieved renown as a portrait painter, Alexander Goudie distinguished himself in a range of other creative spheres. A lifelong association with Brittany resulted from marriage to his Breton wife Marie-Renee. For over 30 years, his summers were spent documenting the changing face of the rural landscape in sketchbooks and paintings, on harboursides and in the fields. The culmination of these decades of study came in 1989 with the commission to decorate the interior of the Brittany Ferries flagship, MV Bretagne.[4]
Some years later he was chosen to revive the tradition of creative collaboration between artists and the famous ceramic faienceries of Quimper. The resulting series of ceramic sculptures depicting ‘Breton types’ bears testament to a way of life that had all but vanished at the end of the 20th century.
Robert Burns' Tam o' Shanter
Goudie held a fascination throughout his career with Robert Burns' narrative poem, Tam o' Shanter, and over many years he re-created the poem in paintings.[5]
The final illustrative cycle of over 60 works, completed in 1999, would be purchased in its entirety and now resides on permanent public display at Rozelle House Archived 2 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine, near Burns’ home in Alloway, Ayrshire.
Salome
Alexander Goudie found literary inspiration in
Influences and legacy
Alexander Goudie died in 2004 in
He identified with them in his strongly held belief that “the pictures should tell their own story” and that an artist should, above all else, “speak with a clear voice”. His son Lachlan Goudie, born 1976, is following in his father's footsteps as a painter as well as writing and presenting the BBC television series The Story of Scottish Art (2015)[6] and presenting a BBC documentary celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Charles Rennie Mackintosh (2018). His other son, Budock Goudie, is a pianist.
Main recent exhibitions
- The Scottish Gallery (Edinburgh) - Alexander Goudie Memorial Exhibition (2006)
- Musée national de la Marine (Paris) - Brittany Ferries collection exhibition - L'Art est un Voyage (2006)
- Roger Billcliffe Gallery (Glasgow) - Goudie's Glasgow (2006)
- Ewan Mundy Fine Art (Glasgow) - Ete Mediterranean (2007)
- Paisley Museum (Paisley) - Joie de Vivre – The Art of Alexander Goudie (2008)[7]
- Roger Billcliffe Gallery (Glasgow) - A portrait of Spain (2008)
- The Scottish Gallery (Edinburgh) - Still Lifes and Interiors (2011)
- The Scottish Gallery (Edinburgh) - Alexander Goudie : An Artist’s Life - Act I (2021)
Notes
- ^ Obituary for Alexander Goudie - The Daily Telegraph 27 April 2004
- ^ The Glasgow Art Club - History Page at glasgowartclub.co.uk/
- ^ Timothy Clifford, Alexander Goudie: Don Quixote of Glasgow artists, The Independent, 18 March 2004
- ^ Mv Bretagne Archived 2012-02-06 at the Wayback Machine, in Brittany Ferries Enthusiasts
- ^ Alexander Goudie, A Sign of the Tam, Scotsman.com, 22 January 2009
- ^ "BBC Two - the Story of Scottish Art".
- ^ Kenneth Speirs, Looking back at Alex's life in art, Paisley Daily Express, 21 August 2008
References
- Tam o' Shanter. A Tale by Robert Burns. Illustrated by Alexander Goudie, Limited Edition, Birlinn, Edinburgh, 2008
- Alexander Goudie, Tam o' Shanter - Illustrated by Alexander Goudie, Birlinn, Edinburgh, 2012
External links
- The Alexander Goudie Trust
- The Goudie Collection @ Rozelle House (Tam O'Shanter)
- 80 artworks by or after Alexander Goudie at the Art UK site
- Bridgeman Art Library
- The Telegraph, 27 April 2004, Obituary
- The Scotsman, 19 April 2004, Obituary
- Article on Paisley.org.uk about Paisley's personalities
- Cutty Sark's 25 years old blended scotch whisky illustrated with Goudie's Tam o' Shanter
- Web site of Lachlan Goudie, son of Alexander Goudie and painter himself
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