ICONS II: Bellany

ICONS II: Bellany brings together works from the artist’s long career including The Kiss, The Bellany Family and Fishing Boat Poseidon in Harbour. At the centre of this exhibition is one of the best-known works of Bellany’s career, The Boat Builders, a painting rarely seen in public.

John Bellany’s works have been exhibited across the world and purchased by collectors, such as Sean Connery and David Bowie.

The Scottish Maritime Museum will be loaning the painting to Perth Museum and Art Gallery after acquiring it in 2018 with support from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF), the Art Fund and the National Fund for Acquisitions as part of an ongoing programme to enhance its collection with artworks of national significance.

Bellany sailed against the tide of realism and abstraction from the start of his career in the 1960s. He addressed complexities of the human condition such as guilt, sex and death. He is known for documenting the lives of the fishing communities of the east coast of Scotland. Working prolifically to re-establish a native, figurative art, he drew on his life growing up in a family of fishermen and boat builders in Port Seton, near Edinburgh. The sea was a familiar subject of his work.

ICONS II: Bellany runs from 16 November 2019 – 31 May 2020 at Perth Museum and Art Gallery. Entrance is free.

Open Tuesday – Saturday, 9am – 5pm for the duration of the exhibition. For full opening times and any changes to the opening times, please check the website.

ICONS II: Bellany features as part of VisitScotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters #YCW2020.

Read the Small City article about the exhibition here.