History of the New

Our summer show brings together artists who found themselves working at the threshold of the modern. It was this self-awareness and urge to make it new that motivated them as individuals and, for some, brought them into movements. They rejected the received wisdom of their day in favour of forging new ways of making art. They saw the world around them differently and made their mark telling us how. 

Amongst the myriad paintings and objects that will be on display in our two galleries in Edinburgh and London this summer are works from the 19th and 20th centuries; British and Scottish artists who worked as pioneers and whose work came to define a moment.

We are delighted to be participating in Portrait Mode, a nationwide celebration marking the reopening of the National Portrait Gallery, London, this June. Portraiture is quite unlike other genres. The best of it admits us a view on a character for better or worse, a person who has played a decisive part in history, a society we don’t know or understand. All this quite apart from the sensory pleasure of the object itself. If you can, please visit us, and see these wonderful objects in person. We look forward to welcoming you.

This exhibition runs across our Edinburgh and London galleries, with the location of each work listed in their details below.

We have produced a Viewing Room for this exhibition, available here.