Aberdeen Artworlds: the Linklater Collection

Aberdeen Artworlds: the Linklater Collection is running at the Sir Duncan Rice Library until 6 December, and it's a good one to catch if you're into Scottish modernism. The exhibition marks 50 years since the Linklater bequest, when Marjorie Linklater gave her couple's art collection to the University of Aberdeen in 1976, following the death of her husband, the novelist and Aberdeen graduate Eric Linklater, who later served as Rector. The collection now holds eleven Scottish modernist works, and this show brings ten of them together in the library's gallery.

At the centre is Joan Eardley (1921–1963), one of Scotland's most celebrated 20th-century artists, known for her Glasgow portraits of working-class children and the Catterline coastal landscapes that defined her final years before she died of breast cancer at 42. Alongside her landscape, you'll find still lifes and portraits by the Scottish Colourists J. D. Fergusson, S. J. Peploe and Leslie Hunter, and flower paintings by Anne Redpath. There's also archival material on loan from the Linklater family, so you get a look at the collection's history as well as the paintings themselves.

The display comes out of the University's research project Aberdeen's Artworlds c. 1976: The Linklater Bequest in Context, led by Dr Joanne Anderson, Dr Hans Hönes and Dr Catriona McAra, and a catalogue will be published by Aberdeen University Press. It's also part of RSA 200, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Royal Scottish Academy, of which many of these artists were members.

It's free to enter, and the gallery is in the Sir Duncan Rice Library on Bedford Road, AB24 3AA. Opening hours are Monday to Friday 11am to 7pm, and Saturday and Sunday 1pm to 4pm, so it's easy to fit in on a weekday evening or a weekend afternoon. It runs until 6 December.