Black Beast Wanderer
In keeping with the weather brought by the #beastfromtheeast, the featured image is of the only Scottish beast which can truly withstand freezing temperatures. ‘Black Beast Wanderer’ is the title of Joseph Denovan Adam’s study of a solitary highland cow, caught up in a snow storm. Adam (1842 – 1896)
David Cox at the Smith
Until this Sunday only, there is a small exhibition of 14 works by the eminent English watercolourist, David Cox (1783 – 1859). The works are from the Stirling Smith’s own collection, and are part of the bequest of the founder, Thomas Stuart Smith. The exhibition is curated by intern Annika
Gil Blas
Featured today is one of T. S Smith’s lesser known paintings. It is an illustration for an episode in the novel ‘Gil Blas’ written by Alain-Rene Lesage in 1735. Few today know anything of this novel, but it was read, appreciated and referenced by many other writers including Jonathan Swift,
The Star Spangled Barrel
People sometimes question the ‘relevance’ of museum collections. Right now, the Stirling Smith’s collection is the inspiration for an international anti-gun campaign in the wake of the mass shooting in Las Vegas, 1 October. Black American artist and political activist Ray Noland, who helped Obama’s election campaign in 2008
The Pity of War
Anda Paterson RSW RGI GSWA (born 1935) is one of the best known and most prolific Scottish artists working today. Her work is represented in many public collections, including Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness and Glasgow Art Galleries. She is known for her depictions of ordinary people going about their daily
Scottish Seaweed
Today’s featured story can be seen at the Smith in The Colours of Nature exhibition by the Scottish Society of Botanical Artists. Although botanical art is centuries old, the SSBA is a young organisation and this is their second annual exhibition. Botanical art is very different from flower painting as
Lunchtime, 1984
A feature of the Painting Stirling exhibition at the Stirling Smith is the work of the eminent American – British artist, Mary Louise Coulouris (1939 – 2011). She trained at the Chelsea and Slade Schools of Art in London, and in the Ecole des Beaux – Arts and Atelier 17
Old Coffee House, Bow Street
In 1902, the architect J S Fleming published a book, The Ancient Castles and Mansions of the Stirling Nobility. It had hundreds of drawings, mainly of the buildings in the Top of the Town which have long since been demolished. Another artist, Alexander Douglas Junior, visited some of the buildings
King Street in 1860
Here is a King Street that none of us have ever known. It is only a small section of the street, but it is tightly packed with businesses. On the left is Angus Ewing, Stabling, then Vance’s Boot and Shoe Warehouse, where a street level entry gives access to Alexander
The Fountain of Helicon
There are many rare and unusual pieces in the Stirling Smith collections, and the Fountain of Helicon is one of them. Time has not been kind to it, and it has been in store since the 1960s. We are currently seeking an appraisal for cleaning and restoration. This extraordinary work