In
my previous post about Rozelle House in Ayr I deliberately missed out
the most important bit. The House is home to a wonderful collection of
paintings by Scottish artist Alenander Goudie. These 54 paintings
illustrate Burns epic tale Tam o Shanter. I was amazed. To my shame
Goudie was not someone I was that familiar with, and I had no idea he
had painted such an important collection of paintings. Background information from
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/54-paintings-make-burns-epic-tam-oshanter-intelligible-to-sassenachs-706842.html Robert Burns' epic poem "Tam O'Shanter" is widely hailed as the Scottish bard's finest work. But one of the greatest and funniest ghost stories ever written is scarcely intelligible to non-Scots because it is written in the rich lowland Scots dialect of more than 200 years ago.
Now an exhibition aims to make "Tam" more accessible, telling the story of his wild, drunken ride across the Brig O'Doon, to escape pursuing witches, in a series of paintings valued at £500,000.
The
54 paintings, al on large canvases, by the Scottish artist Alexander
Goudie, have gone on display at Burns' birthplace, Alloway, near Ayr,
and will eventually go on tour throughout the world.
Each
painting represents a successive stanza in the poem, which was compared
by Sir Walter Scott to Shakespeare's best work and is declaimed around
the world at Burns' Supper nights.
Every Scot understands full well: "She tauld thee weel thou was a skellum, / A bletherin, blusterin, drunken blellum." But not many other folk realise that this, one of the easier passages of "Tam O'Shanter", translates as: "She castigated you for what you are, an inebriated waster, all talk, babble and bluster."……………..or words to that effect.
Goudie's paintings, commissioned for the planned but subsequently stalled National Gallery of Scottish Art and Design in Glasgow, were in danger of being sold off in separate lots before the Scottish multi-millionaires Brian Souter and Tom Hunter intervened with £500,000 pounds to keep the collection together.
Its permanent home will be at the South Ayrshire Art Gallery at Rozelle Park, Alloway. The gallery curator Elizabeth Kwasnik said she believed the paintings will attract more visitors than ever to Burns' country. "We also intend getting them out on tour. There are huge Burns' appreciation societies in every country in the world, including China, Russia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Japan."
Every Scot understands full well: "She tauld thee weel thou was a skellum, / A bletherin, blusterin, drunken blellum." But not many other folk realise that this, one of the easier passages of "Tam O'Shanter", translates as: "She castigated you for what you are, an inebriated waster, all talk, babble and bluster."……………..or words to that effect.
Goudie's paintings, commissioned for the planned but subsequently stalled National Gallery of Scottish Art and Design in Glasgow, were in danger of being sold off in separate lots before the Scottish multi-millionaires Brian Souter and Tom Hunter intervened with £500,000 pounds to keep the collection together.
Its permanent home will be at the South Ayrshire Art Gallery at Rozelle Park, Alloway. The gallery curator Elizabeth Kwasnik said she believed the paintings will attract more visitors than ever to Burns' country. "We also intend getting them out on tour. There are huge Burns' appreciation societies in every country in the world, including China, Russia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Japan."
THIS ONE ( ABOVE) WAS MY FAVOURITE, THE DRAWING HERE IS OUTSTANDING.
To
view the entire collection, each with the appropriate verse written
underneath, visit here. This is well worth the effort of visiting, I
loved these paintings as soon as I saw them and the tiny reproductions
you see on your computer screen does them no justice at all. But; you
can see what an extraordinarily good draughtperson Goudie was, despite
the fact these paintings are almost cartoon like in places, his talent
ans skill shine out.
The paintings
The paintings
A little biographical information and some more paintings here.
Alexander Goudie the artist
Finally, just so it all makes sense, the poem with translation.
the video
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forgetmenot525 wrote on Aug 9, '10
lol...............I
thought of you when I saw that exhibition because i know you love
painting horses. . I was with my daughter and even thought she isn't
that much into art she loves horses and even she could see how well
these are drawn. Think I've already said after spending time with her
and her horse it has made me appreciate why so many artists have taken
such delight in painting horses.
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I like the artist's treatment of the horses, 
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acousticeagle wrote on Aug 9, '10
Another
educational article of yours, L. And I just 'knew' that a "tam" had to
mean more than a knitted hat! btw, I have spent time online looking for a
suitable crocheted tam pattern. I would like to know the story of this
comedy in poetry as I like ghost stories.
As an artist, I like the idea of illustrating fiction. A friend of mine illustrated "Alice in Wonderland" and produced his own book with the original text. Of all the paintings shown here, I probably like the first one the best. I like the artist's treatment of the horses, they are quite chunky and full of movement. Very inspiring. |
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asolotraveler wrote on Aug 9, '10
VERY cool stuff here... thnks!
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dianahopeless wrote on Aug 9, '10
I just love learning about artists new to me. His drawing is extraordinary.
Excellent job Loretta! |
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vickiecollins wrote on Aug 8, '10
They have a certain "bizarre" air to them that I like..(smile) |
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brendainmad wrote on Aug 8, '10
I
might have partly understood 'bletherin, blusterin, drunken blellum'
but the first part impossible. Yes, some of these pictures remind me of
cartoons.
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greenwytch wrote on Aug 8, '10
perfection as always, Loretta!
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