Scots put on a good face for London show

Published on Friday 11 September 2009 22:05

IT IS BILLED as the biggest Scottish invasion of England since 1745, but this one has reached the heart of London.

The cream of the collection of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery – from Bonnie Prince Charlie and Flora MacDonald to JK Rowling and Gordon Brown – goes on show in London next week, while the gallery is closed for its three-year renovation.

The portrait gallery hopes the historic showing will catch the imagination of London Scots in the midst of the fund-raising drive for its 17.6 million overhaul. Many works have not been shown in the British capital in centuries, if at all.

"It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said its director, James Holloway. "We are sending some of our very greatest portraits."

The Face of Scotland exhibition, at the Fleming Collection's gallery in London, features more than 40 pictures and photographs.

It includes the classic full-length portrait of Mary Queen of Scots, probably painted soon after her death for her son King James VI and I, by an anonymous court artist. It has never been shown in London, like many other works, said Mr Holloway.

Another highlight is a 1754 portrait of the philosopher David Hume, a leading figure in the Scottish Enlightenment, by the classic Scottish portraitist Allan Ramsay.

It was given to the portrait gallery recently, The Scotsman has learned, in lieu of tax after the death of an Edinburgh solicitor with the last name of Gunn, who was Hume's direct descendant.

The Fleming Collection, founded by Flemings Bank, with its Mayfair gallery has been dubbed an embassy for Scottish art in London.

"It is a great privilege for us to be able to show all these works," said the collection's keeper, Selina Skipwith. "It really is a unique chance for people to see these works outside Scotland."

The ten photographs and 32 paintings run from Van Dyck's classic portrait of The Stewart Princesses, to an Annie Liebowitz photograph of Sir Sean Connery, and Gordon Brown by Platon, the photographer Platon Antoniou.

The portrait gallery still has 3.5 million to raise towards the refit, which will see it reopen in November 2011. It is soon to launch a new drive, inviting people to sponsor the stars and constellations in the ceiling of its 19th-century building on Edinburgh's Queen Street.

The exhibition will host events staged by the National Library of Scotland, the National Trust of Scotland, as well as companies with Scottish ties. "It is really raising our profile, and will be a rallying point for the Scottish community in the south of England," Mr Holloway said. "You can still feel very passionately about being Scots, if you live in Surrey."

A painting of Sir Walter Scott has been cleaned for the exhibition – though Robert Burns will be missing. The gallery's two best-known portraits of the poet are currently touring with exhibitions in Scotland.

Mr Holloway said he had picked Scots who were known in London – from Alec Douglas-Home to Ludovic Kennedy or Ewan McGregor.