Obituary: Cyril Gerber OBE; gallery owner whose contribution to visual art in Scotland was unique and enduring

In his long life, Cyril Gerber made a unique contribution to the visual arts in Scotland. When, with his wife Betty, he set up the Compass Gallery in Glasgow in 1969, he had already been actively engaged with the visual arts for some time. He had been one of the founders in New Charing Cross Gallery in 1963 and before that had promoted exhibitions in places such as the Cosmo Cinema.

As director of Compass (it is a charitable foundation and he was always unpaid) over the years he was responsible for bringing to a Scottish audience a huge range of artists.

When the 21st birthday of the gallery was celebrated in 1990, by Cyril’s own estimate it had already shown 2,000 or more artists. There must have been at least as many again since then. He continued to guide and to sponsor the gallery till shortly before his death.

In parallel, and just down the street, he also opened Cyril Gerber Fine Art, where he dealt in more historic art. It was always a place where you could see something new or unusual and learn about it from his compendious knowledge of the visual arts in Scotland.

Although he never countenanced Glasgow’s recent love affair with the Turner Prize, his taste ranged widely. Practically every Scottish artist who has made a reputation over the past 40 years and more lists an exhibition with him early in their CV.

He had extensive links with dealers in the south and brought in artists from England including Anthony Caro, Terry Frost, Keith Vaughan, John Hoyland, Elizabeth Frink and others, as well as artists from overseas.

He also brought back to Scotland artists who had moved away, such as William Gear and Craigie Aitchison. He did not wait for artists to come to him, but sought them out, visiting studios regularly and making friends of those to whom he gave his support.

He also made a point of visiting the degree shows of all the Scottish art schools each year to select an annual New Generation show. This was invariable. This annual exhibition and the opportunity it gave to talented young artists was enormously important to him.

Indeed, until very recently you could meet him at the degree shows seeking out new talent, always escorted by his daughter Jill, co-director of Compass.

Cyril Gerber was born on 4 November, 1917, in Glasgow. His mother, Rosa Goldstein, was born in England of Polish parents and his father, Hymie Gerber, was from Latvia.

In Glasgow, his father and uncles together established Gerber Bros, a warehouse business. Cyril was educated at Albert Road Academy, Pollokshields. At home he had a traditional Jewish upbringing.

He studied at Glasgow College of Commerce for three years and also worked in the family firm but under a transfer of labour moved to Rolls-Royce where he was employed grinding lenses.

He had already developed strong left-wing views and helped set up unions in the factory where he worked. During the war he served in the Royal Artillery in India and Ceylon, rising to the rank of captain.

After the war Cyril returned to Glasgow. He ran a sweet factory, MacMillan and Munro, but also set up his own businesses including a chain of cafés and a carpet business.

He was always adventurous and a lover of music, especially jazz, and the juke box he installed in a café in Prestwick was reputed to be the first in Scotland. He had, however, become interested in the visual arts before the war and had become an avid collector.

In Glasgow in the war and post-war years, inspired perhaps by Josef Herman, a group of individuals got together to promote an idealistic, left-wing vision of art; it should be for all and a  necessary part of ordinary life, or as the artist George Hannah put it in 1943 in the left-wing journal, Million, a “bubbling inner well [from which] we must derive the strength to transform our lives”.

This vision is reflected in the urban and industrial landscapes painted by Tom MacDonald, Joan Eardley and Bet Low at the time and it echoed Cyril’s own political convictions.

He developed a strong friendship with Tom MacDonald, who he reckoned had a formative influence on his ideas on art.

Then and later he championed the work of these artists, but at the time there were very few opportunities for them to exhibit.

In Glasgow, where there had once been dealers and collectors there was not one contemporary art gallery. The New Charing Cross Gallery was founded to redeem this situation.

Bet Low and Tom MacDonald, together with the younger artist, John Taylor, invited Cyril to join them in the enterprise. It was when the gallery’s lease ended that he started Compass. He never lost his idealism. It was what drove him long after most people would have retired to make the arduous, annual trip round the art schools in search of new talent to nurture and encourage.

Unusually though, he combined his idealism with a sound business sense. This meant that the enterprises that he undertook flourished, but also that he was able to use his business interests to support them. For many years, Compass enjoyed Scottish Arts Council support. When this was withdrawn, the two galleries, Compass and Cyril Gerber Fine Art merged in a  single space.

Cyril loved Glasgow, but he was not one of those for whom Little Glasgow is the world. His interests were always much wider and for all that he did to lay the foundations for contemporary art in Glasgow, he will also be remembered for his  contribution to Scottish art more widely.

He was a very attractive person. It was impossible not to respond to his integrity and his lively interest in everything around him, but in art especially where he developed a judicious and discerning eye.

You could trust his judgment and it was that above all, coupled with his idealism, that made his contribution to the visual arts in Scotland both unique and enduring.

For his 70th birthday Glasgow School of Art put on an exhibition Cyril Gerber – A Personal Choice, including loans selected from galleries across the country.

He was awarded an OBE, an honorary fellowship of Glasgow School of Art, honorary doctorate from Glasgow University and Glasgow Lord Provost’s Prize.

DUNCAN MACMILLAN