Edinburgh Art Festival
Encyclopedia
The Edinburgh Art Festival is an annual visual arts
festival, held in Edinburgh
, Scotland
, during August to coincide with the Edinburgh Festival
. The Art Festival was established in 2004, and receives public funding from the Scottish Arts Council
. The current Festival Director is Joanne S. Brown.
began in 1947, and significant visual art exhibitions were included in the early years. Exhibitions included the French artists Pierre Bonnard
and Édouard Vuillard
in 1948; a retrospective of the three Scottish Colourists
, Samuel Peploe
, Francis Cadell
and Leslie Hunter
in 1949; and Rembrandt in 1950. Thereafter, there was acknowledgement from the Festival authorities that the visual arts needed to be more "emphatically represented" in the Festival itself, and a series of partnerships was forged between the Festival Society and the then Arts Council of Great Britain
, the Royal Museum of Scotland, the National Galleries of Scotland
, Edinburgh University and the Royal Scottish Academy
. With a few exceptions, these looked beyond the art of Scotland and contributed to a declared part of the Festival’s international aims. Not only did the exhibitions bring the works of foreign artists to Scotland, they cultivated an interest in Scotland amongst wealthy collectors and patrons from around the world.
From 1966, the visual arts existed outside the programme of the Edinburgh Festival, presented instead across a wide range of organisations, from the city's permanent galleries to artist-led initiatives. This left many galleries with no visible profile in August, a time when they are programming substantial exhibitions.
A campaign by newspaper Scotland on Sunday
in 2001 brought together a representative group of gallery directors, and the first visual art festival was piloted in 2004. Between 2005 and 2007 the organisation produced a Festival Guide, commissions, and collaborative projects, to celebrate and promote the exhibitions of Edinburgh museums and galleries in August, creating a collective and united marketing platform in which to showcase their artistic programmes.
Visual arts
The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
festival, held in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, during August to coincide with the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
. The Art Festival was established in 2004, and receives public funding from the Scottish Arts Council
Scottish Arts Council
The Scottish Arts Council is a Scottish public body that distributes funding from the Scottish Government, and is the leading national organisation for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland...
. The current Festival Director is Joanne S. Brown.
Historical background
The Edinburgh International FestivalEdinburgh International Festival
The Edinburgh International Festival is a festival of performing arts that takes place in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, over three weeks from around the middle of August. By invitation from the Festival Director, the International Festival brings top class performers of music , theatre, opera...
began in 1947, and significant visual art exhibitions were included in the early years. Exhibitions included the French artists Pierre Bonnard
Pierre Bonnard
Pierre Bonnard was a French painter and printmaker, as well as a founding member of Les Nabis.-Biography:...
and Édouard Vuillard
Édouard Vuillard
Jean-Édouard Vuillard was a French painter and printmaker associated with the Nabis.-Early years and education:...
in 1948; a retrospective of the three Scottish Colourists
Scottish Colourists
The Scottish Colourists were a group of painters from Scotland whose work was not very highly regarded when it was first exhibited in the 1920s and 1930s, but which in the late 20th Century came to have a formative influence on contemporary Scottish art....
, Samuel Peploe
Samuel Peploe
Samuel John Peploe was a Scottish Post-Impressionist painter, noted for his still life works and for being one of the group of four painters that became known as the Scottish Colourists...
, Francis Cadell
Francis Cadell (artist)
Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell RSA was a Scottish Colourist painter, renowned for his depictions of the elegant New Town interiors of his native Edinburgh, and for his work on Iona....
and Leslie Hunter
Leslie Hunter
George Leslie Hunter , commonly just called Leslie Hunter, was a self-taught Scottish painter and one of the artists of the Scottish Colourists school of painting. He spent much of his early life in California, USA, but returned later to Scotland and traveled widely in Europe, especially in the...
in 1949; and Rembrandt in 1950. Thereafter, there was acknowledgement from the Festival authorities that the visual arts needed to be more "emphatically represented" in the Festival itself, and a series of partnerships was forged between the Festival Society and the then Arts Council of Great Britain
Arts Council of Great Britain
The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. The Arts Council of Great Britain was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England , the Scottish Arts Council, and the Arts Council of Wales...
, the Royal Museum of Scotland, the National Galleries of Scotland
National Galleries of Scotland
The National Galleries of Scotland are the five national galleries of Scotland and two partner galleries. It is one of the country's National Collections.-List of national galleries:* The National Gallery of Scotland* The Royal Scottish Academy Building...
, Edinburgh University and the Royal Scottish Academy
Royal Scottish Academy
The Royal Scottish Academy is a Scottish organisation that promotes contemporary Scottish art. Founded in 1826, as the Royal Institution for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts, the RSA maintains a unique position in Scotland as an independently funded institution led by eminent artists and...
. With a few exceptions, these looked beyond the art of Scotland and contributed to a declared part of the Festival’s international aims. Not only did the exhibitions bring the works of foreign artists to Scotland, they cultivated an interest in Scotland amongst wealthy collectors and patrons from around the world.
From 1966, the visual arts existed outside the programme of the Edinburgh Festival, presented instead across a wide range of organisations, from the city's permanent galleries to artist-led initiatives. This left many galleries with no visible profile in August, a time when they are programming substantial exhibitions.
A campaign by newspaper Scotland on Sunday
Scotland on Sunday
Scotland on Sunday is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by The Scotsman Publications Ltd and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate The Scotsman...
in 2001 brought together a representative group of gallery directors, and the first visual art festival was piloted in 2004. Between 2005 and 2007 the organisation produced a Festival Guide, commissions, and collaborative projects, to celebrate and promote the exhibitions of Edinburgh museums and galleries in August, creating a collective and united marketing platform in which to showcase their artistic programmes.