TALK: Joan Eardley - artist and environment, Kerry Gledhill from National Galleries of Scotland

About the talk

The enduring image of Joan Eardley (1921-1963) engulfed in the elements, with her easel and canvas tied down against the wind and sea spray speaks volumes about an artist who spent a great deal of time painting outdoors. This lecture will explore Eardley’s artistic practice through archival photographs, letters and collected ephemera from her studio spaces.

About the speaker

Kerry Gledhill is Senior Librarian at the National Galleries of Scotland, with specialist knowledge of modern and contemporary art, artists books and printmaking. She is the curator of Joan Eardley - The Nature of Painting currently on show at the Modern Two in Edinburgh.

Joan Eardley

Eardley is a painter best known for her vibrant depictions of children in Townhead, Glasgow in the 1950s, and of wildly expressive landscapes made in and around the small Aberdeenshire fishing village of Catterline. These important subjects are represented in the Aberdeen Artworlds exhibition by the recent acquisition in 2026 of the painting of Andrew and by the seascape Salmon Nets on the Shore which came into the University's collection as part of the Linklater Bequest in 1976. University Collections are delighted to welcome Kerry Gledhill to speak about this important Scottish artist and her connection with the region.

Visit the Aberdeen Artworlds Exhibition

Attendees are invited to visit the gallery before or after the talk to see Joan Eardley's Andrew and Salmon Nets on the Shore along with other paintings from the Linklater Bequest.