Karen talks to art historian and curator, Alice Strang. Alice was the curator behind the Modern Scottish Women: Painters & Sculptors 185-1965 exhibition which was held at the National Galleries of Scotland from the 7th of November 2015 to the 26 Jun 2016.
In 1885 Sir William Fettes Douglas, President of the Royal Scottish Academy, declared that the work of a woman artist was ‘like a man’s only weaker and poorer.’ In the same year, Fra Newbery was appointed Director of the Glasgow School of Art and did much in terms of gender equality amongst his staff and pupils. Between then and the death in 1965 of Anne Redpath, the doyenne of post-World War Two Scottish painting, an unprecedented number of Scottish women trained and practised as artists; the exhibition focused on paintings and sculptures made by forty-five of them.
In this episode, Karen and Alice talk about a range of topics associated with women featured in the exhibition including the impact of the Marriage Bar, Jessie M. King and Greengate Close and how the curatorial team selected the artists and works for the exhibition. Modern Scottish Women was accompanied by a lavishly-illustrated book based on new research which has recently been reprinted and is the National Galleries of Scotland book of the month for July 2026. To purchase a copy please click here.
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