Visit St Andrews

for anyone planning a trip to Fife, it wouldn't be complete without a trip to historic St Andrews. For all the latest information on this exceptional town check out the Visit St Andrews website at the following link http://www.standrews.co.uk/

The Steamie 25th Anniversary Tour

a nostalgic look back at the old 'Steamie' wash-house in Tony Roper's play that celebrates its 25th anniversary.

Anyone who remembers the Steamies will enjoy a trip down memory lane whether watching the play or looking back on the local history of the ubiquitous 'steamies' throughout the regions of Scotland.

http://tinyurl.com/a5a7bpp

Corinne Mills Photography

some delightful images by local Fife photographer Corinne Mills, visit her Facebook page to discover more about this very talented artist.

http://www.facebook.com/corinnemillsphotography

Larick Scalp on Twitter

Follow the Larick Scalp Lighthouse on Twitter for information and updates about this unique landmark

http://tinyurl.com/bgmhgte

More about The Orchar Collection

The Orchar Collection was assembled by James Guthrie Orchar (1825–1898). An inventor, engineer and successful entrepreneur, Orchar exported locally-designed and manufactured textile machinery across the world. He was also a great benefactor to the City of Dundee and to the burgh of Broughty Ferry and is best remembered today as a patron of the arts.

Orchar was a member of a powerful art lobby whose legacy was the establishment of the Albert Institute and Victoria Galleries – now The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum – which was constructed entirely as a result of private fundraising. He pioneered the promotion of contemporary Scottish art through his chairmanship of Dundee’s Fine Art Exhibition Committee which organised huge, highly successful selling exhibitions. Privately, he amassed a considerable collection which his obituarist stated ‘contained the best works of the best men’.

In its entirety, The Orchar Collection numbers some 440 works in oils, watercolours, prints, drawings and sculpture. Although not the largest local collection, it is crucially the only one to remain intact. It is lasting evidence of Dundee’s importance as an artistic centre, a snapshot of a frenzied period of collecting with heated competition to secure the best work by favoured artists. It is one of the most important surviving private collections of Scottish Victorian art and illuminates the tastes of the prosperous Scottish industrialist class.

Orchar bought contemporary artworks, often recently completed and direct from the artist. Buying contemporary work enabled him to collect the work of a new generation of Scottish artists – the Scott Lauder Group. All were students of Robert Scott Lauder at the Trustees’ Academy in Edinburgh during the 1850s. They included: the Burr Brothers, John and Alexander Hohenlohe; Hugh Cameron; George Paul Chalmers; Thomas Alexander Ferguson Graham; Robert Inerarity Herdman; William McTaggart; John MacWhirter; William Quiller Orchardson and John Pettie.

Their work is characterised by its often rural subject matter, loose brushwork and bright colour. Orchar counted many of the group as friends and was particularly close to William McTaggart. The two went on sketching trips and even undertook a whistle-stop artistic tour of Europe together in 1882. McTaggart’s paintings, with their sketchy, open brushwork, were seen as progressive and controversial as they were considered to look unfinished.

The majority of The Orchar Collection is Scottish but there are a significant number of works by English and other artists – the best of the English painters are represented by the Pre-Raphaelite overtones of Frederic Leighton’s A Florentine Student. As you would expect, there are personal items in this, a personal collection. Orchar was himself an artist and there are two works by him in the Collection, The Harbour at Dort and At Muthill, Perthshire. He also commissioned a perceptive portrait from John Pettie in which he holds a compass, evidence of his success as an engineer. His wider family are also represented: his wife Catherine Nicoll in an understated portrait by McTaggart; there are two oil paintings by his son James Steel Orchar and an informal portrait by John Pettie in which Orchar junior wears his University of St Andrews graduation robes. Finally, there is McTaggart’s delicate portrait of Miss A. M. Douglas, Orchar’s niece. It seems likely that it was commissioned by Orchar but it did not formally enter the collection until 1958.

Orchar died in 1898 and made provision in his will for a gallery to house his collection. His wishes took some time to be carried out, for it was not until 1929 that The Orchar Gallery was opened in Broughty Ferry. In a house that formerly belonged to Frederick Stephens, the shipbuilder famous for building the Royal Research Ship ‘Discovery’, the collection was initially hung in a series of domestic-scale rooms. In the 1930s, a picture gallery was added to accommodate the larger oil paintings.

From the 1920s onwards The Orchar Collection continued to grow through presentations. The most notable of these were Life’s Evening by George Paul Chalmers, given by Dr and Mrs William Boyd (themselves important collectors) in 1937, and ‘And All the Choral Waters Sang’ by William McTaggart, presented by the family of Peter Saunders Brown of Linlathen in 1941.

In 1924, the Orchar Trustees purchased 12 historic works, of which four were in oils, from Orchar’s niece, Miss A. Douglas – believed to be part of his original collection. They also continued to purchase suitable works by artists already represented in the collection – including Hugh Cameron’s charming The Little Housewife, William McTaggart’s The Old Pathway and Stepping Stones, six works by John Pettie, Mrs Bell of Goldilea by Sir Henry Raeburn, Edward Arthur Walton’s Hawthorn Bank, and landscapes by Sir James Lawton Wingate and John Crawford Wintour. Significant purchases began to be made in the 1950s and throughout the 1960s. Thus, oil works by the artists Stewart Carmichael, Francis Cooper, John Duncan, Alec Grieve, Joseph Henderson, Louis Bosworth Hurt, and James McIntosh Patrick, and watercolours by artists John Gray and Alexander McPherson, entered the collection.

In 1979, under severe financial pressure, the Gallery closed and the entire collection was given to Dundee Art Galleries and Museums in 1987. Paintings from the collection have formed the core of our displays of Victorian paintings since 1989 and have regularly been shown in temporary displays. In 2008 The Orchar Gallery was opened at Broughty Castle to showcase the collection in the burgh where it was intended to be shown. The Orchar Collection is a Recognised Collection of National Significance to Scotland, images of the entire collection are available on www.scran.ac.uk and on The McManus website www.themcmanus-dundee.gov.uk

Anna Robertson, Senior Curator of Art

Text source: PCF / The Orchar Collection: Dundee Art Galleries and Museums (Dundee City Council)

www.themcmanus-dundee.gov.uk

www.scran.ac.uk

Article source: BBC UK website | copyright attributed to respective owners.

The Orchar Gallery Broughty Ferry

The delightful Orchar Gallery that once stood as a reminder to the fine art of a bygone era in Broughty Ferry sadly no longer exists, however the art collection can still be viewed at Broughty Castle in the Burgh it was curated for.

The collection which is recognized for its national significance in Scotland was gifted to Dundee Art Galleries & Museums in 1987 after financial difficulties forced its closure.

The Orchar Gallery has an equal historical importance locally to that of the Larick Scalp in that it looked out over the River Tay in full view of the lighthouse with both being seen as unchanged landmarks through several generations.

For those interested in local history as well as the history of the Larick Scalp a visit to Broughty Castle to enjoy the Orchar Collection will certainly put in perspective the historical context of both institutions.

Further information on the Orchar Collection be found at the links below:
http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/broughtycastle

http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/broughtycastle

Paintings by George M. MacGillivray

Several paintings by George M. MacGillivray depicting scenes from Dundee, Broughty Ferry and the the River Tay including local lighthouses can be found at the BBC 'Your Paintings' web site - link below

http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/search/painted_by/george-m-macgillivray

The Larick Scalp Lighthouse

Welcome to the Larick Scalp Lighthouse page.

It is hoped that this page will be of interest to anyone who would like to contribute photographs, documents or any relevant historical or present-day information about the Tay Pile Lighthouse.

Given the historic importance of the Pile Lighthouse, it is also hoped that this page will raise awareness and visibility of the structure and lead to its continued survival.

Ideally, the 'Pile Lighthouse' could be purchased or leased from its current owner(s) and restored to its former condition.

As one of the first 'Pile' lighthouses built in the UK it has stood for over 150 years and has been a landmark on the horizon between Tayport (Ferryport-on-Tay) and Broughty Ferry for many generations and it's historic importance cannot be underestimated.

Fully restored, the Tay Pile Lighthouse would be a valuable tourist attraction and asset to the region redeeming it from its current state of sad and desolate eyesore.

There is no doubt that many unseen photographs and cine film exists of the Tay Pile through the years that remain with local families and public bodies, it is also hoped that this page may encourage these hidden treasures to be made public for the wider community to appreciate.

It is also hoped that this page will encourage innovative ways to help safeguard the future of the Tay Pile Lighthouse through ownership, funding and renovation or other means. Any persons or groups interested in using this page to establish such opportunities should feel free to do so.

Please feel free to post any information about the Larick Pile Lighthouse you feel may be of interest whether anecdotal, historical, including photographs, film/video clips or documents, please also respect the copyright of materials owned by other parties.

DISCLAIMER
"All information posted on this page by the creators is done in good faith and any material(s) that may infringe upon another person or parties copyright(s) will be removed immediately upon request."

contact details - larickscalp [at] gmail [dot] com