Joan Eardley

(1921 – 1963)
Eardley in her studio at 204 St James Road, Townhead in Glasgow with chalk sketches of children c. 1950s

Eardley in her studio at 204 St James Road, Townhead, Glasgow with chalk sketches of children c.1950s

Joan Eardley was one of the most original and admired British artists of her generation.

A painter’s painter, who created a unique visual language which has been much emulated, Eardley’s raw, yet tender, depictions of children in 1950s Glasgow contrast vividly with her loose and expressive landscapes painted around Catterline in the north east of Scotland.

Eardley’s star burned brightly in the post-war years before she died at the age of 42 in 1963. Almost 60 years later, her work is being constantly re-evaluated and rediscovered by new generations of fans.

Joan Eardley Around the UK

A MAP OF PAINTINGS IN
UK PUBLIC COLLECTION VENUES

 

“Joan Eardley is one of the greatest painters in Scottish art history. Very few female Scottish artists have received the attention and recognition that they deserve. In my opinion however, Joan’s name would top any list that set out to acknowledge the most important female painters ever to have put brush to canvas in Scotland. No artist has painted Glasgow’s inner city the way Eardley did and very few have matched her visionary approach to painting the coastline of Scotland. Eardley broke with tradition as a painter, she broke with convention as a person and she never compromised her determination to be an honest witness of the world she saw around her.”

Lachlan Goudie

NEWS & MORE

Early Eardley: selected works 1940-1950

Early Eardley: selected works 1940-1950

Joan Eardley, Covered Market, Glasgow, (c1945-1949) NMC/0087 In the collection of GSA Archives & Collections © Estate of Joan Eardley. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2023 'Early Eardley: selected works 1940-1950'Reid Gallery and Window on HeritageReid Building,...

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Eardley and the Samsons on Radio 4

Eardley and the Samsons on Radio 4

On BBC Radio 4 on 11 April 2023, Audrey Gillan meets the 'Samson girls' of Joan Eardley's paintings who have come to represent a certain image of Glasgow in the postwar years before urban development. As the 50s turned to the 60s, a family of twelve brothers and...

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Eardley at the Hunterian

Eardley at the Hunterian

Joan Eardley, Seated Boy, Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow. © The Eardley Estate. Seated Boy by Joan Eardley is one of three works by Joan Eardley now on display at the Hunterian in Glasgow after the gallery opened its doors on a complete rehang.  On...

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Eardley Painting Sells For Record Price At Auction

Eardley Painting Sells For Record Price At Auction

JOAN EARDLEY R.S.A. (SCOTTISH 1921-1963) THE YELLOW JUMPER - Image by Alex Robson for Lyon & Turnbull One of the last finished paintings of Glasgow’s street children by celebrated Anglo-Scottish artist, Joan Eardley, has sold for £200,200 (including premium), an...

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RARE PAINTING TO GO UNDER HAMMER

RARE PAINTING TO GO UNDER HAMMER

Alice Strang, Associate Director and Senior Specialist in Modern and Contemporary Art at Lyon and Turnbull with Joan Eardley’s The Yellow Jumper. One of the last finished paintings of Glasgow’s street children by celebrated Scottish artist, Joan Eardley, is set to go...

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National Treasure: The Scottish Modern Arts Association

National Treasure: The Scottish Modern Arts Association

Work by Joan Eardley is now on show as part of National Treasure: The Scottish Modern Arts Association. The exhibition at Edinburgh's City Art Centre until Sunday 16 Oct 2022. The Scottish Modern Arts Association was founded in Edinburgh in 1907. Established by...

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Joan Eardley – A Painter’s Painter 

Joan Eardley – A Painter’s Painter 

AN ONLINE COURSE BY ST IVES SCHOOL OF PAINTING RECORDED IN 2021 Watch Jill Eisele in this recording as she takes us with her on an artists journey to Joan Eardley’s Catterline on the wild east coast of Scotland. Explore how Eardley continues to inspire painters today....

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Two Children Plus One

Two Children Plus One

Jo Meacock welcomes Kate Downie and Eardley’s niece Anne Morrison-Husdon to Glasgow Museums Resource Centre in May 2021 to view Two Children This project by Glasgow Museums, brings together two renowned Scottish-based artists, Joan Eardley (1921–63), whose centenary...

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Centenary Year Comes To A Close

Centenary Year Comes To A Close

Joan Eardley lived for her art. And for friendship. She wrote letters every day to her mother and to close friends. She loved music; Bach, Bartok, Beethoven, Mahler…  As her first biographer, art critic – and art school friend – Cordelia Oliver observed,...

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New publication by Patrick Elliott

New publication by Patrick Elliott

Joan Eardley: Land & Sea - A Life in Catterline A beautifully illustrated book on Joan Eardley has been published to celebrate the 100th anniversary of her birth in 2021. Joan Eardley, one of Scotland’s most loved artists, visited the coastal fishing village of...

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Joan Eardley Poetry Competition

Joan Eardley Poetry Competition

Paisley Museum and Art Gallery is delighted to present the winners of the Joan Eardley Poetry Competition, together with work by Joan Eardley (1921-1963) from the collection to celebrate the artist's centenary year. The competition was held from May-July 2021 and over...

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Eardley 100 Press Coverage

Eardley 100 Press Coverage

Studio International10 August 2021https://studiointernational.com/index.php/joan-eardley-centenary-review-the-scottish-gallery-edinburgh Scottish Art NewsSummer 2021https://issuu.com/scottishartnews/docs/san_for_online The Herald7 August 2021Sarah Urwin-Jones Critic's...

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Edwin Morgan: An Eardley On My Wall

Edwin Morgan: An Eardley On My Wall

An online exhibition by The Hunterian, University of GlasgowThis  online exhibition features artworks from the personal collection of Scottish poet Edwin Morgan (1920-2010) and marks the Edwin Morgan Centenary which launched on 27 April 2020.Joan Eardley, Sweet Shop,...

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Newly Commissioned Tapestry Of July Fields

Newly Commissioned Tapestry Of July Fields

NEWLY COMMISSIONED TAPESTRY OF JULY FIELDS To mark The Scottish Gallery's exhibition, the Artist's Estate and the gallery are working in partnership with Dovecot Studios to create a new commission in honour of Joan Eardley.  This will be created over a period of six...

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Online Symposium: Call For Papers

Online Symposium: Call For Papers

The Isle of Arran – An Artistic Legacy 29th April 2021 The Arran Arts Heritage Trail, in partnership with Paisley Museum and the School of Culture and Creative Arts at the University of Glasgow, will be hosting an online symposium on 29th April 2021 celebrating and...

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Life And Work Of Joan Eardley To Be Celebrated In 2021

Life And Work Of Joan Eardley To Be Celebrated In 2021

Joan Eardley Salmon Nets and the Sea, 1960. (The Hunterian, University of Glasgow) Image © Eardley Estate. For Eardley a truly successful painting had to go deeper than a mere visual record, no matter how accurate...Her success lay in her ability to combine the acute,...

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