Joan Eardley
(1921 – 1963)IN 2021 A SERIES EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS WILL MARK THE CENTENARY OF EARDLEY’S BIRTH
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.
Exhibitions & Events








“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
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,...
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...
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...
FROM THE ARCHIVE
WATCH: BETWEEN THE BRUSH STROKES
Between the Brush Strokes, © 2019 www.gtmp.tv
Life and work of Joan Eardley to be celebrated in 2021
The Scottish Women and the Arts Research Network (SWARN) is to celebrate the life and work of the artist Joan Eardley in the centenary year of her birth.