As the National Galleries of Scotland opens Joan Eardley – The Nature of Painting at Modern Two, a remarkable rediscovery has brought one of her paintings back into public view more than sixty years after it was last handled by The Scottish Gallery.
In the summer of last year, The Scottish Gallery received an unexpected call. A manager from a charity shop in the East Midlands had taken in a dark, unassuming painting through a house clearance donation. On the reverse, a worn and fragmentary label revealed just six words: “Summer, Joan, Exhibited, The Scottish Gallery.”
Intrigued, Director Tommy Zyw turned to The Scottish Gallery archive. After searching through its historic day books, he uncovered a handwritten entry from May 1961 recording the sale of a painting titled Summer Fields by Joan Eardley. The possibility was compelling.
The painting was retrieved and brought to Edinburgh for inspection. From the moment it was unwrapped, its authenticity was clear. The surface, the handling, the authority of the mark all pointed unmistakably to Eardley. Sixty-four years after it had left us, Summer Fields had returned.
Conservation brought the work back to life, revealing an atmospheric landscape painted in the final years of Eardley’s life in Catterline. A corner of a farmer’s field is caught in the golden light of late September, with the foreground alive with textured grasses and seed heads. It is a deeply observed and quietly powerful work, rooted in the landscape that she loved and defined her practice.
The painting was unveiled by The Scottish Gallery at the British Art Fair in September 2025, where it attracted significant attention, and was later exhibited at the gallery on Dundas Street, Edinburgh.
It has recently been acquired by a distinguished collector of Scottish art. Its rediscovery carries impact beyond the art historical. Sold on behalf of the charity from which it emerged, the work achieved the largest single work sale in the charity’s history of £29,500, directly supporting vital medical research in the UK.
Tommy Zyw, Director of The Scottish Gallery commented: “This story speaks of the enduring power of Joan Eardley’s painting and of the role of careful stewardship, archives, and expertise in bringing such works back into the public arena. From Joan Eardley painting this work in Catterline, its sale in 1961, decades enjoyed privately then its arrival on the charity shop’s shelf, to the phone call that started its return to Scotland; we have been proud to support Summer Fields on its continuing journey.”
Since first exhibiting Joan Eardley’s work in 1955, The Scottish Gallery has played a central role in shaping and sustaining her reputation through scholarship, exhibitions, and careful placement in major private and public collections, ensuring each work is presented with context, care, and authority. The Gallery sells many works on behalf of private clients and families, offering a discreet and considered alternative to auction, allowing works to be placed directly with committed collectors and achieve consistently strong results without the uncertainty of a single sale day.
Running from 2 April to 28 June 2026 at Modern Two, the National Galleries of Scotland exhibition brings together over 30 works by Eardley, alongside paintings from the national collection. It places Eardley’s work within a wider artistic context, revealing her engagement with both international and Scottish contemporaries, while reaffirming her status as one of the most powerful painters of the twentieth century. It is a timely moment to reflect not only on her legacy, but on the extraordinary journeys her paintings can take.