This summer, The Granary Gallery in Berwick-upon-Tweed presents Joan Eardley: The Sea at Catterline, a major exhibition developed in partnership with The Fleming Collection, exploring the powerful seascapes created by one of the most distinctive British artists of the 20th century.
Regarded as one of the most original and admired artists of her generation, Joan Eardley (1921–1963) is widely known for her tender, yet unsentimental, portraits of street children in Glasgow.
Alongside this celebrated body of work, however, she produced an extraordinary series of landscapes and seascapes inspired by the small fishing village of Catterline, south of Aberdeen, where she spent the latter part of her life. The exhibition is part of the RSA Celebrating Together Project across the UK, marking 200 years of the Royal Scottish Academy.
The exhibition focuses on works made between mid-1950s and 1963, a period widely considered the peak of Eardley’s creative powers. Loans from the Royal Scottish Academy, The Fleming Collection, Aberdeen Art Gallery and private collections bring together a remarkable group of paintings and works on paper created in response to Catterline’s dramatic coastline.
Highlights of the exhibition include Summer Sea (c.1960-63) from the Royal Scottish Academy, Field of Barley by the Sea from The Fleming Collection and The Sea II (1963) from Huddersfield Art Gallery, which demonstrate the extraordinary vitality and emotional intensity of Eardley’s late seascapes.
The exhibition also includes works by artists who had a significant impact on her life and creative practice.
Joan Eardley: The Sea at Catterline
6 June – 11 October 2026
The Granary Gallery, Berwick-upon-Tweed