2021 marks the centenary of the birth of Joan Eardley, who is now recognised as one of Scotland’s most important artists.

Born in 1921, in Warnham, Sussex, Eardley along with her family, moved to Scotland in 1939. She attended Glasgow School of Art from 1940 to 1943. After being awarded a travelling bursary, the RSA Carnegie Scholarship, Eardley was able to travel to Italy.

Returning from the country in 1949, Eardley worked full time from a studio in Townhead in Glasgow. While hanging an exhibition of her work in Aberdeen, she became acquainted with the fishing village of Catterline, just south of Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire.

From this point on, Eardley divided her time between Glasgow and the fishing village, with the two locations becoming the focus of most of her works.

Sadly, Eardley’s life was cut short and she died in 1963, aged just 42. Though her career lasted barely fifteen years, she was prolific, creating hundreds of paintings and many more sketches and drawings.

To complement Eardley’s paintings from the permanent collection held in Perth, the exhibition will bring together some of her most iconic works from the National Galleries of Scotland, the Royal Scottish Academy, City Art Centre, Edinburgh and the University of Dundee. The exhibition will offer visitors the opportunity to see some of Eardley’s most significant works, including her bold atmospheric paintings of the sea and her iconic paintings and sketches of children in the Townhead area of Glasgow.

The exhibition is one of many happening across the country celebrating the work of Joan Eardley in what would have been her centenary year. The centenary offers visitors to Perth Museum and Art Gallery a fantastic opportunity to link with the Eardley 100 wider celebrations of her work that are happening across Scotland from Aberdeen to Dumfries, providing local audiences with a rare chance to view her stunning work here in Perth.

Admission will be free.