Dr. Griffiths’s Gift to Stirling – Barnwell Model
A new treasure, added to the current Treasures of the Smith exhibition, is a 1/16th scale model of the famous plane built by Frank and Harold Barnwell, whose family home was Elco House, Balfron. Both brothers were educated at Fettes Academy, Edinburgh and their father was managing director of Fairfields
Suffragette Stitches, Marion Wallace Dunlop
The Treasures of the Smith exhibition, which runs until 4 October has a new acquisition of some significance. It is an embroidered fire screen by the famous suffragette activist and artist, Marion Wallace Dunlop (1864-1942). The subject is Spring and features a woman in long purple robes surrounded by blue
Edwardian Holidays in Stirling, James McDonald RSW
Today’s story is a holiday themed painting in the Stirling Smith collections by artist James McDonald RSW. Born in Stirling in 1956, James studied at Edinburgh College of Art, completing his post-graduate year there in 1979. Working initially in the field of printmaking (advanced intaglio techniques), since 1989 he has
The Fiery Cross by James Drummond (1816 – 1877)
The Fiery Cross by James Drummond, is one of the great history paintings in the Smith collection, acquired through a bequest of the artist, a few years after the Smith opened, in 1877. It shows the ‘Fiery Cross’, a Celtic signal used as a call to arms, arriving at Stirling
Eduardo Paolozzi
The summer exhibition showcasing the Treasures of the Smith opened last week and runs until 4 October. ‘Crash Head’ by Eduardo Paolozzi, created in 1972, is perhaps one of the lesser known sculptures in the collection. It was gifted by the Scottish Arts Council in 1998, when the decision was
The Washer Men of Cowie Colliery
The Polmaise Colliery exhibition continues at the Smith. This photograph is from Cowie Colliery, located in Bannockburn. It opened in 1894, ten years earlier than Polmaise, and closed in 1953.The image dates from the 1920s and is of the men who tended the machines which washed the dust from
Simon Bolivar, The Wallace of South America
The Stirling Smith collection contains many treasures, some of which have seen better days and are in need of major conservation work. Many are anonymous, like this ‘Portrait of a Man in Uniform’. When it was published in the Public Foundation Catalogue of paintings in public collections it was recognised