Albrecht Dürer ‘The Great Horse’ 1505

This March we will turn our attention to drawing. Organisations such as the Big Draw believe that drawing is an essential human skill important in all walks of life. The Big Draw Festival (the world’s biggest drawing festival) has been running now since 2000 and has smashed two world records – the longest drawing (one kilometre) and the most people drawing together simultaneously (over 7000).

The GoMA Learning and Access team are delighted to have won the Big Draw Awards twice! In 2010 and 2019. The Big Draw at GoMA 2019 was inspired by the Mark-marking: Perspectives on Drawing exhibition that was on in GoMA in 2019. This contained work by the artists Lois Green, Gregor Wright, and France-Lise McGurn among others. We worked closely with Gregor Wright to curate the Big Draw drawing activities. Gregor Wright was born in 1975 and graduated from the Glasgow School of Art Fine Art Department. He utilises new methods in drawing such as Ipads, digital tools, and UHD screens – he is inspired by science fiction and 1980s cyborgs.

The theme of the 2019 Big Draw was ‘Drawn to Life’ and focused on the vital role of creativity for health and well-being for living a healthier and happier life. Throughout the whole month of October, GoMA ran creative and engaging sessions with a range of audiences from parents of young babies, pre-5 nursery classes to our ever popular ‘Saturday Art Club’ for families and our relaxing and meditative ‘Mindful Art’ sessions for adults. The end result was a stunning and colourful large scale kaleidoscopic installation displayed in the large entrance hall of GoMA Instagram post December 2019.

Drawing may be inherent in our nature and we can look to ancient cave paintings as evidence of this. Over time, many artists have mastered the art of drawing. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) is seen as an artistic genius: a scientist, inventor, anatomist and famous for well-known masterpieces such as ‘The Last Supper’ and the ‘Mona Lisa’. Central to his practice and success was his amazing skill at drawing. 

Another master of drawing was the artist Albrecht Durer (1471-1528). He was a supremely gifted and versatile German artist of the Renaissance period who revolutionised print-making. The drawing skills evident in the engraving entitled ‘The Great Horse’ are remarkable. This work was admired and bought by the shipping merchant and philanthropist Sir William Burrell (1861-1958). We look forward to this work being on display again once the Burrell Collection reopens.

Sir William Burrell had a very keen eye in terms of art appreciation and built up one of the most accomplished art collections in the world. He was a serious collector, with wide-ranging interests including Renaissance European art, Chinese ceramics and late 19th C French art. He purchased work by the artist Gustave Ricard (1823-73) seen here in the still life ‘Pear and Plate’. This simple yet delightful painting shows great draughtsmanship and composition. It was wonderful for the city of Glasgow when in 1944, Sir William Burrell donated his entire collection to his home city – a collection that contained over 9000 items!

Once GoMA reopens, we hope you come and enjoy an interesting and relaxing time. In our TASTE! exhibition in Gallery 2, look out for works by more contemporary artists such as David Hockney (b.1937) an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. He was an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s and is considered one of the most influential British artists of the 20th century. Also look out for David Shrigley (b. 1968) lived and worked in Glasgow for 27 years before moving to Brighton in 2015. He graduated from the Glasgow School of Art with a BA in Fine Art. His quirky sense of humour in his drawings are apparent as well as his unusual take of the world: Instagram David Shrigley.

‘Taste’ Gallery 2, GoMA (David Hockney & David Shrigley)