With interdisciplinary links and a dialogue with Allan Ramsay’s work, Alison Watt’s ‘Capra’ is a good fit for its new home at the Hunterian Art Gallery.

---

Painted in 2021, Alison Watt’s Capra was shown for the first time in ‘A Kind of Longing‘ – a collaborative exhibition between Tristan Hoare Gallery and Parafin between February and March 2023.

After this, the artist had asked her agent to hold it back to find the perfect home for it. Fast forward to December 2023, and the artwork found its way to The Hunterian.

So, what made our collection a good fit for this painting?

Reframing our collections

In April last year, the Hunterian Art Gallery revealed a full redisplay of its collections, with over 200 artworks spanning seven centuries.

The desire to reframe this historical collection to reflect contemporary concerns drove the decision to carry out such a demanding exercise.

Looking from new perspectives, as opposed to a traditional historical narrative, the displays ask questions such as: ‘how do art and history influence each other?’

Since re-opening, The Hunterian’s art curators have been aware of the need to fill gaps in the collection – symbolised by the hanging of empty frames throughout the gallery.

They hope to do so with acquisitions that highlight historic inequalities, address contemporary life, or redress the balance in the representation of women artists in Western museums and art galleries.

Another of the focuses of the reframed art gallery displays is around re-forming canons of art. It brings together objects that ‘speak back’ to the canon, allowing us to interrogate ideological and aesthetic biases of art history.

The recent acquisition of Capra, by Alison Watt, contributes greatly to several of these aims and discussions.

Alison Watt

Born in Greenock, Alison Watt studied at Glasgow School of Art. In 1987, while still a student, she won the prestigious John Player’s annual award, held at The National Portrait Gallery in London. This led to a commission for a portrait of the Queen Mother.

She subsequently became well known for her paintings of figures, often female nudes, and in the late 1990s she began to focus on the fabric which had previously acted as the prop or backdrop for her figures.

While the human figure is no longer explicit in Watt’s work, it is often implied. More recently, her painting has focused upon the relationship between the genres of portraiture and still life.

Alison Watt explores the possible narratives around everyday objects, while repeatedly reaffirming her committed engagement with Old Master paintings and sculpture.

Responding to Ramsay

Capra refers to an Allan Ramsay drawing, held in the National Galleries of Scotland’s collection, which focuses on a ‘bucranium’ – a decorative symbol from classical architecture usually composed of an ox skull. In this case, Ramsay’s drawing depicts the skull of a goat.

The themes within Ramsay’s work have been sources of exploration within Alison Watt’s art. In 2023, she commented:

“In recent years, I’ve been exploring the archive of the great 18th century portrait painter, Allan Ramsay. It is impossible to look at his archive […] without reflecting on how what an artist leaves behind is interpreted. As the philosopher Richard Holloway said: ‘We don’t see things as they are; we see things as we are.’

“I think it is in the nature of painting, that one’s work will always contain something of what has gone before. Painters are part of something much bigger, the inquiry of others. I have always been drawn to the past and that has shaped me as a painter. Painting itself will always evolve, but there are certain things about it which haven’t changed for centuries, artists have always struggled how to approach it.

“To study the archive of an artist as continually curious about the world as Ramsay, is to see that first hand. I have never seen looking at a painting as a one-sided activity. For me, it’s more of a conversation. Like throwing a pebble into a pond, where, and to whom the ripple effects will lead me is one of the most exciting parts of being an artist.”

Capra, The Hunterian and Neoclassicism

Hovering between genres, Capra brings an interesting angle from which to spark these discussions.

The still life depicts the skull of a goat on a muted background. As part of her ongoing dialogue with artists from the past, the work is an exploration of light and textures.

It fits with numerous narratives – including considerations around the enduring appeal of the classical in Western Art.

As such, Ramsay’s drawing, and the painting it has inspired, speak to the strong neoclassical thread that runs through The Hunterian collections.

The drawing belongs to a larger group that records the time Ramsay spent with like-minded artists in Italy, visiting ancient sites in Rome and the Italian countryside.

With an interest in architecture and classical art, this group included fellow Scots, the architect Robert Adam, and the neoclassical painter, Gavin Hamilton, as well as the printmaker and architect Giovanni Battista Piranesi.

All were instrumental in developing the genre that would become known as neoclassicism and they shared an obvious interest in bucrania (Piranesi and Adam both introduced sculptured ornaments in their work, close to Ramsay’s drawing).

There are other connections with Ramsay, neoclassicism and The Hunterian. William Hunter, founder of The Hunterian, was a friend of Allan Ramsay. Ramsay produced a portrait of Hunter acknowledged as among one of his finest works.

The Hunterian’s art collection also includes six paintings by Ramsay, with Hunter becoming an early advocate of the burgeoning genre of neoclassicism.

This was reflected in the designs of the original Hunterian museum. William Stark’s neoclassical building opened its doors in 1807, and its style went on to influence William Henry Playfair’s design for the Royal Scottish Academy – built in Edinburgh over two decades later.

Exploring Art and Nature

Besides speaking to The Hunterian’s strong neoclassical thread, the acquisition of Capra also speaks to the interdisciplinary nature of the museum’s founding collections.

The Hunterian is also home to a significant zoological collection – which includes 15 goat skulls. Its coins and medals collection also contains many items with references to ox or bull’s heads.

Capra will therefore help encourage cross-disciplinary discussions across subjects such as zoology, history of art and numismatics.

The painting provides a starting point for exploring links between art and nature – a topic of great interest to Hunter and his friend Allan Ramsay, and one that is as relevant today as it was in the 18th century.

Reflecting on Capra in 2023, Alison Watt described how this work encapsulates her own interests in the natural world, architecture, and the different aspects of artistic practice:

“I have inherited several skulls and interesting pieces of taxidermy from my late father who as well as being an artist had a deep interest in the natural world which he passed on to me. One of these skulls is of a goat which I keep at the studio.

“Earlier this year when I was showing Capra at 6 Fitzroy Square (designed by Robert Adam), the art historian, Dr Richard Stemp, also alerted me to a Bucranium architectural detail at 3 Fitzroy Square which of course I was incredibly excited about. Ramsay and Adam travelled together in Italy so it seems incredibly likely they would have seen and been inspired by similar detailing in Rome.

“There are quite a few of the Ramsay drawings with titles which don’t quite fit with the image. I already had my doubts his drawing was of a goat. The titling of Ramsay’s works in itself is a fascinating subject.”

Unexpected Encounters

Capra hangs in the room entitled ‘In Relation: Unexpected Encounters’ at the Hunterian Art Gallery. This room highlights relationships between different works of art.

In each grouping, two or more objects enter into a relationship with one another, influencing each other’s meaning when viewed together.

These associations remain open; they are provocations to think with, invitations to look at individual artworks in new ways.

Alison Watt’s artwork has been on display next to those of Bridget Riley (b.1931) and Beatrix Whistler (1857–96). Reflecting on these artists, Watt noted their connections to her work:

“I’ve spent a lifetime in dialogue with painting, something I have in common with both Bridget Riley and Beatrix Whistler. Each of us has our own distinctive approach, but we are all fascinated with the creation of a rhythmic whole, and the geometry in the language of painting, which leads to the carefully considered positioning of the marks made on canvas or paper.

“Historically, painters have always looked back at the work of those who’ve gone before; as a painter you will always be aware that you are part of a tradition which continues to evolve. To look at the work of these artists has caused me to reflect on the conversation I have with my own work. Because for a painter, looking is a form of understanding.”

Capra will stimulate a whole host of new conversations and unexpected encounters right across The Hunterian’s collections and beyond.

---

Find out more about The Hunterian Art Gallery and plan your visit.

There are more brilliant blogs stretching right across our collection for you to explore – covering coins, medals and much more!