John Byrne RSA b. 1940
Standing apart from artistic movements and trends, John Byrne RSA’s work is often characterised by its narrative threads and macabre themes. Working fervently in his Edinburgh studio, Byrne’s creativity often seems to pour out through his brush or pen, working with whatever subject draws his attention, be it his own profile or the murky underworld of the metropolis. Drawing on both memories and the imaginary, his paintings combine his technical mastery and expansive repertoire of visual cues.
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John Byrne RSAA Month in the Country, 2018Ink, watercolor, pencil, chalk pastel and crayon on paper61 x 53 cm
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John Byrne RSABeachboy with Cat and Fish, 2018Hand-coloured etching, 15/3028 x 20 cm
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John Byrne RSABiggish Self Portrait, 2018Oil on board61 x 71 cm
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John Byrne RSABlack Guy, 2018Watercolour on scraper board15 x 9 cm
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John Byrne RSABlack Guy with Neckerchief, 2018Oil on board40 x 40 cm
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John Byrne RSABlind Date, NY, 2018Hand-coloured lithograph35 x25 cm
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John Byrne RSAFirst Date, 2018Oil on board75 x 19 cm
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John Byrne RSAHang on a mo', 2018Indian Ink on scraper board17 x 8 cm
John Byrne RSA was born in 1940 to an Irish Catholic family and grew up in Ferguslie Park, a housing estate in Paisley frequently cited at the time as the worst slum in Europe. Characters in Byrne’s iconography seem fashioned from memories of Paisley. Having left school without any qualifications, Byrne gained admission to Glasgow School of Art in 1958 and, as critic Cordelia Oliver has said, before long ‘could draw like Millais.’ Considering the rules and regulations of the art school to be too stringent, however, he transferred to Edinburgh College of Art in 1961, only to return to Glasgow to complete his degree having found Edinburgh even worse. He went on to win the prestigious Bellahouston Award for painting and travelled to Perugia.
In a 2011 interview in The Herald, John Byrne recounts a moment 50 years prior when, as a young artist, he took the train from Glasgow to Edinburgh to attend a prize-giving ceremony at the Royal Scottish Academy, where he was due to collect a painting award. Lighting up a cigarette before the Royal toast, Byrne incurred the wrath of Academician David Donaldson, placing him, he felt, on ‘a shooglie nail’ at the RSA ever since. Now an internationally-renowned painter and playwright, and an Academician himself, Byrne’s nail in the Academy’s wall should seem a little sturdier.
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John Byrne RSA
Rogues' Gallery 17 November - 23 December 2018The Academicians' Gallery Free entry This winter an exhibition of new paintings, drawings, prints and objects by one of Scotland’s most celebrated working artists, John Byrne RSA, will be on...Read more -
As Others See Us
Portraits from the Highlands 30 June - 29 July 2007RSA Finlay Room A touring exhibition in partnership with Highland Council Exhibitions Unit & Highland 2007 Continuing with the theme of Highland Culture in 2007, As Others See Us celebrates...Read more -
New Associates 2004
6 November - 19 December 2004An exhibition of recent works by New Associates of the Royal Scottish Academy. Featuring John Byrne, Calum Colvin, Jo Ganter, Marian Leven, Sandy Moffat, Gordon Munro and Michael Visocchi.Read more