2 February - 6 December 2026
Sir Duncan Rice Library, Bedford Road, Aberdeen, AB24 3AA
Aberdeen University Collections website
Aberdeen Artworlds: The Linklater Collection

 
2026 marks the 50th anniversary of a bequest of a collection of paintings to the University of Aberdeen by Eric and Marjorie Linklater. The novelist Eric Linklater had died in 1974, leaving some of the many paintings he and Marjorie had collected to the University. These include the following works by Royal Scottish Academicians: A T-square by James Cowie RSA, portraits of Eric and Marjorie Linklater by Stanley Cursiter RSA, Salmon Nets on the Shore by Joan Eardley RSA, a still life by S. J. Peploe RSA, Threnody in Red by Robin Philipson RSA and Tulips in a White Jug by Anne Redpath RSA. The collection also includes a still life and a portrait, Hortensia, by J. D. Fergusson and a still life by Leslie Hunter.

The exhibition explores this unusual domestic collection, which frequently changed as pictures were sold and bought depending on the family’s finances. The exhibition is one outcome of a research project by the University’s Department of Art History into the Linklaters and Aberdeen’s art world in the 1970s, Aberdeen’s Artworlds c.1976: The Linklater Bequest in Context. The paintings, usually hung in a non-public events space at the University, will be on public display over 2026 at the Sir Duncan Rice Library.
 
Further information here
 
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Banner image: Sir Duncan Rice Library, University of Aberdeen

  • About the University of Aberdeen
    Kings College, University of Aberdeen

    About the University of Aberdeen

    Established to serve the north-east of Scotland, today the University of Aberdeen is a global presence in higher education. A dual focus on our region and the wider world is as important to us today as it was five centuries ago. The University Collections department cares for multiple nationally significant collections containing everything from art to zoology. We have permanent displays around campus and a changing exhibition gallery open to the public. Our Art History department has been ranked 1st for studying Art History in the UK and 1st for overall student satisfaction in the 2025 National Student Survey, the fourth year in a row.