John Bellany
John Bellany CBE, RA, HRSA
1942 Born Port Seton, Scotland
1960-65 Edinburgh College of Art. Studied painting under Sir Robin Philipson and Sir William Gillies
1965-68 Royal College of Art, London. Studied under Carel Weight and Peter de Francia
1967 Official cultural visit to East Germany with Alan Bold & Alexander Moffat: visited Dresden, Halle, Weimar, East Berlin & Buchenwald Concentration Camp
1968 Lecturer in Painting, Brighton College of Art
1969-73 Lecturer in Painting, Winchester College of Art
Visiting lecturer at Royal College of Art and Goldsmith’s College of Art
1978-84 Lecturer in Painting, Goldsmith’s College of Art
Lecturer in Painting, Royal College of Art, London
1983 Artist in Residence, Victoria College of the Arts, Melbourne, Australia
1988 Elected Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge
1994 Awarded CBE by Her Majesty, The Queen
1996 Awarded Honorary Doctorate, University of Edinburgh
1998 Awarded Honorary Doctorate, Herriot Watt University
Honorary Senior Fellow, Royal College of Art, London
2002 Honorary Citizen, Focandora, Barga
Awarded the Chevalier Medal, Florence
Awarded the Freedom of San Cristoforo, Barga
2005 Awarded The Freedom of East Lothian
2009 Awarded Honorary Doctorate, Queen Margaret University, Scotland
Retrospective Exhibitions
1986
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
Serpentine Gallery, London
1988-89
Hamburger Kunsthalle and Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund
1995
Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh
2002
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
2006
John Bellany – Eine Schottische Odyssee – Kunsthalle Jesuitenkirche, Aschaffenburg, Germany
2007
John Bellany – Eine Schottische Odyssee – Spandau Zitadelle, Berlin, Germany
2009
Bellany: Works on Paper, 1965-2009, Beaux Arts, London
2012
Bellany: Epic Voyage, a retrospective spanning 5 decades, Beaux Arts, London
2012-13
Scottish National Gallery: A Passion for Life, Edinburgh
2013
John Bellany: Epic Journey through Life, Beaux Arts, London
Solo Exhibitions
1965
Dromidaris Gallery, Holland
1968
Edinburgh College of Art
1969
Winchester School of Art
1970, 71, 73, 74
Drian Gallery, London
1970
Hendricks Gallery, Dublin
1971
New 57 Gallery, Edinburgh
Printmakers Workshop, Edinburgh
1972
Royal College of Art, London
1973
Triad Arts Centre, Bishop’s Stortford, Royal College of Art
Edinburgh City Arts Centre
1975
Aberdeen City Art Gallery
1977, 80
Acme Gallery, London
1978, 79
Glasgow Print Studio
1978
Scottish Arts Council, Edinburgh
Printmakers Workshop, Edinburgh
Crawford Arts Centre, St Andrews
1979
Third Eye Centre, Glasgow
Southampton City Art Gallery
Newcastle Polytechnic
1980
Moira Kelly Fine Art, London
1981
Goldsmith’s College of Art, London
1982, 84
Rosa Esman Gallery, New York
1983
Paintings 1971-82, touring exhibition: Ikon Gallery, Birmingham; Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield; Third Eye Centre, Glasgow; Rochdale Art
Gallery; Hatton Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool; MacLaurin Art Gallery, Ayr; Rosa Esman Gallery, New York;
Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne
1984
Dűsseldorf Gallery, Perth
Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, Orkney
Mercury Gallery, Edinburgh
1984, 87
Roslyn Oxley Gallery, Sydney
1986
National Portrait Gallery, London
Galerie Krikhaar, Amsterdam
Inaugural Exhibition for the opening of the Henry Moore Gallery, Royal College of Art, London
Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh and touring Scotland
1986, 89
Fischer Fine Art, London
1987
Nigel Greenwood Gallery, London
The Old Man and the Sea: Paintings and Prints, Compass Gallery, Glasgow
Greenhill Galleries, Perth
Butler Gallery, Kilkenny Castle, Ireland
Hendricks Gallery, Dublin
MacLaurin Gallery, Ayr
Bellany as Printmaker 1965-1985, Third Eye Centre, Glasgow; Printmakers Workshop, Edinburgh; Aberdeen Art Gallery; Beaux Arts, Bath
Recent Acquisitions, National Portrait Gallery, London
1987, 96
The Peacock Gallery, Aberdeen
1988
Workshop Gallery, Edinburgh; Aberdeen Art Gallery; Beaux Arts, Bath
1988, 90
Ruth Siegel Gallery, New York
1989
The Renaissance of John Bellany: watercolours painted in Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
John Bellany: A Renaissance, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
Aberdeen Art Gallery
1989, 94
Beaux Arts Gallery, Bath
1990
Raab Gallery, Berlin
Compass Gallery, Glasgow
1991
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Fischer Fine Art, London
1992
A Long Night’s Journey into Day: A 50th Birthday Tribute, Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Glasgow
50th Birthday: A Celebration, Beaux Arts Gallery, Bath
1992, 93
Flowers East Gallery, London
1993
Prints, Drawings and Watercolours 1970-1993, Berkeley Square Gallery, London
1994
Recent Paintings, Flowers East at London Fields, London
1995
Recent Paintings, Terry Dintenfass Gallery, New York
John Bellany: New Paintings, John Bellany; Print-Maker, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh
Edinburgh Festival Exhibition
Strathclyde University Gallery, Glasgow
1996
Monoprints, Flowers East, London
MacGeary Gallery, Brussels
Galeria Kin, Mexico
1997
A Toast to Mexico, Beaux Arts, London
1998
A Scottish Odyssey, Beaux Arts, London
1998-99
Elaine Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, Florida
2000
Beaux Arts, London
Solomon Gallery, Dublin
2001
John Bellany, University of Northumbria
Haven, Beaux Arts, London
2002
John Bellany at 60, Beaux Arts, London
60th Birthday Exhibition, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
Bellany at 60, Solomon Gallery, Dublin
Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh
Commune Galleria, Barga
2003
John Bellany, Piazza Angelio, Barga, Italy
Beaux Arts, Bath,
Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh
2004
Solomon Gallery, Dublin
Beaux Arts Gallery, London
Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh (Edinburgh Festival Exhibition)
2005
East Lothian exhibitions to celebrate John Bellany’s Freedom of East Lothian award
National Gallery of China, Beijing, National Gallery Shanghai, China
The John Bellany Odyssey, Mitchell Library, Glasgow
2006
Celtic Vision, Solomon Gallery, Dublin
Beaux Arts, London
2007
The Eternal Sea, Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow
Edinburgh Festival, Open Eye Gallery Edinburgh
Enchanted Land, Lemon Street Gallery, Truro, Cornwall
2008
Beaux Arts, London
Solomon Gallery, Dublin
Harbour Gallery, Port Seton
John Bellany and Thomas Gainsborough, Gainsborough’s House, Sudbury
Lemon Street Gallery, Cornwall
2009
Bellany: Works on Paper, 1965-2009, Beaux Arts, London
Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, Essex
John Bellany: A Celtic Voyage, Open Eye, Edinburgh
2010
John Bellany: Love in the Abyss, Beaux Arts, London
2011
Peppercanister Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
John Bellany, Piazza Angelio, Barga, Italy
2012
John Bellany, Beaux Arts, London
2012
John Bellany at 70, Edinburgh Festival
2013
John Bellany, Works on Paper, Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh
Selected Group Exhibitions
1963
Edinburgh Festival Exhibition, hung on railings at Castle Terrace (with Alexander Moffat)
1965, 66, 67
Young Contemporaries, London
1965
Edinburgh Festival Exhibition on Mound steps (with Alexander Moffat)
John Moores Exhibition 6, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1968
Twenty by Fifty-Seven, New 57 Gallery, Edinburgh
1970
The Nude, New 57 Gallery, Edinburgh
1971
Arcadia Fine Art, Edinburgh (with William Crozier; Rodick Carmichael and Peter Stitt)
Scottish Realism, Scottish Arts Council Touring Exhibition
10 Scottish Printmakers, Sussex University
1972
British Figurative Art, Nova London Gallery, Copenhagen
Scottish Artists (touring exhibition, New 57 Gallery, Edinburgh)
1973
Figures in the Landscape, Arts Council Touring Exhibition
London Group, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
1974
A Choice Selection, Scottish Arts Council Gallery, Edinburgh
British Painting ’74, Hayward Gallery, London
British Art ’74, Germany (British Council touring exhibition)
John Moores Exhibition 9, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1975
4 Scottish Realists, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh
English and Scottish Painting ’75, Fieldborne Galleries, London
1976
John Moores Exhibition 10, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1977
25 Years of British Painting, Royal Academy, London
Expressionism and Scottish Painting, Scottish Arts Council (touring exhibition)
London Group, Royal College of Art Galleries, London
Scottish Painting, Edinburgh College of Art
1979
Scottish Artists, Amos Anderson Gallery, Helsinki
Tate ’79, Tate Gallery, London
Independent Irish Artists, Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin (with Bacon, Crozier & Freud)
British Painting, Oxford University
The British Art Show, Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield, and touring
1980
John Moores Exhibition 12, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool (Prize-winner)
British Art 1940-1980: The Arts Council Collection, Hayward Gallery, London
1981
National Portrait Gallery, London
The Triptych, Ian Birksted Gallery
Peter Moores Exhibition, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool; Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh; Goldsmith’s College, London
The Nude, Angela Flowers Gallery, London
13 British Artists, British Council exhibition touring Germany
Art and the Sea, touring exhibition
1982
The Subjective Eye, touring exhibition
John Moores Exhibition 13, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
Contemporary Choice, Serpentine Gallery, London
Inner Worlds, Arts Council touring exhibition
Drawing Towards Prints, Printmakers Workshop, Edinburgh
1983
Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin
Self-Portraits, Scottish Arts Council touring exhibition
Scottish Expressionism, Warwick Arts Trust, London
The Hard Won Image, Tate Gallery, London
The British Art Show, touring exhibition
1985
Athena International Awards, Mall Galleries, London (joint first prize)
British Painting, Manchester City Art Gallery; Fine Art Society, Edinburgh
1986
Man and Animals, Arts Council exhibition, Nottingham Castle
Celtic Vision, touring exhibition, opened Madrid
1987
Scottish Painting 1954-87, 369 Gallery, Edinburgh; Warwick Arts Trust, London
Represented Britain in Ljubljana Print Biennale, Yugoslavia;
2nd Triennale of European Engraving, Grada, Italy
The Self-Portrait, selected by Edward Lucie-Smith & Sean Kelly, Artsite Gallery, Bath; Fischer Fine Art, London
The Scottish Bestiary, The Banqueting House, London (portfolio of prints, touring exhibition)
1988
British Romantic Painting, touring exhibition, opened Madrid
The Royal College of Art Print Portfolio Exhibition, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
1989
El Greco Exhibition, National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh (guest artist)
Eros in Albion (House of Massaccio), British Council Exhibition, Italy
British Figurative Painting, selected by Norbert Lynton
Every Picture Tells a Story, British Council touring exhibition, Hong Kong; Singapore, Africa
Scottish Paintings since 1900, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh; Barbican Art Gallery, London
1990
Glasgow’s Great British Art Show, McLellan Galleries, Glasgow
The Compass Contribution, Tramway, Glasgow
8 Scottish Printmakers, British Council touring exhibition, Singapore; Glasgow
Turning the Century, The New Scottish Painting, The Raab Gallery, London; Milan; Berlin; USA
Scotland Creates, McLellan Galleries, Glasgow
1992
New British Art, British Council Exhibition, Denmark
Modern Masters (prints), Berkeley Square Gallery, London
1993
Scottish Painting, Flowers East, London
Contemporary Trends in British Art, Hayward Gallery, London
The Line of Tradition, Scotland
John Moores Exhibition 18, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1994
The Bigger Picture, McLellan Galleries, Glasgow
After Redoute: Recent flower paintings, drawings and photographs, Flowers East, London
1995
Contemporary British Art in Print: The Publications of The Paragon Press 1986-95, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
1996
The Power of Images, Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin
Naked, Flowers East at London Fields, London
Rye Art Gallery
Virgin Airways Upper Class Lounge
Realism, Künstlersonderbund of Deutschland, Berlin
Angela Flowers (Ireland) Inc., Co. Cork, Ireland
1997
Print, Riverside Studios, London
Contemporary British Portraits, Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1998
Religious Images, National Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1999
Scottish Artists, Solomon Gallery, Dublin
2000
A Celebration of Mary Queen of Scots, Bourne Fine Art, Edinburgh
2002
Pictures at an Exhibition, Moussorgsky Musical Exhibition, Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh
2003
Contemporary Religious Art, St Paul’s Cathedral, London
2004
The Enchanted Land: Puccini’s Landscape, Lights and Colours, The Mitchell Library, Glasgow
2005
The Royal Academy in China, National Gallery of China, Beijing, Shanghai Gallery of Art, China
European Union Gallery, Brussels
2006
Royal Academicians in China, Sackler Wing, Royal Academy of Arts, London
2007
Florence Biennale, Italy
2009
Four Scottish Painters, Barns-Graham, Bellany, Davie and Redpath, Dean Gallery, Edinburgh
2009
Florence Biennale, Italy
2010
Royal Academicians come to Richmond, Richmond Hill Gallery
Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions every year from 1985-2009
Public Collections
Aberdeen Art Gallery
Arts Council of Great Britain
Belfast Polytechnic
British Council
British Museum, London
Chesser House, Edinburgh
Contemporary Art Society
Dundee Central Museum and Art Gallery
Edinburgh Corporation
Ferens Art Gallery, Hull
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Glasgow Art Galleries and Museums
Government Art Collection
Hatton Gallery, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow
Isle of Man Arts Council Collection
J.F. Kennedy Library, Boston
Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery
Leeds City Art Gallery
Leicester Museum and Art Gallery
MacLaurin Art Gallery, Ayr
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Middlesbrough Art Gallery
Museum of Boca Raton, Florida
Museum of London
Museum of Modern Art, New York
National Gallery of Art, Gdansk
National Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin
National Gallery of Poland, Warsaw
National Library of Congress, Washington
National Portrait Gallery, London
New York Public Library
Perth Museum and Art Gallery
Royal College of Art, London
Royal Academy of Arts, London
Scottish Arts Council
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh
Sheffield City Art Gallery
Southampton City Art Gallery
Swindon Museum and Art Gallery
Tate Gallery, London
Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh
University of Western Australia, Perth
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
Wolverhampton Municipal Art Gallery and Museum
Yale Centre of British Art
Zuider Zee Museum, Holland
Awards, Commissions and Prizes
1962
Andrew Grant Scholarship. Travel to Paris.
Postgraduate travelling scholarship. Travel to Holland and Belgium
Commissioned by Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to paint murals for Chesser House, Edinburgh
1965
Burston Award, Royal College of Art, London
1980
John Moores Prizewinner
1981
Major Arts Council Award
Wollaston Award, Royal Academy, London
1985
Athena International Art Award (joint first prizewinner)
1987
Wollaston Award, Royal Academy, London
1991
Commissioned to paint Lord Renfrew and Sir Roy Calne by the National Portrait Gallery, London
1992
British Council visit to Central Europe, Prague, Vienna, Budapest
1993
Korn/Ferry Picture of the Year, Royal Academy, London
1995
Glasgow Herald Award for Excellence
2002
Cheval Medal from City of Florence
2004
Fishers in the Snow presented to the New Scottish Parliament
2005
Awarded the First Freedom of East Lothian
2009
Awarded Honorary Doctorate, Queen Margaret University, Scotland