u3a

Glasgow West End

Art Appreciation 2

Status:Active, open to new members
Coordinator:
When: On Tuesdays
Normally last Tuesday of month

ThisThis group was formed last year in response to high demand for this popular subject. We generally meet up on the last Tuesday of the month, although occasionally this may vary depending on events. The programme of talks, exhibitions and gallery visits is informed by the suggestions and interests of members.

This group was formed in May, 2023 as a result of the continued high level of interest in the subject. The group normally meets on the last Tuesday of the month, although this may vary depending on the event/venue/speaker availability. Our programme is largely informed by the interests and suggestions of the members.

2025/2026 Programme

30th September(Tuesday)- Edinburgh Portrait Gallery

27th October am (Monday)- Perth Art Gallery

25th November, am-Hunterian/Mackintosh House

10th December (Wednesday) 2pm-James Winnett talk at Advanced Research Centre (ARC) (Joint event with Local History Group)

2026

28th January pm (Wednesday) 3pm-Ailsa Turner Talk at Partickhill Bowling Club (Joint event with Local History Group)

24th February pm (Tuesday)-2pm- Bespoke 'Rodin at the Burrell 'guided tour

31st March, am (Tuesday) Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh 'The Biba Story: 1964-1975' Exhibition

28th April, am (Tuesday) Visit to Paisley studio of Alexander Stoddart (King's Sculptor in Ordinary)

2nd June, am (Tuesday) Joan Eardley /The Nature of Painting, National Galleries of Scotland-Modern Two, Edinbrugh

30th June, am (Tuesday) V & A, Dundee-'Catwalk: The Art of the Fashion Show

Previous events

January 21st-James Winnett presentation on Empire Exhibition 1938 at Bellahouston Park at ARC (Advanced Research Centre)

The Empire Exhibition, Glasgow, 1938

James Winnett, our speaker, invited us to step back in time to 1938 when Glasgow hosted the Empire Exhibition, a colossal modernist and Art Deco celebration of industry, architecture and engineering which attracted 13 million visitors.

For six months in 1938 Bellahouston Park was transformed into a city of striking modernist architecture, wide boulevards, fountains and other stunning water features. At night the Exhibition shone like a beacon visible for miles around.

The talk shed light on the sheer scale and ambition of the exhibition, examined some of the key buildings and provided an insight into the ideas of the architects who made it a reality. 

James guided us around the park using archive material and digital imagery.

We welcomed a full house for this highly entertaining talk to the excellent venue at the University of Glasgow's Advanced Research Centre (ARC).

February, Wednesday 26th at 1.30pm-Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre, G1 5HD

Our February event was a highly enjoyable visit to Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre, Trongate 103, G15HD.  We were welcomed by Sergey Jakvovski, artistic director of the theatre, who introduced the show.

After a brief introductory show, we toured the fabulous installations around the room one at a time, as a combination of beautifully carved figures and metallic scrap performed an amazing choreography, with haunting music and synchronized lighting. Each installation came alive in startling sequence, telling the funny and sometimes tragic stories of the human spirit.  The show ended with a captivating gothic display.  Our members overwhelmingly enjoyed the visit to this relatively undiscovered artistic treasure. It is highly likely we will return to the theatre in the future. Our afternoon ended with a nice cuppa and chat in the nearby Tron café. 

Monday, March 31st, 2pm. (Advanced Research Centre) Talk by Judith Bowers-Glasgow's Lost Theatre

In March we had another joint meeting of the Local History and Art Appreciation groups - a hugely enjoyable presentation on the Brittania Panopticon Music Hall in Argyle Street. Famed as the place where 16-year-old Stan Laurel made his debut, the Britannia Panopticon is the oldest surviving music hall in the world. The presenter, Judith Bowers, director and founder of the Britannia Panopticon Trust, which restores and maintains the theatre, is a born performer. She not only managed to convey a wealth of social and theatrical history but also did so in a thoroughly entertaining way, very much in the style of a music hall compere. Her finale when she insisted on a group rendition of ‘Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do……’ was a u3a high (or low 😊)

As well as offering a full programme of events, the theatre is open for free general viewing Tuesday - Saturday noon - 5pm and is hoping to extend this access over the coming months. Judith will also shortly be offering guided walking tours of Glasgow theatres in order to benefit the Panopticon Trust.

Tuesday, April 29th, St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art with lunch at Drygate Brewery

Explore the award-winning Mungo Museum followed by lunch at Drygate Brewery

May Tuesday, 27th from 10am, Edinburgh trip; 'The Colourist : Radical Perspectives' Dovecot Studio, Edinburgh.

Let's hope for some nice weather for this planned May trip to Edinburgh. This exhibition "showcases the Scottish Colourists in the context of their European contemporaries considering how this international generation of radical painters forged a new language of colour in the early 20th century." The cost will be £12.pp

Meet up details and further information to follow.........

June, Tuesday, 24th June 11am-Special visit to Glasgow Art Club,

Art Appreciation 2 and Local History had their final joint event of the season, a visit to The Glasgow Art Club, 185 Bath St, Glasgow, G2 4HU www.glasgowartclub.co.uk 

The visit was organised with the help and support of Alison Gifford who is both a member of u3a and Glasgow Art Club and we extend our thanks to Alison for all her patience.

This visit was a great success. After an introduction and welcome from Alison, we had a most illuminating talk by the President of the Glasgow Art Club, Robert Ferguson which was entertaining as well as informative.

A visit through the Gallery was followed by an excellent soup and sandwich lunch in magnificent surroundings, before we explored the building at our leisure.

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2024 Programme

Tuesday, January 30th, - House for an Art Lover, Bellahouston Park (Guided by James Winnett)

Our group thoroughly enjoyed a tour of the House for an Art Lover. Our guide, James Winnett, provided a fascinating description of the story of the construction of the building while sharing his extensive knowledge of the work and partnership of Mackintosh and his wife and collaborator Margaret Macdonald. A lovely lunch completed a very successful outing.

Tuesday, February 27th, -Kelvingrove Art Gallery

On this visit to our old favourite, Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery, we were treated to an unexpected guided tour by one of the excellent volunteer tour guides, the entertaining and knowledgeable Anne. Afterwards, we were able to book a table in the restaurant and enjoyed an excellent lunch.

Tuesday, March 26th, Glasgow School of Art Archives (Glasgow Girls and Alisdair Gray Archive)

Our visit to Glasgow School of Art Archives was a great success. We enjoyed 2 tours, Glasgow Girls and Alisdair Gray. Our guides from this great resource, Helen (Glasgow Girls) and Sorcha (Alisdair Gray) were wonderful.

Tuesday, April 16th, - Mackintosh at the Willow

Once again, our host Oliver Braid, creative learning manager at the Trust, entertained our group with a wonderful tour of the original Miss Cranston's tearoom, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife Margaret Macdonald. His knowledge and presentation style ensured a full morning, which included a tour of the building, a stencilling session, followed by tea and case. Oliver was delighted with the donation given by the group.

Tuesday, May 28th, - V & A Dundee,.

We had a very full day on our visit to Dundee. The Kimono exhibition was unanimously voted a spectacular success.

Tuesday, June 25th, National Gallery - 'National Treasures/Vermeer in Edinburgh.

In June, our group visited the National Gallery, The Mound, Edinburgh to see the Vermeer ‘A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal’ on loan from the National Gallery in London displayed alongside Vermeer’s ‘Christ in the House of Martha and Mary’ from the gallery’s own collection.  After seeing a wonderful collection of paintings by acclaimed international artists, we enjoyed a pleasant lunch across the road in the M&S Café, before returning to the gallery to browse the best of Scottish art from 1800-1945.  In these newly opened galleries, with fabulous views over Edinburgh, we enjoyed the work of artists including McTaggart, Fergusson, Anne Redpath, Phoebe Anna Traquair and the Glasgow Boys. Lovely weather for most of the day ensure that our visit to Edinburgh was thoroughly enjoyable.

Tuesday, 27th August-Talk from James Winnett- The Stones of the Hollows Hill public Art Project and the Medieval High Crosses of Ireland.

As expected, James’s presentation did not disappoint.  The talk, entitled : ‘The Stones of Hollow Hill Public Art Project and the Medieval High Crosses of Ireland’, told the fascinating story of how the original idea developed from the starting point of an eyesore of a landfill. James told the riveting tale that draws on Irish mythology, the folklore of the surrounding landscape and more recent history of the area. Two heroic figures, Brigid (based on St Brigid) and Fionn (based on Fionn Mac Cumhaill) set out on an epic quest to recover a stolen fire.  The work referenced the 2011 fire at the site which raged for a month, as well as the broader themes around waste, climate crisis and healing.  By sharing stories behind the work, including the painstaking research and clever use of graphics, James provided an illuminating insight into the processes involved in the project.     

The finished project comprises 18 hand carved stones located at Kerdiffstown Park near Naas, County Kildare in Ireland.  Feedback from the group was unanimously positive, so an excellent start to the new session.

Tuesday, 24th September-Degas at the Burrell

This month, our planned visit was 'Discovering Degas:  Collecting in the Time of William Burrell' in the final week of this popular exhibition at the Burrell.  On show were all 23 Degas works from the Burrell's original collection, along with another one on loan from Berwick Museum and Art Gallery.  

Feedback from the group about the exhibition was extremely positive and the gallery visit was followed by a nice lunch in the cafe.    

Tuesday, 29th October- ARC talk -Dorothy Parker - Berthe Morisot

This month, we hosted a joint local history and art appreciation talk at the Advanced Research Centre (ARC).  This was a very popular event, with around 40 members in attendance.  The presentation was from author Dorothy Parker and was about her recently published book 'The Angel of Incompleteness'.   The book is based on the life and times of the French impressionist painter Berthe Morisot.  Dorothy shared her extensive research and offered us a fascinating insight into the world of the artist.  Dorothy's excellent power point presentation showed us the artist's work. We heard of Berthe's work, her family life, her personal relationships, her supporters as well as the challenges faced by a female artist in that period. The book's present day main character, Louise, is transported back in time to the Paris studio of the artist in 1871.  This informative, reflective and well received talk offered us all an opportunity to put ourselves into the world of Berthe.  In fact, it felt a bit like time travelling from 21st century Glasgow West End to 19th century Paris!      

Monday, 18th November-Visit to Queen's Cross Church

Our November event was a guided tour of Mackintosh Queen's Cross from a (u3a member) volunteer of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society. Many thanks to Moira for showing us round this beautiful piece of architecture. We were also treated to to tea and biscuits on this wonderful visit.

Tuesday, 3rd December-Mackintosh at the Willow visit.

This month we again visited the Mackintosh at the Willow Tearoom. We were welcomed by the wonderful Oliver Braid and his volunteers for a tour of the building. After hearing about the history of the building and Miss Cranston, we enjoyed tea and cake. We finished our very enjoyable visit with a stencilling session. Another bonus was the beautiful Xmas decorations which put us in the festive mood.

Previous Year's Programme

Glasgow School of Arts Archives,

Guided tour of Mackintosh Willow Tea Rooms,

Pittenweem Arts Festival,

GMOMA-Banksy Cut & Run exhibition,

Visit to Paisley studio of Alexander Stoddart, (King's Sculptor in Ordinary),

Mary Quant Exhibition at Kelvingrove,

National Galleries of Scotland, (Modern 2) Decades: The Art of Change, 1900-1980 and finally,

Hunterian Art Gallery-'Reframed'

(Please click on the link about for further information.)

Sandy Stoddard studio

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