Alasdair Gray

A true polymath, Alasdair Gray is nothing short of a national institution in Scotland; celebrated for his contribution to Scotland’s visual and literary arts.

He is considered Scotland’s foremost post-modern author; creator of the 20th century literary masterpiece ‘Lanark’, published in 1981. His 1992 novel ‘Poor Things’ was recently adapted into an Oscar nominated film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos.

A graduate of the Glasgow School of Art, major paintings by Gray are held in the collections of the Scottish National Gallery and Kelvingrove Museum. An exceptional muralist, Gray’s designed and executed monumental and much-loved works in Glasgow’s Ubiquitous Chip, Oran Mor venue and Hillhead underground station.

Portraiture, as Gray put it, was “a habit I carried into any place where I could relax and feel at home”. In works from this period, Gray would typically draw in the main lines “in one go on cheap newsprint, wrapping paper, the plain side of spare wallpaper rolls… My earliest portraits often had black or grey backgrounds with subdued tones and colours.”