It was a time <strong>of</strong> transition in manyways; a generation <strong>of</strong> landscape and genrepainters, mostly senior Academicians, hadbeen represented by the gallery and providedthe heart <strong>of</strong> the picture dealing part <strong>of</strong>the business. But by 1910 younger artists,trained in Paris, were demanding attentionas the inspiration <strong>of</strong> post-Impressionismworked its way through the institutions andconsciousness <strong>of</strong> the art establishmentand public.<strong>The</strong> change in Scotland is best illustratedby <strong>The</strong> <strong>Scottish</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong>’s relationship withSamuel John Peploe (1871-1935). As wehave noted he had his first show in 1903,comprising impressionist landscapes, stilllives and figure compositions painted in afluid manner which recalls both Whistlerand Manet. <strong>The</strong> show was a success andhe showed again in 1909, in a similar veinthough he now pushed the limits <strong>of</strong> this earlytechnical mastery in interiors with his newmodel Peggy McRae. But the show was alsosomething <strong>of</strong> a clear out; he had decided tomove to Paris, partly at the urging <strong>of</strong> his friendJohn Duncan Fergusson; the winds <strong>of</strong> changewere upon him and within two years he sawhis earlier work with a sort <strong>of</strong> disdain; brilliantbut limited. <strong>The</strong> work he brought back to showMcOmish Dott in 1911 horrified the seniorpartner; brilliantly coloured panels <strong>of</strong> Royanand Brittany and the Paris parks and a fewstill lives in a Van Gogh style. Initially rejectedby the gallery, Peploe was to show more inLondon with the Baillie and Stafford Galleriesin these years. In Edinburgh he put on hisown show in the New Galleries in ShandwickPlace, home <strong>of</strong> the artist-run Society <strong>of</strong> Eight.Dott retired shortly afterwards and GeorgeProudfoot quietly mended the fences, buyingwork during the war years and pushing for ajoint contract with Reid and Lefèvre that led toone-man-shows in 1922, 1925, 1927 and 1930.<strong>The</strong> other passion <strong>of</strong> Proudfoot was thework <strong>of</strong> a generation <strong>of</strong> brilliant British etcherswhose popularity in the 20s constituted agolden age for the medium. Seymour Hayden,Edmund Blampied, the Swede Anders Zornand the Scots DY Cameron, James McBeyand Muirhead Bone figured most prominently.<strong>The</strong> public rooms <strong>of</strong> the shipping line ownerMajor Ion Harrison’s home in Helensburghwas sumptuously hung with the work <strong>of</strong>Peploe, Hunter and Cadell but the stairs werefull <strong>of</strong> the latest, sought after prints by thesemasters. <strong>The</strong> print department, at variousstages encompassing master reproductions,etchings and an antiquarian department, wasa feature <strong>of</strong> the gallery up until the 1980s.In more recent times when an artist, likeElizabeth Blackadder or Victoria Crowe hasmade printmaking a significant part <strong>of</strong> theircreative output, the gallery will recognisethis with exhibitions. In addition there havebeen significant exhibitions <strong>of</strong> individualmajor printmakers such as the first HowardHodgkin show in Scotland at the art fair heldat Edinburgh College <strong>of</strong> Art in 1985. At thesame event Robert Fraser, recently reopenedin Cork Street, brought the American graffitiartist Jean-Michel Basquiat (who came intothe gallery and bought some pencils andwhose auction record from 2007 now standsat $14.2m). <strong>The</strong> event, organised by RichardDemarco (and titled Demarcations!), waspoorly attended and sadly within three yearsboth Fraser and Basquiat had died.In the post-war decades the galleryfostered the careers <strong>of</strong> the painters wh<strong>of</strong>ormed the Edinburgh School, and inparticular William Gillies. Gillies died in1973 and by then the gallery had sold wellover 1,000 works for him, more than half tothe collector Robert Lillie the pick <strong>of</strong> whosecollection eventually went to <strong>The</strong> <strong>Scottish</strong>National <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> Modern Art. In this sensea significant portion <strong>of</strong> the modern collectionwas acquired indirectly through <strong>The</strong> <strong>Scottish</strong><strong>Gallery</strong> and many other inspired purchases<strong>of</strong> work by artists as diverse as William Gear,Robin Philipson and Rory McEwan came intothe National Collection from the gallery.As well as Gillies the career <strong>of</strong> Philipson, hissuccessor as Head <strong>of</strong> the Painting School,blossomed under the guidance <strong>of</strong> BillMacaulay, the gentle academic who steeredthe business through the confusions <strong>of</strong> the60s and 70s. By the 80s Bill Jackson wasat the helm and had moved the gallery to94 George Street; Guy Peploe joined himin late 1983. It was an exciting decade forpainting that saw the emergence <strong>of</strong> the NewGlasgow group including the prodigioustalents <strong>of</strong> Stephen Conroy and Alison Wattwho had her first major solo show in thegallery’s short lived London premises in 1990.<strong>The</strong>re were major shows <strong>of</strong> new work duringthe Edinburgh Festival for John Bellany in1985, Bruce McLean (including a performancewhich took place at <strong>The</strong> Fruitmarket <strong>Gallery</strong>)in 1986 and important survey exhibitionsexploring the theme <strong>of</strong> modernism in<strong>Scottish</strong> painting.<strong>The</strong> gallery finally moved from CastleStreet in 1981; a short move to 94 GeorgeStreet, premises with a narrow Victorian shop4 5