Scottish Artists in Historical and Contemporary Context by Bill Hare sampler

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micro-model on which the modern world based itself. Since then modern
man has become increasingly aware that the more he progresses, the less sure
he is about the workings of nature and society. What he has learned to do,
through science and art, is to develop theories and models which approximate
to the evolving historical experience. These aids do not fully explain, but
help to make relative sense of that experience. They also however, condition
our personal and social outlook for good or ill. Let us hope that the models
we create for ourselves in the future are more humane than many we have
imprisoned ourselves with in the past.
This catalogue essay was written for the exhibition Signs of the Times – Art and Industry in
Scotland, 1750–1985 shown at the Talbot Rice Gallery, The University of Edinburgh and
the Collins Gallery, University of Strathclyde in 1986.