Lo, Oil Paintings!

Carnival Procession by Dorothy M. Peach. Held at the Library Annexe. Part of the University of Edinburgh’s Fine Art Collection

Among the rather diverse collections held here at the Library Annexe is one that sticks out, if only because of the bright colours and hefty items it contains. Lining the walls and filling a sizeable number of the Annexe’s shelves is a fascinating collection of canvas paintings completed by students at the Edinburgh College of Art. Inherited when the University and the ECA combined in Summer 2011, the collection comprises of over 1000 fine art pieces.

Given the bulky size of the pictures and the fact that they’re stored away from the cosy and familiar Main Library at George Square, you might be forgiven for thinking that the collection could be as interesting as it likes without you ever getting to see it; not so!

As part of a campaign to document the nation’s art and make it available on-line the BBC have digitised the collection and made it available on the web page ‘Your Paintings.’ The Your Paintings project aims to make the paintings, the stories behind them and their actual location available to the public. Not only that but when you run out of pictures to tag on Facebook you can tag the paintings instead.

To browse through one of the library’s more colourful collections at your leisure, visit the site and take a look:

BBC “Your Paintings”: Edinburgh College of Art

Here are a couple of my favourites. Why not go and find yours?

Landscape with Figures by Kathleen Russell

Carnival Procession by Dorothy M. Peach

Kew Garden by Gillian Mather

Maria O’Hara, Library Annexe Assistant

The Annexe team choose some highlights

I’ve selected a couple of paintings that really stood out to me. A nice impressionist still life and something a bit more colourful! I particularly like the Curtain Call painting as, although the reds and blues likely represent a stage curtain, to me the image evokes the atmosphere of lively applause amid showers of ticker tape.

Still Life with Fish by Alistair F. Flatterly

Curtain Call by Francis Convery

Carl Jones, Library Annexe Supervisor

                                                 

A warm still life with rose, gold, and lovely crisp apples.

Still Life with Apples by D. Gordon Campbell

An engaging portrait. I like the way light and shadow are used to encourage the eye to focus on and examine the subjects expression.

Portrait Study by Thomas Kim Redpath

I have a particular fascination with doors, archways, and the in-between.

Arches by Stella Anne Sandeman

Stephanie (Charlie) Farley, Library Annexe Assistant