Joan Eardley: A Sense of Place - Analysis

Joan Eardley – A Sense of Place – Scottish Gallery of Modern Art One

Two sections –           Landscapes of Catterline, Aberdeenshire;

Portraits of Residents of Townhead, Glasgow.

I restricted the range my analysis by only looking at the Portraits of Townhead. 

Question:  How are women represented in this exhibition?

Data collection started with counting the number of men/women represented.

Number in image	Subject	Notes
1	Man	Nude, oil
2	Girls	Oil
1	Man	Reading, hearth, oil
1	Man	Smoking, hearth, oil
1	Man	Carthorse, smoking, oil
5 /1	Men/woman	Back street bookie, oil
3	Boys	Street kids
2	Boys	Chalk and wash.  Prep sketch
2	Boys	Chalk and wash.  Comics. Prep sketch
2	Boys	Chalk and wash.  Reading.  Prep sketch
1	Boys	Chalk and wash. Legs and shorts. Exaggerated long thin legs.  Prep sketch
1 / 2	Boy/girls	Pen and ink
2/3	Boys/girls	Pen and ink
1	Boy	Ink, pastel, chalk
5	Boys	Prep sketches, arm and leg gestures
3	Girls	Prep sketches, arm and leg gestures.
1/3/3	Woman/boys/girls	Photo
2/5	Adult/indistinct child	Oil. Street scene
1/6	Adult/indistinct child	Oil  Playing hopscotch
2/2	Adult/girls	Oil. Street scene
2/1	Boys/girl	Photo.  Tenement window
2/1	Boys/girl	Photo.  Tenement window.
2/1	Boys/girl	Oil.  Tenement window
1	Girl	Photo.  Tenement window
1	Girl	Oil.  Tenement window.
1	Girl	Oil
1	Girl	Oil
2	Boys	Oil
2	Girls	Oil and collage
2	Boys	Oils
2	Girls	Oil and collage
2	Girls	Pastel
2	Boys	Pastel
1	Girl	Pastel
1	Girl	Pastel

9 men/2 women/5 indistinct adult = 16 adults

30 girls/ 34 boys/11 indistinct child = 75 children

On 28 December 2016 1000-1300 hours, 95 women viewers; 44 men viewers

Prior to attending, I had no idea of the content of the exhibition, only that it was a solo exhibition by Joan Eardley 1921-1963.  Subsequent research showed it was curated by a man, Patrick Elliott.  It turned out that Eardley depicted far more children (75), than adults (16), and a nearly 50/50 split of boys and girls. 

There were several references to critics of Eardley’s time, describing her style as ‘social realism’.  She did not like to be categorized this way.  Socal Realism is a style of painting, especially of the 1930s in the USA, which depicts social or political comment, edged with satire. 

Questions arising from the research exercise: 

What is my style?  I would describe it as Social Respect.  I am not trying to be satirical, but I am creating work to depict socially congruent situations that are lived by ordinary people.

Why was Joan Eardley selected as a subject for an exhibition now? I asked the staff on duty, and they did not know, but said Eardley was a well-known Scottish female painter, who would be familiar to the viewing public.  The staff gave me Patrick Elliott’s email address if I wanted to ask further questions of him. 

A quick search on the internet identified the National Galleries of Scotland was offered the chance to hold an exhibition of her work in 1988, the 25^th anniversary of her death, but the then Director declined it.  No reason given.  Instead the Rice Galleries and Scottish Royal Academy held the 1988 retrospective, followed by the National Galleries of Scotland retrospective in 2008-9. 

Do National Galleries of Scotland publish their strategy documents about what and who gets exhibited and why?  They publish lots of policies online (good) but mostly about collections and ethics.  The policies were all dated January 2014 so a comprehensive policy update was conducted then. Nothing about subject matter or equality of representation. 

The exhibition included copies of personal letters to and from Eardley.  One included a reference to her sexual orientation – she was a lesbian – where a private letter to a lover was on display, showing her comment ‘enjoying snuggling up to you in bed’.  The exhibition respectfully acknowledged her orientation, without salacious detail, which I felt was a positive way to represent her. 

Conclusion:  Joan Eardley was represented in a respectful way, demonstrating the breadth of her art via media and subject matter.  Her depiction of women, as girls and women, was respectful and validated the deprived and mundane as interesting subject matter.