Flamboyant and confrontational, Scottish figurative painter Alexander Goudie (1933-2004) was part of a generation of influential painters who graduated from the Glasgow School of Art in the 1950s, and whose reputations are ripe for reappraisal.

An Artist’s Life, Act I, charts his beginnings in post-war Paisley in the 1940s, student years at Glasgow School of Art in the 1950s and his early career – a period in which Goudie embarked upon a life-long project to document the evolving landscape and culture of his wife’s homeland, Brittany. To accompany this exhibition, we have created a beautifully illustrated publication, which includes vintage images of the artist and family. Join our events programme, which includes personal insight from his son, the artist, author and broadcaster, Lachlan Goudie.

Alexander Goudie

Born: 1933

Place of Birth: Paisley

Died: 2004

Alexander Goudie is widely regarded as one of Scotland’s finest figurative painters. He enrolled in the Glasgow School of Art at just 17, and though he was reportedly boisterous and opinionated, he was focussed on developing traditional skills in painting. He was inspired by Manet, Velazquez and Van Dyke, and along with his peers and contemporaries, David Donaldson, Jimmy Robertson, John Cunningham, Duncan Shanks and John Byrne was trained to understand the alchemy of paint. His son, painter and broadcaster Lachlan Goudie explains:
‘They studied the properties of pigments and mediums, the tension between line and colour, the methods of modelling form and transferring your lived experience onto canvas.’

An Artist’s Life | Act I

Alexander Goudie

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