La Belle Vie | ACT II

3 July 2025 - 26 July 2025

We are delighted to present the second chapter in our celebration of Alexander Goudie’s vivid worlds: the sunlit traditions of Brittany and the theatrical elegance of Glasgow. Goudie’s work reflects a life lived with conviction – rooted in place, family, and the expressive power of paint.

Born in Paisley in 1933, Goudie was a precocious talent who embraced both classical rigour and flamboyant expression, and he lived a dual life in France and Scotland. Whether capturing Breton customs or Glaswegian splendour, Goudie’s art brims with colour, drama, and human warmth.

We thank the Goudie family for generously sharing archive materials that enrich this exhibition.

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.

 

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