Philip Braham CLOSER TO HOME
Philip Braham CLOSER TO HOME 6–30 JANUARY 2021
FOREWORD Phil Braham has exhibited with The Scottish Gallery since
He has also quietly emerged as one of the great didacts of
1984. His first consigned works were violent, expressionist
Scottish art education leading a course on art and philosophy
paintings and monotypes examining personal history and
at Duncan of Jordanstone and encouraging generations
the real history of battle, imbued into place. In 1987 he was
of students to question the latest conventions of practice.
selected to participate in the seminal survey exhibition The
In this new body of work in oils and in archival prints
Vigorous Imagination, including two major oils Clearing,
he explores the landscape around his new home and studio
Battleground Pinkie, 1987 and Breach, Pinkie, 1987. The Battle
in the marches between Highland and Lowland: ancient
of Pinkie, the last between England and Scotland before
disputed lands, rich in human history: agricultural, religious
the Union of Crowns was evoked with forest and fire, the
and violent. The thin mantle of the earth bears witness to
conflagration of Scotland’s resistance to the Rough Wooing of
the human struggle, the beautiful indifference of the passing
Henry VIII. Since then Braham has mined some of the same
seasons dictating the rhythms of farming, social life, warfare
territory, looking at the remoteness of central Poland where
and death.
the final, awful event of the Holocaust took place; at the sad
We are delighted to showcase this haunting body
endroits of suicide; at light, reflected, obscured sometimes
of work from an artist deserving of particular contemplation.
reassuring sometimes ominous. He has used photography in short and long exposure, he has refined his technique as an
GUY PEPLOE
oil painter to negate the expressive power of the medium in
November 2020
favour of a cool, symbolically neutral equilibrium of surface.
Heavenly Turbulence, 2020 (cat. 20) (detail)
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Philip on Ben A’an, 2020
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CLOSER TO HOME Just before Christmas in 2017, my wife and I moved our
and photographs Closer to Home because I came to understand
family away from the vibrant capital city of Edinburgh to the
that the idea of ‘home’ need not be rooted in the impressions
quiet rural town of Crieff in Perthshire. There were several
imprinted during childhood, warm and strong though these
reasons for the move, but primarily, we felt that our lives were
are, but that the longing-to-return might instead be for a
always rushed, and we wanted to spend more time together
destination that still lies ahead: a horizon that has now come
as a family and a little less time working just to pay the bills.
into view.
We found a house in a quiet, leafy part of Crieff, but I had
As that year ended and 2018 began, the snow fell heavily
no studio, so painting had to cease for a while. This pause
in Strathearn, continuing well into April. Snow unifies the land
allowed me to explore our new and beautiful landscape
and sky, removing all the frivolous colours from the landscape.
through photography.
Trees are silhouettes, fences are dynamic lines and pylons are
A camera provides the best excuse for a walk, and
totems standing over the white emptiness. Everything had its
walking is the best way to learn about a place. Thus, I began
place, and all was wrapped in peaceful silence. I have tried to
to record the cyclical seasons of the Perthshire landscape like
capture that sense of serenity in a number of photographs and
a wide-eyed interloper filled with a newly rekindled sense of
paintings. The first of these were photographs taken very close
wonder and joy. Every outing yielded a photographic gift,
to our new home: Turret Burn, Snow (cat. 46); Snowfall on Lovers
whatever the weather or time of day. Time seemed to saunter
Walk (cat. 40); Copse by Culcrieff Wood (cat. 41) and March Snow
rather than to race as it used to, and the slower pace allowed
on the Knock (cat. 39). The period of intense immersion and
me to become more attentive to the world around me. I came
recording would later bear fruit in the paintings that followed.
to realise a sense of contentment and belonging that I could
It takes a while for me to be ready to paint; I am not an artist
not have anticipated. I have titled this exhibition of paintings
like the late, great James Morrison, who can just set up an easel
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in a field and begin to work. A distillation period is necessary
Whilst the winter paintings are meditations on the
first, so it was a full year later that I began to paint the winter
stillness and serenity of the snow-covered land, others hold a
landscapes in this exhibition. The first of these was the large
narrative meaning: Black Crow by a Stony Path (cat. 1) reflects
canvas Currochs Field, Winter (cat. 6), whose snow filled furrows
on the suicide of a close friend in 2019; in this work the
drive the eye to the tree line on the horizon. I wanted to capture
harvested field with its dried and broken stalks takes the eye
the luminosity of the snow against the blackened stalks left
to a point on the path where the crow has alighted. It is a small
from the previous summer’s harvest. You will notice that the
but not insignificant event that brings added poignancy to the
view is from the same location as the two photographs The Last
scene. Endless Path (cat. 12) also alludes to the path of life, but
Day of Summer (cat. 25) and The First Day of Autumn (cat. 26), so
the endlessness refers to the generations that came before us
I often revisit the same sites. First Snow of Winter (cat. 23) and
and to those who will follow into the future, and one cannot
Blue December, Torlum Hill (cat. 7) are just a few minutes’ walk
see very far ahead. One could be tempted to read this painting
from the house: one strolls up through the woods to the right in
as a response to the dreadful COVID-19 pandemic that has
the first painting to climb up to the vantage point in the second
held us in its grip throughout 2020, seemingly with no end in
that looks back down the hill. The treeline that rises from the
sight, but that is only an inflection on its meaning: there will
centre of Blue December, Torlum Hill, meeting the sloping hill
be an end to the pandemic and life will go on and perhaps
to the right is the same line of trees that features in Currochs
even be changed for the better.
Field, Winter, so these paintings map the vicinity of our home.
As an artist, one cannot help but be caught in the
I may not have gone very far but I wanted to go deep, to come
current of events in our time, but painting can sometimes
to understand the lie of the land and the agricultural usage
bear the weight of hope and despair and turn these emotions
that continuously changes its appearance. Winter Copse at Dusk
into images that will be relevant in the future, just as they
(cat. 5) features an island of trees that have self-seeded where
are now. First Light, Torlum Hill (cat. 19) was painted in the
rocks had been cleared from the fields many generations ago.
late summer of 2020, just as it seemed that the virus was
The sun goes down while the ploughed land sleeps through the
under control. Dawn breaks through the darkness as the sun
winter in readiness for spring.
appears on the horizon and a cluster of lights reciprocate in
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the distance. Writing this now, we are mired in a second wave
period and this long gestation enables particular perceptions,
of infections, yet this very day it has been announced that
reflections and aesthetic judgement to enter into the artwork.
a vaccine is ready for approval, and so hope returns again.
In reproduction, my paintings may look photographic, but
The day will soon dawn when we are free of fear. Heavenly
they do not feel like photographs when you stand before them.
Turbulence (cat. 20) depicts the extremely rare phenomenon
My particular sensibilities are inherent and visible in the
of asperatus clouds which suddenly formed over Auchterarder
material properties of the painting. The hand, eye and mind of
one evening last year as I dropped my daughter off to her
the artist conjures the painting, whereas the camera captures
gymnastics class. I was spellbound but I managed to capture
a photograph mechanically. The philosopher Roland Barthes
an image on my phone. In ancient times, such an event would
has said that one can love a painting, but one only admires a
have been understood as a harbinger of doom, and the arrival
photograph. We may disagree with him, but I think it is true
of the disease would have fulfilled that dread. We are not
that we experience paintings differently to photographs: the
so superstitious now because science has debunked these
durational conditions required of painting endows the work
fallacies, but perhaps with that we have lost something of our
with meanings that are not fixed; its significance changes for
sense of connectedness to nature.
each viewer and each viewing, but a photograph takes us back
I see painting and photography as two distinct parts
to what had been.
of my practice, although each influences the other. For
Closer to Home presents a holistic overview of my
me, the distinction is that photographs are indexical, and
practice that brings both facets together, entwined yet
painting is durational. Photographs are indexical because
different.
they relate to a specific time and place in the unfolding history of the world: Fallen Tree, Torlum Wood (cat. 33) was
PHILIP BRAHAM
taken after Storm Callum struck in 2018, and Flooded Fields
November 2020
by Templemill (cat. 37) recorded the floods in February this year, when the River Earn burst its banks. Paintings are durational inasmuch as they are resolved over an extended
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CAT. 1
BLACK CROW BY A STONY PATH, SOUTH FORR, 2019 oil on linen, 80 x 110 cm
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CAT. 2
FIELD OF THISTLES, 2020 oil on linen, 80 x 110 cm
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11
CAT. 3
LATE SUMMER ON THE MEADOW, 2020 oil on linen, 65 x 92 cm
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13
CAT. 4
THE SOMNOLENCE OF WINTER, 2020 oil on linen, 60 x 80 cm
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15
CAT. 5
WINTER COPSE AT DUSK, 2019 oil on linen, 89 x 116 cm
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17
CAT. 6
CURROCHS FIELD, WINTER, 2019 oil on linen, 97 x 130 cm
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CAT. 7
BLUE DECEMBER, TORLUM HILL, 2019 oil on linen, 81 x 101 cm
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21
CAT. 8
A QUIET ENDING, 2020 oil on linen, 65 x 92 cm
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23
CAT. 9
A PARTIAL ECLIPSE, 2020 oil on linen, 60 x 80 cm
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25
CAT. 10
RISING MIST, 2020 oil on paper, 15.5 x 22.5 cm
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CAT. 11
AFTER THE FLOOD, 2020 oil on paper, 15.5 x 22.5 cm
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CAT. 12
ENDLESS PATH, 2020 oil on linen, 89 x 130 cm
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CAT. 13
MOUNTAIN PATH II, 2019 oil on paper, 28 x 37.5 cm
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CAT. 14
MOUNTAIN PATH I, 2019 oil on paper, 30 x 40 cm
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CAT. 15
THE NORTH SEA I, 2019 oil on paper, 12.5 x 19 cm
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CAT. 16
CAT. 17
THE NORTH SEA II, 2019
THE NORTH SEA III, 2019
oil on paper, 12.5 x 19 cm
oil on paper, 12.5 x 19 cm
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CAT. 18
LIFTING CLOUD, BEINN GHLAS, 2019 oil on linen, 80 x 110 cm
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CAT. 19
FIRST LIGHT, TORLUM HILL, 2020 oil on linen, 150 x 225 cm
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CAT. 20
HEAVENLY TURBULENCE, 2020 oil on linen, 81 x 106 cm
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41
CAT. 21
WINTER LIGHT IN TORLUM WOOD, 2020 oil on linen, 60 x 80 cm
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43
CAT. 22
WINTER’S SILENCE, 2020 oil on linen, 65 x 92 cm
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45
CAT. 23
FIRST SNOW OF WINTER, 2019 oil on linen, 80 x 110 cm
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CAT. 24
A DISTANT HORIZON, 2020 oil on linen, 65 x 92 cm
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CAT. 25
THE LAST DAY OF SUMMER archival pigment print, 30.5 x 45.5 cm
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CAT. 26
THE FIRST DAY OF AUTUMN archival pigment print, 30.5 x 45.5 cm
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CAT. 27
HIGH SUMMER, CRIEFF archival pigment print, 28 x 35.5 cm
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CAT. 28
THROUGH THE BARLEY archival pigment print, 28 x 35.5 cm
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CAT. 29
FIELD OF PURPLE TANSY archival pigment print, 28 x 35.5 cm
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CAT. 30
FOG AT FOWLIS WESTER archival pigment print, 28 x 35.5 cm
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CAT. 31
PLOUGHED FIELD, SOUTH FORR archival pigment print, 28 x 35.5 cm
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CAT. 32
LOW CLOUD, MIDDLETON archival pigment print, 28 x 35.5 cm
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CAT. 33
FALLEN TREE, TORLUM WOOD archival pigment print, 28 x 35.5 cm
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CAT. 34
TARGET, TORLUM WOOD archival pigment print, 30.5 x 45.5 cm
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CAT. 35
HEAVY RAINFALL OVER STRATHEARN archival pigment print, 28 x 35.5 cm
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CAT. 36
STORM CLOUDS OVER BRACO archival pigment print, 28 x 35.5 cm
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CAT. 37
FLOODED FIELDS BY TEMPLEMILL archival pigment print, 30.5 x 45.5 cm
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CAT. 38
LOCH MEALLBRODDEN archival pigment print, 30.5 x 45.5 cm
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CAT. 39
MARCH SNOW ON THE KNOCK archival pigment print, 28 x 35.5 cm
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CAT. 40
SNOWFALL ON LOVERS WALK archival pigment print, 28 x 35.5 cm
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CAT. 41
COPSE BY CULCRIEFF WOOD archival pigment print, 28 x 35.5 cm
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CAT. 42
APRIL SNOW, MUIR OF ORD archival pigment print, 28 x 35.5 cm
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CAT. 43
THE SMA’ GLEN archival pigment print, 30.5 x 45.5 cm
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CAT. 44
DUN MOR archival pigment print, 28 x 35.5 cm
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CAT. 45
RIVER EARN archival pigment print, 28 x 35.5 cm
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CAT. 46
TURRET BURN, SNOW archival pigment print, 28 x 35.5 cm
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PHILIP BRAHAM Philip Braham graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College
collections hold examples of his paintings and photographs.
of Art in 1980, before completing a Postgraduate at the Royal
In 2010 he presented a solo exhibition at the Royal Scottish
Academy of Fine Art in Holland the following year. He then
Academy during the Edinburgh Festival. Awards include the
undertook a further year of research as visiting artist at the
prestigious RSA Guthrie Award for Painting in 1994 and the
University of California in Los Angeles. Braham first came to
RSA Morton Award for Lens Based Work, 2009.
prominence in the 1980’s with the rise of figurative painting
Braham works in both painting and photography, and
in Scotland that culminated in The Vigorous Imagination
his research investigates the differences and overlaps between
exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in
these two disciplines, acknowledging that both are supremely
1987. His first solo exhibition at The Scottish Gallery was in
capable of authentic representations of Being. His practice
1985, then subsequently in 1988, 2005, 2014 and 2016.
is informed by his interest in continental aesthetics. Philip
Galleries in London, Berlin, Copenhagen, and Oslo
Braham is Programme Director for Art and Philosophy at the
have represented his work, and major public and private
University of Dundee.
Philip Braham in his Crieff studio, 2019
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PHILIP BRAHAM 1959
Born in Glasgow
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1976–80
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art,
2021
The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
Dundee. DA (Painting)
2018
The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
Royal Academy of Fine Art, The Hague,
2016
Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow
Holland (Postgraduate in Painting)
2014
The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
University of California at Los Angeles,
2011
Raab Gallery, Berlin
Visiting Artist
2011
Union Gallery, Edinburgh
0.5 FTE Senior Lecturer in Fine Art,
2010
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
DJCAD, University of Dundee
2006
Osborne Samuel, London
Programme Director for Art & Philosophy,
2005
The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
DJCAD, University of Dundee
2003
BCA Gallery, London
2000
Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh
2000
BCA Gallery, London
1999
Compass Gallery, Glasgow
1998
Galleri Christian Dam, Oslo
1997
BCA Gallery, London
1995
Raab Boukamel Gallery, London
1994
Galleri Christian Dam, Copenhagen
1994
Raab Boukamel Gallery, London
1993
Compass Gallery, Glasgow
1980–81 1981–82 2000–present 2013–present
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1992
Raab Gallery, London
1989
Raab Gallery, London
1988
The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
2016
Flora Depicta, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
1987
The Glasgow Arts Centre
2016
Reunion, Union Gallery, Edinburgh
1985
The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
2015
September Song, Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow
1984
Main Fine Art, Glasgow
2014
Royal Scottish Academy 188th Exhibition,
2017
Critic’s Choice, Bohun Gallery, Henley upon Thames, London
Edinburgh SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2020
Great Scots, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
2019
Confluence: Tradition in Contemporary Art,
2013
Museum, Alloway 2011
Montclair State University, New Jersey 2019 2019
The Miniaturists III, The Scottish Gallery,
2011
Surrealism versus the Sublime, Raab Gallery, Berlin
Edinburgh
2011
7 European Artists in Yemen, Royal Geographical
Fully Awake, Edinburgh College of Art for
Society, London 2011
Back to the Drawing Board, Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow
2010
Through the Woods, Jagged Art, London
2017
The Vigorous Imagination Revisited, Roger Billcliffe
Public Image, Cooper Gallery, University of Dundee
Royal Scottish Academy 2017
7 European Artists in Yemen, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris
2017–18 Ages of Wonder: Scotland’s Art from 1540 to Now, 2010
8 European Artists in Yemen, Bab-al Yemen Gallery, Sana’a, Yemen
2009
Gallery, Glasgow 2017
DIY: Photographers & Books, Cleveland Art Museum, Ohio
Edinburgh Art Festival 2019
Tender and Savage, Robert Burns Birthplace
Royal Scottish Academy 183rd Exhibition: RSA Morton Award winner
The Vigorous Imagination: Then and Now, Fine Art
2009
Society, Edinburgh
Inspired, Homecoming Scotland exhibition; Mitchell Library, Glasgow
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2008
Royal Scottish Academy 182nd Exhibition
1994
Visions of Albion III, Collyer-Bristow, London
2008
Scottish Landscape, The Park Gallery, Falkirk
1994
The Glory of the Garden, Art Space, London
2007
Royal Scottish Academy 181st Exhibition
1993
Visions of Albion II, Collyer Bristow, London
2005
The Call of the Sea, Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh
1992
150th anniversary exhibition, The Scottish Gallery,
2003
40th Anniversary Exhibition, Demarco European
Edinburgh
Art Foundation 2002
1992
Adapt, Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum,
Collyer-Bristow, London
Glasgow 2001
1991
New European Artists, exhibition and book launch, 1991
Mountain, Wolverhampton Art Gallery and
New Scottish Painting, Galerie Bureaux et Magazins, Ostend, Belgium
Museum 1998
20th Century Scottish Painting, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
Sotheby’s, Amsterdam 1999
Visions of Albion – Aspects of British Landscape,
1990
Art and Nature, The Botanic Gardens, Cagliari,
Philip Braham, Martin Kane, Barbara Rae – Midlands Contemporary Art
Sardinia
1989
Il Giocco Dell’Oca, Cagliari, Sardinia
1998
Scotland The Brave, Forbes Galleries, New York
1989
CITAC, Sala Parpallo/Deputation Ce Valencia, Spain
1997
International Kunst, Galleri Christian Dam,
1987
20th Century Scottish Masters, The Scottish Gallery,
Copenhagen, Denmark 1996
Endangered Spaces, Christies, London
1996
Liebe und Poesie, Galerie Tobias Hirschmann,
Edinburgh 1987
Gallery of Modern Art
Frankfurt, Germany 1996 1995
The Vigorous Imagination, Scottish National
1986
Die Kraft Der Bilder, Martin-Gropius Bau, Berlin,
Scottish Art Today, Edinburgh International Festival
Germany
1986
The Human Touch, Fischer Fine Art, London
Royal Scottish Academy 169th exhibition: 1st Prize
1985
Portraits on Paper, Scottish Arts Council touring
RSA Guthrie Award
exhibition
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1985
Networking, O’Kane Gallery, Houston, Texas
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
1985
The Smith Biennial, Stirling
Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum BBC London
AWARDS 2009
Chichester University Collections Royal Scottish Academy Morton Award for lens-
The City Art Centre, Edinburgh
based work
Contemporary Art Society, London
Friends of the Royal Scottish Academy Research
Educational Institute of Scotland
Bursary
Fleming Collection, London
1994
Guthrie Award, Royal Scottish Academy
Gallant House Gallery, Chichester
1989
Scottish Arts Council Award
Life Association of Scotland
1985
Educational Institute of Scotland Award
Lillie Art Gallery, Glasgow
1981
Greenshields Award
McManus Art Gallery, Dundee
1980
British Council Scholarship
Perth Museum and Art Gallery
2003
The Richard Demarco Archive, Edinburgh Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh Standard Life, Edinburgh Stirling University Collections Sunderland Art Gallery University of Dundee Collections
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Published by The Scottish Gallery to coincide with the exhibition Philip Braham CLOSER TO HOME 6–30 January 2021 Exhibition can be viewed online at www.scottish-gallery.co.uk/philipbraham ISBN: 978 1 912900 29 9 Designed by Kenneth Gray Photography by the artist Printed by J Thomson Colour Printers All rights reserved. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced in any form by print, photocopy or by any other means, without the permission of the copyright holders and of the publishers.
Cover: First Light, Torlum Hill, 2020, oil on linen, 150 x 225 cm (cat. 19) (detail) Inside front cover: Currochs Field, Winter, 2019, oil on linen, 97 x 130 cm (cat. 6) (detail)
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CAT. 47
CURROCHS PATH, CRIEFF archival pigment print, 28 x 35.5 cm