A major retrospective exhibition has opened at Summerhall and will run until 5 March.
Charles MacLean, the whisky expert, explained the background of this exhibition which has a great personal connection for him and his three sons. He welcomed all guests to the preview on Saturday night.
Charlie said: It is an exhibition of over 80 paintings and some loose works on paper, and displays a truly extraordinary range of subjects and skills.
“The Cox family and mine were the best of friends and we went on holiday together to the Isle of Arran and so we were very, very close.
“I had no idea of the scale and quality of her work. She was extraordinarily modest as a painter, somewhat shy I think, in terms of her work.
“Bridget left her work to the boys with the wish that it should go to people who knew her or people who enjoyed the paintings themselves.”
Jamie MacLean said in introduction: “Auntie Bridgie was godmother to me, but really to the three of us. We viewed her like an auntie and she was also a much needed sister to Dad. She meant an awful lot, not only to the four of us, but to the wider MacLean family and to a lot of you here this evening. She was a constant presence of love support and encouragement through all of our lives. Although she has physically left this world not all of her has gone as her spirit and depth of character lives on in the paintings and pieces here. She continues to have an effect on our lives, and the lives of friends and family, and so many others in the years to come.”
Lachlan said: Bridget was very supportive of the silly things that we have schemed over the years and supportive of all of us. Although it is all about Bridget all of the money raised will go into funding a clean water project for those who don’t have access to a clean water source.”
Ewan said: “Bridget was very shy, and I never saw any of her work in any exhibition so it is an amazing show. And also thank you to Summerhall for having us. I couldn’t imagine a more special venue for the exhibition.”
Bridget Cox was born in the Lake District at Caldbeck, Cumberland.
Having completed her foundation course at Carlisle College of Art in the early 1970s, she moved to Ireland – the Cox homeland and a people with which she felt deep affinity – to train at the University of Ulster, obtaining a BA (Hons) in Fine Art and later working there as a tutor in painting.
She went on to establish a studio in Co. Galway, where she produced extensively over a period of 30 years. In 2000 she moved to a larger studio in Cumberland, choosing to be closer to family.
Charlie MacLean continued: “Her talent was prodigious, as I think this exhibition demonstrates, ranging from portraiture and still life, to landscape and abstract painting. Bridget shows herself to be a true colourist, balancing bright hues with soft, quiet colour. Complex arrangements of greys and creamy whites instinctively coordinate cool with warm. It is this subtle balance of vibrant and quiet colour that gives Bridget’s still lives a sense of calm contemplation and her portraits a deep empathy.
“We were brought up together and she was like a sister to me. She was a quintessential artist: self-centred, self-doubting but self-sufficient.
“Bridget had a rich, varied and eventful life, living through the depths of depression to the peaks of creativity. She enriched the lives of those who knew her in so many ways – although she was probably unaware of it.
She exhibited her work in France, Dublin, Belfast, Galway, London and Carlisle, and her talent was recognised internationally in 2019 when a painting was included in the National Portrait Gallery’s International Portrait Competition – described as “The most prestigious portrait painting competition in the world, representing the very best in contemporary portrait painting”.
“There were 2,538 entrants in 2019 from 84 countries. Only 44 pictures were chosen. No mean achievement.
Bridget left her extensive archive to The MacLean Foundation, a charity set up by my boys, Ewan, Jamie and Lachlan, with the goal of providing clean water for communities around the world. All pro- ceeds from the exhibition will go to this cause.”
The posthumous exhibition will run until 5 March 2023 at Summerhall.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
