A Vibrant Network: Exhibition Catalogues in Barns-Graham’s Archive
Alannah Renton has recently completed a volunteering project in the Archive to gain experience prior to starting the Archives and Records Management Postgraduate Diploma course at the University of Dundee. Her project involved cataloguing exhibition ephemera collected by Wilhelmina Barns-Graham during her life and artistic career.
Over 1000 exhibition catalogues
The Trust holds a large collection of Wilhelmina Barns-Graham’s flyers, catalogues and private view invitations to exhibitions spanning the majority of her working life during the twentieth to early twenty-first century.
The collection demonstrates Barns-Graham’s extensive network of contemporaries, with catalogues for one-person exhibitions located across the United Kingdom and Europe. The process of cataloguing this collection has offered an insight into Willie as a person, what art she herself enjoyed, and who she engaged with.
Catalogues for two of William Gear's solo exhibitions (WBG/9/872 and WBG/9/868), and photos of Gear at Edinburgh College of Art from Barns-Graham's photo album (BGP/1/1), and of WBG, William and Charlotte Gear in London, in the 1980s (BGP/2/31/2/3) (photographer unknown).
William Gear is a prominent figure in the collection with eight items; a mixture of flyers, catalogues and Private View invitations. On a 1992 flyer for an exhibition at Redfern Gallery, in London, Gear writes “best wishes, Bill” – a personal annotation showing the lasting friendship between the two, that began while both Gear and Barns-Graham were at the Edinburgh College of art.
Evidence of how these events helped Barns-Graham to stay in touch with her vast array of artist friends and acquaintances is provided by a Private View invitation from Ancrum Gallery in Roxburghshire, to an exhibition of works by William Johnstone in 1988. The invitation was accompanied by a postcard with a heartfelt get well soon message from Johnstone to Barns-Graham.
The front cover and internal pages of Marlborough Gallery's Juan Gris exhibition catalogue. Barns-Graham's annotations can be seen around the black and white reproductions (WBG/9/908).
Instant reactions
In a Juan Gris exhibition catalogue from Marlborough Gallery 1958, small annotations by Barns-Graham have been written across the pages. The catalogue itself was printed in black and white, so Barns-Graham noted a list of colours to accompany some of the paintings, to keep them fresh in her mind. Another annotation simply states “beauty”, indicating a particular favourite from the exhibition.
This example of annotations in Barns-Graham’s own hand demonstrates what further information can be gleaned from the exhibition catalogues. Not only does the collection indicate what exhibitions the artist might have visited, but it also sheds light on how she viewed the works, and where she found inspiration – or where she disagreed with the exhibition curation!
(Left) An exhibition catalogue for 'Scratching the Surface' by Margaret Hunter at Rebecca Hossack Gallery 1994. There appear to be muddy cat footprints across the cover (WBG/9/1005). (Right) Rowan James and Barns-Graham at an exhibition opening, Crawford Arts Centre (photographer unknown) (BGP/2/128/1).
Additionally, there are items addressed to Rowan James at Balmungo, Willie’s home in Scotland. Rowan was not only Willie’s Studio Manager but also her close friend, and it is clear to see with the number of items for her that she was heavily involved in the art scene too. A catalogue sent to Rowan by Margaret Hunter in 1994 from her recent touring exhibition comes with a letter written by her, in which she states “Perhaps you will be in London during the time of the exhibition – I hope you will see it”. Willie regularly sought Rowan’s opinion in the studio when choosing works for exhibitions, so it is interesting to find traces of Rowan’s own exhibition-going habits in the archive, and to shed light on her own artistic tastes and interests.
Other materials include invites to book signings, talks and other exhibitions. Perhaps Willie did not attend many of the exhibitions she got invited to, however the wide variety of artists provides a portrait of the art world during this time.
The WBGT would like to express our thanks to Alannah Renton for the excellent work she completed while volunteering with us between October 2024 and June 2025.