Dr. Alexander Moffat, commonly referred to as Sandy Moffat, is a painter, author, philosopher, teacher and master of the fine arts. A Royal Scottish Academician and holder of an OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire). Sandy’s works can be viewed in numerous galleries and public space including The National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh, The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Arts Council of Great Britain and in The Yale Centre of British Art. On the 15th of June 2018, in conjunction with David Harding RSA and Sam Ainsley RSA, Sandy received an honorary Doctorate from Glasgow School of Arts.¹
Sandy is the current president of the Essential School of Painting, a former Head of Painting and Printmaking at the Glasgow School of Art who is highly credited with encouraging and steering the resurgence of figurative painting at The GSA. He has been a visiting lecturer and external examiner to several schools of art including The Winchester School of Art, Croydon School of Art, Canterbury College of Art, Chelsea College of Art & Design, Gray’s School of Art and The University of Highlands and Islands.
He has had solo exhibitions in numerous places including “A View of the Portrait” at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, an exhibition at The Press Club Warsaw, “Images from Three Decades” at The Open Eye Gallery in Edinburgh and very recently “Paintings as Arguments” at The Peacocks Visual Arts Gallery in Aberdeen.
He has over his long and illustrious career written, contributed to and edited numerous books and publications including the critically acclaimed ‘Arts of Resistance: Poets, Portraits and Landscapes of Modern Scotland’ and its sequel published in 2014 ‘Arts of Independence’
Alexander “Sandy” Moffat in Detail
Honours & Education:
Doctor of Letters (PhD Fine Arts) University of Glasgow- Glasgow School of Arts 2018
Order of the British Empire (OBE) & Royal Scottish Academician (RSA)
Daniel Stewart’s College Edinburgh
Edinburgh College of Art (Andrew Grant scholar, Dip Art)
Publications:
Facing the Nation: The portraiture of Alexander Moffat By Bill Hare (2018)
The Cultural Argument and why it matter most
By Alexander Moffat & Alan Riach
Poets, Portraits and Landscapes of Modern Scotland
By Alexander Moffat & Alan Riach
With Linda MacDonald-Lewis
Sandy is also a writer of numerous art papers, catalogue texts, forwards and publications including the “Angels Wear Silver” and the “Tongues of Diamonds” Exhibitions.
Career:
Photographer Scottish Central Library 1966-74
Director New 57 Gallery Edinburgh 1968-78
Visiting lecturer:
Winchester School of Art 1973-74
Croydon School of Art 1974-75
Royal College of Art 1986-88
Glasgow School of Art:
Lecturer in Painting Studios 1979-88
Senior Lecturer in Painting Studios 1988-92
Head of Painting and Printmaking 1992-2005
Chair School of Fine Art 1998-2000
External Examiner:
Canterbury College of Art (Kent Institute) 1988-91
North Staffordshire Polytechnique Stoke 1989-92
Chelsea College of Art & Design (London Institute) 1997-2000
Gray’s School of Art (RGU) Aberdeen 2002-05
University of Brighton 2003-07
Senior External Examiner University of the Highlands and Islands Project 2000-02
External expert University of London 1993-98
Scottish Arts Council 1982-84 (Member Council, Member Art Committee, Chairman’s Awards Panel)
Member Bd Fruitmarket Gallery Edinburgh 1986-92
Chairman Bd ALBA magazine 1988-92
Member Edinburgh Festival Society; Honorary Research Fellow University of Glasgow 2006
Honorary Fellow Association for Scottish Literary Studies 2011
RSA 2004 (chair Exhibitions Ctee 2007)
Solo Exhibitions:
A View of the Portrait (Scottish National Portrait Gallery) 1973
Gallery of the Press Club Warsaw 1975
Seven Poets (Third Eye Centre Glasgow and tour) 1981-83
Portrait Drawings (N E of Scotland Library and Museums Service) 1984
Portraits of Painters (Scottish Nat Gallery of Modern Art) 1988
Glasgow Art Gallery & Museum 1990
Pittencrieff House Museum Dunfermline 1991
Images From Three Decades (Open Eye Gallery Edinburgh) 2008
Town Hall Gallery Langholm 2012
Paintings as Arguments, Peacocks Visual Arts Gallery, 2014
2018 ‘Poets, Portraits And Landscapes Of Modern Scotland’ Lille Art Gallery Glasgow
2018 Alexander Moffat OBE RSA: A View of the Nation – Open Eye Gallery Edinburgh
Group Exhibitions:
Scottish Realism (Scottish Arts Council tour) 1971
The Human Clay (Hayward Gallery London and Scottish Nat Gallery of Modern Art) 1976 Three Painters (Midland Gp Gallery, Nottingham) 1978
Narrative Paintings (Arnolfini Bristol and ICA London) 1979
Private Views (Arts Cncl of GB and tour) 1982
In Their Circumstances (Lincoln Usher Gallery) 1985-86
Picturing People: Figurative Painting from Britain 1945-89 (Far East tour) 1989
Scottish Art since 1990 (Scottish Nat Gall of Modern Art) 1989-90
Turning the Century (Raab Gallery London & Berlin) 1990
The Discerning Eye (Mall Galleries London) 1990
The Line of Tradition (National Galleries of Scotland) 1993
The Scottish Renaissance (Hong Kong Land Co Hong Kong) 1996
Scotland’s Art (City Art Centre, Edinburgh) 1999
Expressions (Aberdeen Art Gallery) 2000
Collections:
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
Arts Council of Great Britain
Yale Centre for British Art
Dr George Elder Davie 1999
Tom Fleming 2000
Robin Jenkins (Saltire Society) 2002
Alasdair Gray 2010
References and sources:
- GSA Media Centre
- BBC Your paintings
- The Herald (Scotland)
- The National Galleries Scotland
- Yale Centre for British Art
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Pingback: The A-Z of Painting People & Portraits 12 Jan 2017 to 23 Mar 2017 – The Essential School Of Painting
Pingback: Drawing Portraits in Pastel with Sandy Moffat OBE RSA: Saturday 18th March 2017 – 10am to 5pm – The Essential School Of Painting
Pingback: Paint Works – The ESOP Student Exhibition 12 – 17 July 2017 – The Essential School Of Painting
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