HUGH McDiarmid once famously wrote that he wished he 'kent the physical basis/O' a lifes seemin airs and graces'.
Now the seminal Scottish poet's famous ruminations on life, the universe and Scotland in his landmark poem, A Drunk Man Looks at The Thistle, seem to have come to life, in an ongoing work of art at the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) in Edinburgh
The work of art by the Scottish artist Calum Colvin is taking shape in the building, which takes a appropriately three-dimensional look at the poet, whose real name was Christopher Murray Grieve.
The artwork, a trompe-l'oeil – an installation which tricks the eye – is part of the Ages of Wonder exhibition at the RSA, which celebrates the history of Scottish art at the RSA as well as its contemporary work.
Mr Colvin is working on the art work in public, and holding conversations with visitors to the exhibition as he works and they pass.
He said: "I normally work alone in a dark studio but it's been great meeting people and chatting to them as they pass and I've been able to explain the creative process."
Mr Colvin began work on the portrait of the poet and essayist – which combines sculpture, photography, painting and installation - in early November and hopes to have it completed before Christmas.
The art work includes contributions from the public, including a book, and a letter by the poet.
Colvin said he chose the poet as a subject because he was a controversial figure, but also an honorary academician.
The exhibition continues into early January.
Ages of Wonder is inspired by the moment in 1910 when the Royal Scottish Academy transferred a number of significant works to the national collection in the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS), securing exhibiting rights within the building shared by the two institutions today.
The Academy had been a force behind the establishment of a national collection, and NGS and RSA had previously co-existed in what is now the National Gallery of Scotland.
Ages of Wonder reunites RSA works transferred to NGS with a selection of those remaining in the Academy.
The exhibition includes over 450 works by over 270 artists and architects, from the masterpiece ‘The Adoration of the Magi’ painted by Jacopo Bassano of 1540, to recent works by Callum Innes, and Alison Watt, and works commissioned for and during the exhibition by Colvin, Kenny Hunter and Richard Murphy.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here