Sylvia Wishart
A middle-aged white woman with dark hair.
Wishart, from a 2008 obituary
Born11 February 1936
Stromness, Orkney, Scotland
DiedDecember 4, 2008(2008-12-04) (aged 72)
EducationGray's School of Art

Sylvia Wishart FRSA (11 February 1936 – 4 December 2008) was a Scottish landscape artist.

Early life

Wishart was born and raised in Stromness, Orkney.[1][2][3] She grew up as a neighbor to poet George Mackay Brown.[4]

Career

Wishart worked in the post office, but painted as a hobby. She was eventually persuaded to train at Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen, where she shared a flat with fellow Orcadian, jewellery designer Ola Gorie. From 1969 to 1987 she taught painting and drawing at Gray's. Her drawings illustrated George Mackay Brown's An Orkney Tapestry, published in 1969.[5][6][7]

In 2005, Wishart was made a full member of the Royal Scottish Academy.[8] In 1992, 2007 and 2011, the Pier Art Centre in Orkney held shows of her works.[9][3]

Many of her paintings and drawings depicted landscapes and seascapes in Orkney, especially views of Hoy Sound from her cottage window.[10] Later works incorporate mixed media techniques. Artists' patron Margaret Gardiner was a friend.[3]

Personal life and legacy

Wishart and Brown had a long friendship involving frequent drinking, occasional violence, and Roman Catholicism (they converted together).[4] She died in 2008, aged 72 years.[1]

Works by Wishart are in the collections of Robert Gordon University, the Royal Scottish Academy, the Pier Art Centre, the University of Leeds, the Scottish Maritime Museum, and other institutions.[11] A book about Wishart, Sylvia Wishart: A Study, was published in 2012.[12] Also in 2012, the Royal Scottish Academy held an exhibition of Wishart's works.[13] A documentary film, Reflections – The Life and Art of Sylvia Wishart (2011), featured interviews with her colleagues and friends.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 John Cumming (11 January 2009). "Obituary: Sylvia Wishart | Art and design". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  2. "Artist profile: Sylvia Wishart". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "Sylvia Wishart". The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  4. 1 2 Ferguson, Ron (5 August 2014). George MacKay Brown: The Wound and the Gift. Saint Andrew Press. ISBN 978-0-86153-727-3.
  5. Brown, George Mackay. (1969). An Orkney tapestry. Wishart, Sylvia (illustrator). London: Gollancz. ISBN 0-575-00318-9. OCLC 9448544.
  6. Brown, George Mackay (23 January 2014). For the Islands I Sing: An Autobiography. John Murray Press. ISBN 978-1-84854-945-6.
  7. Lincklater, Eric (10 July 1969). "Island Man". The Guardian. p. 8. Retrieved 30 July 2020 via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Sylvia Wishart". Grampian Hospitals Art Trust. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  9. Wishart, Sylvia, 1936-2008. (1992). Sylvia Wishart : paintings 1987-1992 : looking North, West & South. Brown, George Mackay., Peacock Printmakers., Pier Arts Centre (Stromness, Orkney, Scotland). Stromness: Pier Arts Centre. ISBN 1-870530-50-0. OCLC 1008253677.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. "Reflections II by Sylvia Wishart". Art Fund. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  11. "Sylvia Wishart". Art UK. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  12. Gooding, Mel; Firth, Neil (2012). Sylvia Wishart : a study. Stromnes, Orkney: Pier Art Centre. ISBN 978-0-9531131-0-1. OCLC 855491671.
  13. "The Art of Sylvia Wishart RSA". Royal Scottish Academy of Art and Architecture. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  14. "Reflections". SPLICE FILM. 17 July 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
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