A new exhibition of set and costume designs for theatre, film and television has opened at The Hunterian Art Gallery.
Stage and Screen features works on paper from the James L Gordon Collection, on show in Scotland for the first time.
The collection largely comprises set and costume designs for British theatre productions from about 1900 to the 1990s, and British and American designs for film and television from the 1930s onwards.
The designs are almost all two-dimensional: drawings, watercolours, paintings and collages, rather than three-dimensional models.
Immense
A press statement reads: “The range of material is immense, embracing everything from Shakespeare to pantomime, opera to ballet, Hammer horror to Hollywood musicals and Doctor Who to the Eurovision Song Contest.
“Spanning the whole of the 20th century, Stage and Screen includes works by leading artists such as Cecil Beaton and David Hockney and designs for famous productions including Oh! Calcutta!, Hair, Cats, Little Shop of Horrors and The Slab Boys.
“The exhibition also features costume designs for stars such as Rudolf Nureyev, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Grace Jones.”
James L Gordon is originally from Scotland and his outstanding collection includes a strong representation of Scottish artists and designers including Peter Howson and John Byrne.
Spanning the whole of the 20th century, Stage and Screen includes works by leading artists such as Cecil Beaton and David Hockney and designs for famous productions including Oh! Calcutta!, Hair, Cats, Little Shop of Horrors and The Slab Boys.
Hunterian Art Gallery
Another outstanding living artist featured is John Macfarlane, who trained at the Glasgow School of Art and has since established an international reputation as a designer of opera and ballet.
Gordon had a distinguished career in interior design, working on the interiors of the Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth 2, the Carlton Hotel in Cannes and the Cafй de la Paix in Paris.
His impressive collection began by chance, thanks to an impulse purchase of a Cecil Beaton costume design for the 1969 Broadway musical Coco, based on the life of fashion designer Coco Chanel.
Appeal
This first purchase of a work of art started a passion for collecting that he has pursued for over forty years.
The result is a collection that now comprises about 5000 works, which have strong personal appeal for him.
