Alexander Moffat

John Bellany was one of the most significant Northern European Expressionists of the modern era. As with all expressionists his art is highly subjective and autobiographical and his self-portraits range from carefully observed student studies to disguising himself in different roles within his epic pictorial narratives. This book concentrates on the role of self-portraiture in Bellany’s art to trace and present the complex development of his artistic and personal obsessions and shows how he portrayed himself through a variety of mediums, including his private sketch books and a wide range of printing techniques as well as drawings and paintings. It includes a foreword by Helen Bellany, the artist’s wife, plus an essay and interview from exhibition curators’ Bill Hare and Sandy Moffat. Moffat’s account charts his long-term friendship and collaboration with Bellany, from their time at art school up until the latter’s death.

Fergusson, Joan Eardley and John Bellany are considered with American Alice Neel and the art of the ancient Celts.Composers like John Blackwood McEwen, Cecil Coles and Helen Hopekirk are introduced, amongst discussions of education, politics, social priorities, the mass media and different genres of writing.

There is only one argument for Scottish independence: the cultural argument. It was there long before North Sea oil was discovered, and it will be here long after the oil has run out… We believe, as teachers, artists, a painter and a poet, both of us travellers in other lands, both of us residents in Scotland, that Scotland should be an independent nation. ALEXANDER MOFFAT AND ALAN RIACHArts of Independence takes a hard look at the most neglected aspect of the argument for Scotland’s distinctive national identity: the arts. The proposition is that music, painting, architecture, and, pre-eminently, literature are the fuel and fire of political change.Following the success of Arts of Resistance, this new work by the same authors takes the argument over Scottish independence out of the hands of politicians and economists and beyond the petty squabbles of party politics.

Arts of Resistance is an original exploration that extends beyond the arts into the context of politics and political change. In three wide-ranging exchanges prompted by American blues singer Linda MacDonald-Lewis, artist Alexander Moffat and poet Alan Riach discuss cultural, political and artistic movements, the role of the artist in society and the effect of environment on artists from all disciplines. Arts of Resistance examines the lives and work of leading figures from Scotland's arts world in the twentieth century, concentrating on poets and artists but also including writers, musicians and architectural visionaries such as Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Patrick Geddes. Poets studied include Hugh MacDiarmid, Sorley MacLean, Iain Crichton Smith, Edwin Morgan and Liz Lochhead; artists include William McTaggart, William Johnstone and the Scottish Colourists. The investigation into the connection between the arts and political culture includes historical issues, from British imperialism to a devolved Scotland. Finally, the contribution to poetry and art of each major Scottish city is discussed: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee. Highly illustrated with paintings and poems, Arts of Resistance is a beautifully produced book providing facts and controversial opinions.