Confessions of a Highland Art Dealer: a journey in art, a glen and changing times

By (author) Tony Davidson

This beautifully written autobiography is a story of transformation. It reveals the secret worlds and people in Scottish art, and vividly conjures global changes over this twenty-five-year period which affected everything, even this beautiful glen. At its heart is how to survive and find a place in a family of artists and how to support this community of individuals.It begins with the enigmatic Black Allan opening the door of a disused church and the conversion of this old kirk into an art gallery with next to no money. Twenty-five years later, Kilmorack Gallery will be among the top commercial galleries in Scotland, with a stable of over sixty leading Scottish artists. It will have weathered the financial crash of 2008 and the pandemic of 2020, defying history, tradition and the commodification of art in the age of celebrity. The book starts as a coming-of-age story and ends with a powerful environmental call for change – a call for awakening.We are introduced to artists as they join the gallery’s stable: from Gerald Laing (pop artist from the 1960s,) Edinburgh’s dark and satirical Robert Powell and the ethereal northern artists. We also meet the gallery’s clients.