The tight relation between
the Scottish and British art create a rich artistic and cultural legacy. Due
the influence of different cultures now at days Scotland is a unique country
with sculptures, paintings, and old traditions.
Its beginning is around 16th
century but in that time was not any kind of artistic expression.
Due the creation of the
Glasgow School in the 19th century appeared a group of painters
called Glasgow Boys who were famous due theirs realism and naturalism paintings
about ordinary life in an honest and unaffected way. The members of the group
were: Sir James Guthrie, George Henry, E A Hornel, Sir John Lavery, E A Walton,
and Joseph Crawhall.
Early 20th century
appears the Glasgow Girls, a group of female artists and designers. Their style
was based around Art Noveau. Its members were: sisters Margaret and Frances
MacDonald and their husbands, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Herbert MacNair.
These groups contributed
in the creation of ‘Glasgow Style’. The hallmark of this style was rectilinear
lines, reaching up as if appealing to the heavens, and offset within this
lattice are subtly elegant curves and natural designs such as the Mackintosh
rose. Curves and colors are sparse against the geometric backdrop and so seem
accentuated. The lines hold back the flamboyance of the curves, creating a
delightful visual tension.
Scotland has many art
museums and galleries such as Scottish National Gallery, Kelvingrove Art
Gallery, Paisley Gallery, and the Hunterian Gallery.
The most famous painters
of Scottish art are Henry Raebun, Jack Vettriano, the Glasgow Boys, J S Peploe,
J D Fergusson, the Glasgow Girls, etc.
Scotland has a rich
tradition of music, song, and dance. Scotland has three national instruments:
bagpipe, fiddle, and harp. Spontaneously when we talk about music in this
country we associate it with the traditional Scottish music but it is not the
only one. So we can find three types of Scottish music.
The first one is the
oldest form of music of Scotland called traditional Scottish music. The
traditional music has remaining approximately 20 years. This kind of music is
known due the bagpipes which have different forms. The bagpipe is a wind
instrument which appears in 1400. People who use the bagpipe wear a black
jacket, white shirt, tie, and a kilt.
The second one is the
classical music. Scotland has many companies such as: Scottish Opera, the Royal
Scottish National Orchestra, and Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Scotland offers a
big amount of concert of this kind of music. Some composers are James
MacMillan, Sally Beamish, and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. This music uses some
instruments such as accordion, violin, whistles, flutes, etc.
The third one is the
contemporary music. It is the mixture between different kind of music and
instruments. Some groups have songs in Welsh language such as Ceredwen which
mix traditional instruments with ‘trip hop’.
During this year is
celebrated ‘Year of Creative Scotland’ which Scotland shows the best of its
country such as music, theatre, dance, art, literature, films, etc.
