We asked members of staff from The Lightbox gallery & museum to share with us their favourite artworks from our Main Gallery exhibition, A Window into Scottish Art: The Ingram and Fleming Collections. We spend all day walking amongst these phenomenal artworks, so this was a great chance to refocus and share what we love most about them.

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William Crozier (1897-1930)
The Slopes of Fiesole/ Edinburgh from Castle Street, 1930

By Marcie Cobley, Marketing & Membership Assistant

William Crozier (1893-1930), 'The Slopes of Fiesole', 1930 © The Fleming Collection

My favourite piece of work is the double-sided piece by William Crozier “The Slopes of Fiesole/Edinburgh From Castle Street”. The colours of each painting compliment and contrast each other, which is really satisfying to me. I also find the way the frame is stood up on a plinth fun and different to the other framed works that are on the wall. I really like the way each side reveals itself when you walk around the two-sided frame – it almost brings a bit of movement and theatre to the two painted snapshots in time.

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Ben Nicholson (1894-1982)
Green Jug, 1978

By Sophie Risdale-Smith, Exhibitions and Collections Assistant

Ben Nicholson was a British abstract painter. Inspired by Cubism and artists like Piet Mondrian, Nicholson’s work was experimental and initially unpopular for the time in Britain.

Moving to St Ives in 1940, Nicholson’s work became more reflective of the landscape, he began using more blues, greens, browns and greys in his work. Nicholson didn’t completely abandon traditional representation though, and his later work moves freely between abstraction and figuration.

Many artists, like Patrick Heron, Barbara Hepworth and Terry Frost also moved to St Ives at a similar time. They became known as the St Ives School.

‘Green Jug’ demonstrates something of that artist’s “naivety” of style, with simple lines and shapes placed on a flat picture plane. Nicholson often painted onto wooden boards. He would use a razor blade to scrape back the paint so that the pictures look weather-beaten and old as if they have been eroded by time. You can see that in the brown mount around the jug.

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Barry McGlashen (b. 1974)
Painting in Defence of Migrants, 2021

By Mary Hely, Visitor Experience Events Manager


Barry McGlashen (b. 1974), Painting in Defence of Migrants, 2021 © The Fleming Collection

Working in this wonderful gallery I had the privilege of sneaking in whilst the team were still working on the exhibition and had a look around.  None of the pieces had their labels yet.  I was immediately drawn to this piece and its dreamlike feel with the community of birds on the tree, together but apart.

Now when I am trying to think through something, I often go to the gallery and have a look at this piece and let it carry me away.  It allows me to escape.  I normally then return with a clearer idea of what I need to do. My own little refuge.

To book your visit to A Window into Scottish Art: The Ingram and Fleming Collections, click here.