Margot Sandeman (27 May 1922 — 17 January 2009) was a Scottish painter, close friend of

Joan Eardley Joan Kathleen Harding Eardley (18 May 192116 August 1963) was a British artist noted for her portraiture of street children in Glasgow and for her landscapes of the fishing village of Catterline and surroundings on the North-East coast of Scotlan ...

and long-time collaborator with poet

Ian Hamilton Finlay Ian Hamilton Finlay, CBE (28 October 1925 – 27 March 2006) was a Scottish poet, writer, artist and gardener. Life Finlay was born in Nassau, Bahamas, to James Hamilton Finlay and his wife, Annie Pettigrew, both of Scots descent. He was e ...

Early life

Margot Sandeman was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

to a family of Scottish artists, the daughter of self-taught watercolourist Archibald Sandeman (1887-1941), and internationally known embroiderer Muriel Boyd (1887-1981). Sandeman grew up in Bearsden in a creative household, influenced by

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

and the Arts and Crafts movement. The family home was decorated by her mother with texts such as "Bread feeds the body but flowers the soul".

Studies

Sandeman studied at the

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; gd, Sgoil-ealain Ghlaschu) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, an ...

, where her contemporaries included

and the poet

. Sandeman was already a confident painter when she began art school and, like Eardley, one of a small group selected for special training by the head of drawing and painting,

Hugh Adam Crawford Hugh Adam Crawford, (28 October 1898 – 1982), was a Scottish artist and oil painter, mostly of portraits and figures, who was an influential and charismatic figure in the 1930s Glasgow art scene. During a long teaching career, Crawford i ...

. Both artists flourished under his experimental fast-track treatment. Crawford commented on "the inner structure f Sandeman's paintings which is not an optical thing."

Relationship with Joan Eardley

Sandeman and Eardley met for the first time at Glasgow School of Art and became close friends.

''"We were very shy of each other for about a year," Sandeman remembers. "But Joan's mother and my mother enticed us to do a Red Cross course together. We started having to bandage each other, that broke the ice! After that we became tremendously great friends."''

Both lived in Bearsden and, although their styles were very different, they encouraged and supported each other, drew and painted together, and shared camping trips and family holidays. In 1941, as students, Sandeman and Eardley acquired a horse and caravan and travelled, sketched and painted around

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; gd, Loch Laomainn - 'Lake of the Elms'Richens, R. J. (1984) ''Elm'', Cambridge University Press.) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault, often considered the boundary between the lowlands of C ...

. For many years, the two women regularly visited High Corrie on the Isle of Arran, renting an outhouse, "The Tabarnacle", as a studio. In a review of a 1940s Society of Scottish Artists exhibition, a ''

Scotsman The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded ...

'' art critic said,

''"Miss Joan Eardley and Miss Margot Sandeman more than maintain the exciting promise of their first appearances ��Both are quite fearless and convinced exponents of highly individual outlooks."''

Work

Sandeman graduated from

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and in 1942 was sent to

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years followin ...

, where she worked for six months as a code-breaker. After leaving Bletchley to care for her mother, Sandeman took a studio in Glasgow. Her first work there was a series of vivid still-lives while, for paid employment, she painted antique effects on lampshades. In 1946 she married the teacher, potter and ceramic artist James Robson, with whom she had two sons. Prolific and wide-ranging, Sandeman worked in the open air, in the studio, and from memory, creating unique interpretations of West Coast Scottish landscapes, rural settings, interiors and still lives. She collaborated regularly with poet Ian Hamilton Finlay. In later life Sandeman's range and output continued to increase, including a notable suite of paintings in celebration of Scottish dramatist and poet

Robert McLellan Robert McLellan OBE (1907–1985) was a Scottish renaissance dramatist, writer and poet and a leading figure in the twentieth century movement to recover Scotland’s distinctive theatrical traditions. He found popular success with plays and ...

, a neighbour in High Corrie.

Exhibitions and awards

Sandeman exhibited at The Royal Scottish Academy from 1946-1972, Cyril Gerber Fine Art, Compass Gallery, the Hughson Gallery, Glasgow, the Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, and the Lillie Art Gallery, Glasgow. Her principal solo exhibitions were at the Richard Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh from 1974 onwards. In 1964 Sandeman won the Guthrie Award of the Royal Scottish Academy and in 1970, the Redpath Award from the Society of Scottish Artists. She also received a

Scottish Arts Council The Scottish Arts Council ( gd, Comhairle Ealain na h-Alba, sco, Scots Airts Cooncil) was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from the ...

award in 1970. In 1989 she was Scottish winner in the Laing Competition.

References

External links

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Modern Scottish Women - uncovering a vital period in art history

"Barges" by Ian Hamilton Finlay, illustrated by Margot Sandeman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandeman, Margot 1922 births 2009 deaths 20th-century Scottish women artists 21st-century Scottish women artists Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art Artists from Glasgow Bletchley Park people Bletchley Park women British landscape painters Scottish women painters