As one of our most accomplished Scottish artists to date, and just recently hitting the headlines once again last week after raising a whopping £100,000 for charity with another exceptional portrait of a very famous face.. our 'Artist Of The Week' could only be the brilliant Gerard M Burns.
His most recent piece - the immaculate oil painting of former Scotland rugby player and legend Doddie Weir, standing proud in his best tartan suit - was transported 6,000 miles to a special dinner in Hong Kong to be auctioned off to raise money for 'My Name'5 Doddie Foundation', which funds research into motor neurone disease. As mentioned above, the piece sold for a very generous amount indeed and will be flying back home to take pride of place in the National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh very soon.
This will in fact be the second piece of work of Gerard's to be displayed in the National gallery, and not only has he seen huge success within our galleries with his beautiful depictions of ladies in red coats wandering through snow sprinkled scenery, but he has also had incredible global recognition for his works and has raised hundred's of thousands for charities after painting some of the greatest talent to come of Scotland including his good pal Sir Billy Connolly, Ewan McGregor and Allan Cumming - to name just a few, which were displayed at Tartan Week in New York in 2015. Showing that despite his success, he remains grounded – in the early months of 2016 Gerard took the same exhibition to Easterhouse’s Shandwick Shopping Center to share his work with the local Scottish people. Gerard’s outlook on his work is that it can be taken anywhere and people will get it and should be accessible for all – and it was another great triumph for him that again attracted a tremendous amount of media attention.
Within our gallery walls, Gerard's work is still a firm favourite with many of our clients over the years we have worked with him. Since giving up his role of Principle of Art at St Aloysius College in 1999, Gerard has established himself as a highly commendable figurative painter and his works are often met with comments like ‘It’s just like a photograph’ - they are impressively realistic... but they also go much deeper than this. Using relatives, friends and neighbors as models, Gerard paints what he knows. The outcome is a beautiful collection of emotional and engaging images which reveal a fleeting moment in the sitter’s story. There is also a real sense of patriotism in his work with his paintings often featuring the Saltire and Scottish landscape - you come to understand that this is an artist who is proud of his roots and where he has come from.
We sense there is still so much more success in store for this particular artist - and with such a triumphant career behind him already, it is not difficult to see why! We are incredibly proud to represent this brilliant home-grown artist and we could honestly think of a million more reasons why Gerard M Burns is our 'Artist Of The Week'. (but I would run way past my word count!!)
GERARD M BURNS ARTIST HIGHLIGHTS
We would like to share some of our top moments from Gerard's artistic career, that we believe have really been vital in his success story and have brought us so much joy over the years of working with this very talented man!
14 For 14 Unveiling
During the Commonwealth Games in the summer of 2014 - Gerard M Burns held a very special exhibition in The Banking Hall in Clydesdale Bank’s head office in St Vincent Street, in Glasgow entitled '14 of 14'. The collection included portraits of some of the most influential Scottish figures who had all sat for Gerard, including Ewan McGregor, Neil Lennon and Karen Dunbar. This was the first exhibition to really put Gerard's name on the map & received huge success. Our Managing Director Gordon Robertson was in attendance at the grand unveiling of the exhibition.
Gerard M Burns Exhibition
In October 2014 we held our very first exhibition with Gerard M Burns in our good old Dollar Gallery which was a huge success & created an incredible fan base at Robertson Fine Art!
A Brush With Inspiration - New York
Gerard Burns unveiled his latest collection 'A Brush With Inspiration' at Scotland Week in New York in 2015 - it included the 14 originals from his '14 of 14' collection plus a further 15 new works of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Alan Cumming and the legend Billy Connolly. There was a massive buzz from this show and really cemented Gerard's reputation as an accomplished portrait artist & of course, raised thousands for charity.
Shandwick Square Shopping Centre
In the summer of 2016, Gerard Burns then took this 'Brush With Inspiration' exhibition to Easterhouse Shandwick Square Shopping Centre – inspired by an interview with the Daily Record. His outlook on his work is that it can be taken anywhere and people will get it and should be accessible for all.
Edinburgh Artworks
In the later part of 2016, Gerard created especially for us here at Robertson Fine Art - a series of his famous red coated ladies walking down the Royal Mile of Edinburgh! Tending to only paint the streets of Glasgow - these were the first of their kind and a huge success in our Edinburgh gallery selling our within days of having them here on display.
Doddie Weir
And just recently - the portrait of former rugby star Doddie Weir was auctioned for almost £100,000 by Gerard and was sold to raise money for the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, which raises funds for research into motor neurone disease (MND) and supports those affected by it. Stars including Sir Billy Connolly and Rugby legends including Gavin and Scott Hastings, George Gregan and Brian O’Driscoll were among those who attended The Greatest Rugby Dinner Ever at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.
We have a fantastic display of Gerard M Burns work in both our Edinburgh and Glenrothes galleries at the moment - if you would like any more information about our spectacular artist of the week then please get in touch to speak with a member of our team today.
