Art reviews: Hidden Gems at Edinburgh City Art Centre | The Scottish Portrait Awards 2017

The Scottish Modern Art Association was set up in 1906 to support living artists. The Association bought carefully and well until 1959 when the dream of a dedicated gallery of modern art was finally about to be realised. Feeling it would now be redundant, the association dissolved itself and offered its remarkable collection, mostly of Sottish art, to the new Gallery of Modern Art. Apart from one Irish painting, inexcusably this remarkable offer was declined. The rejected collection was offered to the City and was accepted. In parallel and perhaps prompted by the National Gallery’s bizarre refusal, a remarkable Edinburgh lady, Jean F Watson, first gave and then in 1961 bequeathed a significant sum to the City of Edinburgh to fund a collection of Scottish art. The Edinburgh City Art Centre was later created to be its home. Since then, careful use of this bequest by successive directors has built up a major collection of Scottish art.