Publications & further finds

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left: The Alhambra Theatre in Glasgow, painted by Robert Eadie in 1928 to celebrate a major extension of the theatre westward along Waterloo Street. The picture, which graced a cover of The Tatler magazine, was sent in by the author Graeme Smith, who explained:    "I am writing the history of Glasgow`s famous ALHAMBRA THEATRE and have come across a painting of it by your great uncle. I have been told by Bill Glover of St Andrews (himself descended from the theatrical Glover family of scenic painting and theatre management) that Robert Eadie did a series of theatre paintings and theatrical subjects.    "Presumably the Alhambra was one—perhaps commissioned by Glasgow Alhambra Ltd, then chaired by Col Douglas McInnes Shaw. It was used on the front of the theatre's monthly magazine (the Alhambra Tatler) in 1928."

UPDATE: The book has now been published as Alhambra Glasgow by Bell & Bain Ltd. (2011) As well as the picture of the theatre, it also includes Robert Eadie's painting of the Cunard liner Transylvania in dry dock and his view of Gordon Street seen from the Hope Street end, both taken from the collection of a dozen illustrative plates in The Face of Glasgow by William Power (1927). Further works by Robert Eadie are featured in The University of Glasgow Library: Friendly Shelves published by The Friends of Glasgow Library (2016)—pictures of the university, the Tolbooth and Tron Steeple and the Cunard liner Transylvania in dry dock, all from The Face of Glasgow UPDATE: Graeme Smith’s newly published Glasgow’s Blythswood (October 2021) features pictures by Robert Eadie on the inside covers of the paperback volume; Waterloo Street and Sauchiehall Street are both from Robert Eadie’s Glimpses of Glasgow (1927); and pictures showing West George Street, West Nile Street and the Alhambra theatre.    The photograph [right] shows the historian and author at his book launch, which was held atop an almost competed new office block—13 floors above Bothwell Street!    Good job it was a nice day.    The book is now available at www.blythswoodsmith.co.uk and bookstores.    The content of the book falls effectively into two parts. The first part is a history of how the area was developed and how entrepreneurs acquired vast fortunes from supplying the basics of life—clean water and wholesome food—and ended up in the bankruptcy courts due to over-ambitious development plans and the predation of local loan sharks.    An A to Z of the streets with pictures and notes follows. There are images of buildings ancient and modern. Conservation measures and rules against new buildings dwarfing older ones have helped to check urban blight. The city's guardians seem to be mindful of the maxim of modern construction—if you're building really high, you can't afford craftsmanship, especially if it will be seen only by drone operators and base jumpers.    In several cases, old and new blend in pleasing ways. See in particular the picture of St. Vincent Street on page 216 in which new glass provides a mirror for showing off the elegant stonework across the street.

The Rogano restaurant, Glasgow. This watercolour by Robert Eadie was commissioned for the menu of "Glasgow's Favourite Restaurant", which opened its doors in 1935.    The oldest surviving restaurant in the city offers "the finest fish and seafood in the world from Scottish waters".    The restaurant is to be found at 11 Exchange Place, Glasgow G1 3AN.

Another find by Graeme Smith, who wrote: “I’m also sending a copy of a Robert Eadie painting which, in monochrome, is in the Jubilee History of the Royal Scottish Automobile Club published in 1949. The book has the title Gang Warily. “This painting shows some of the many ambulances; 450 in total; which were funded by the Scottish Automobile Club as part of the Great War effort. The SAC also recruited many women drivers. “The Scottish Red Cross ambulance division was headquartered in the Club`s premises in Blythswood Square, Glasgow. In 1917 King George V authorised the honour of a Royal prefix in recognition of the significant achievement, hence the club’s title.” One of my expeditions to the internet in search of further material turned up this watercolour + pencil alternative version [right] of the above scene—in colour. It is signed by the artist and dated 1916. P.H.T. A further expedition to the WWW, in early 2023, turned up another version of the RSCA picture. This one [right] is described as: "Blythswood Square, Glasgow, In Wartime, photolithograph, hand coloured" P.H.T.

I found this picture on eBay. Someone was offering a single page from a magazine featuring the illustration for an article called The Salt Tang of Fife.     The title of the painting is St. Monance Harbour [a variation of St. Monan's] and the picture is described as "from the watercolour by Robert Eadie, R.S.W."     The single sheet has page numbers; the picture is on page 22; but there is no indication of the title of the publication on either side of the sheet, or names for the authors of the articles, which makes tracking things down rather difficult!    P.H.T.

Thanks to Mark Dougan for a photo of this drawing by Robert Eadie, which is to be found inside a Glasgow landmark—the former premises of the Jacobean Corsetry in Virgina street, G1.    The corsetry business closed in 2000 but the A-listed property has been renamed the Jacobean Building and it retains the distinctive golden shop sign.    As the company was founded in 1946; the date on the drawing below the artist's signature; Mark Dougan has suggested that the picture could have been commissioned from Robert Eadie at the time the corsetry opened for business.

Receipts for sales from a Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts exhibition held at the end of 1944.

Thanks to Alistair Beattie, Vice-President of Glasgow Art Club, for a photograph of this landscape painting with the title Barncleuth Gardens. It was bought after a showing at a Paisley Art Institute exhibition for 15 guineas by relatives of the current owner. The location has been identified as Barncluith Gardens, Avon Gorge, Hamilton by Graeme Smith, who knows the area well. ". . . on the edge of the Avon Gorge close to Chatelherault"

Family Feature: below: A photograph of the Stewart Memorial Fountain in Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow, taken by Laura Turner. The watercolour of the scene painted by her grandmother’s uncle 70 years ago (right) is now languishing in the archives of the Hunterian Art Gallery in Glasgow.    Laura would have preferred to take her picture from further away but there are a lot more obstructive trees in the area in 2022!

Glasgow Art Club has completed restoration work on a Robert Eadie painting involving stabilizing and strengthening a thin base of wartime plywood, and then gently cleaning the painted image and its frame. The author Graeme Smith offered the following description: The ca 1944 atmospheric painting of oils on plywood shows Clydesdale Trace Horses at the foot of West Nile Street, at the corner of Gordon Street in the city centre.    The horses stood waiting, attended by trace boys from the John Wordie & Co. carting stables nearby, to double up with single horses drawing heavily laden carts coming from riverside warehouses and workshops, to make their way up the incline of West Nile Street to the Buchanan Street railway goods station.    The figures added in are, on the left, Dr Tom Honeyman, the most famous of Directors of Art in Glasgow and Dr O.H. Mavor, better known as writer and playwright James Bridie.    They were stalwarts of Glasgow Art Club along with Robert Eadie, who was an Artist Vice-President in the 1930s & 1940s and President in the 1930s.

This picture was listed by an Australian auction house [but now updated] as: Lot 8087 ROBERT EADIE (1877-1954) Soft Grey Morning, Bulls Head watercolour 41 x 55 cm (frame: 60 x 73 x 3 cm) signed and dated lower right The signature on the picture (below), however, doesn’t match the one used by Robert Eadie RSW. The contrast-enhanced version shown has the artist’s name as Robert Eadie in script with the date July 75 A similarly enhanced signature from a painting in the family collection shows that Robert Eadie RSW favoured all capitals and a flourish on the final ‘E’. UPDATE Emma Peel, the daughter of the Sydney, Australia, artist Robert Eadie, has confirmed that this is one of her father's works. Another problem picture found on the interweb is this oil painting with the title "Ocean Wave". It appears in a collection featuring works by Robert Eadie, RSW, but if that small black smudge in the bottom-right corner is a signature, it looks nothing like that of the artist whose work is celebrated here. UPDATE This picture is definitely not the work of the Sydney Robert Eadie, his daughter has confirmed.

Growing the collection: Hildegarde Berwich, a former Curator at the Lillie Art Gallery in Milngavie, was referred to the Robert Eadie website by the author Graeme Smith, one of our contributors. She remembered that there is a small portrait of the artist Robert Lille in the gallery's collection—painted by Robert Eadie in 1913—and suggested contacting Jennifer Binnie, The Museum Collections Officer at the Lillie Art Gallery, as a source of a copy of the picture. Which I did.    A short time later, I received a copy of the picture [right, also on the Themes page] with the following information: "The painting of Robert Lillie is a watercolour on card, signed lower right 'R Eadie 13', and the visible image is 176mm x 236mm. If you are using the image on your website I would appreciate if you could include the caption along with the copyright statement for the Eadie Estate that the image is courtesy of the Lillie Art Gallery." Done & done. P.H.T.

More from the author Graeme Smith . . . Here’s a drawing you may not have come across for your Robert Eadie-pedia.    I have named it Berthed at Yorkhill Quay, Glasgow for Sir David Bone. As well as being Commodore of the Anchor Line, Sir David Bone was one of Britain's top writers on life at sea, with some eight books acclaimed, many illustrated by his artist brother Sir Muirhead Bone.    Robert Eadie kindly drew the final illustration on the last page of Bone’s book Merchantman Rearmed published by Chatto and Windus describing voyaging during WWII. The Bone family and Eadie family were friends. [The engine order telegraph or E.O.T., also known as a Chadburn, is used by the bridge crew to send engine speed orders down to the engine room. P.H.T.]

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