Mather delighted at Cowalfest’s Alexander Reid Exhibition

Cowalfest has had an enthusiastic response from Jim Mather, Argyll’s MSP and Tourism Minister, to the announcement of the exhibition, Alexander Reid and the Japanese Influence –Arts, Ships and Plants, as part of the October festival.

The Minister says: ‘The connection between the Cowal Peninsula and Alexander Reid, friend and associate of  Vincent Van Gogh, is not immediately apparent.

‘However an exhibition arranged and set up by Cowalfest and taking place at the Cowal Camera Club, Dunoon,  from 9th October until 18th October, will demonstrate that Reid lived in Dunoon for 20 years and was active as a County Councillor in Argyll for almost 18 years.

‘Reid was most famous as an Art Dealer at a time when dramatic development was taking place in that field but his interests were eclectic, ranging from walking, to a keen interest in Japanese printwork and  French modernist painting at a crucial period in its development and to Scottish Art in all its variety.

‘Van Gogh’s portraits of Reid are often mistaken for self portraits as the two friends bore remarkable similarities in appearance.

‘The exhibition is a Homecoming Scotland event but it also celebrates the 150 year old treaty of friendship between Japan and the UK which heralded the opening up of modern Japan.

‘A principal mover in this was Thomas Glover from Fraserburgh, known as the Scottish Samurai and also reputed to have attracted the attention of the composer Puccini of Madame Butterfly fame. Glover, whose reputation and standing remains high there, had a major role in the industrial modernisation of Japan. A by product of this was the considerable influence of Japanese and oriental art in the West and the connection with Reid then becomes apparent.

‘The Cowalfest exhibition draws those threads together and provides a fascinating glimpse into the influence the Cowal Peninsula played in the wider world in those days. Scottish businessmen were at the head of many entrepreneurial ventures and the Clyde littoral was frequently their base and their playground.

‘The organisers of Cowalfest are to be congratulated for their vision in widening the scope of their festival in such an imaginative way’.