The McManus in Dundee is presenting ‘Border Crossings: Ten Scottish Masters of Modern Art’, an exhibition examining the international careers and influence of ten Scottish artists. The exhibition, which opened on 28 June 2025, remains on view through Sunday 20 September 2026, with free admission.
The artists included are Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Robert Colquhoun, William Crozier, Alan Davie, William Gear, William Johnstone, Robert MacBryde, Eduardo Paolozzi, William Scott and William Turnbull. Together, they represent a generation whose practices developed in dialogue with the wider modern-art movements of the mid-20th century.
According to The McManus, all ten artists left Scotland to pursue success elsewhere. Their careers were shaped by international developments centred first on London and Paris, and later on New York. The exhibition uses those movements between places as a framework for considering how Scottish artists participated in, and contributed to, modern art beyond their home country.
The presentation describes each artist as making a distinct contribution to the development of modern art worldwide. Rather than treating Scottish modernism as an isolated national tradition, ‘Border Crossings’ focuses on the artists’ journeys and their immersion in broader artistic networks. The exhibition’s account of their careers places local identity alongside the international contexts in which their work was made and received.
The group spans artists associated with abstraction, painting, sculpture and experimental approaches to modern art. Barns-Graham is represented alongside fellow painters including Crozier, Colquhoun, Crozier, Crozier?
