Review: From Van Gogh to Vettriano

Heading to an Art Gallery in Aberdeen didn’t hold so much weight with me (being lucky enough to have a plethora of galleries on my doorstep in London) but when I read on BBC News that they were exhibiting works rarely displayed by Jack Vettriano and Monet, I thought, why not?

I productively used the hour and a half train journey to attempt reading an unread novel for English but eventually fell asleep, enjoying the motion of the train and making terrible company for my friend. When we arrived, Aberdeen was cloudless, bustling and furnished with Yo Sushi, Wagamama and plenty of high-street shops – not quite the dismal ‘granite-city’ we were told to expect.

A short walk and we were at the gallery itself, which was larger and more prestigious than anticipated. Tracey Emin welcomed visitors – her work hanging on the back wall of the atrium, directly opposite the entrance and lit neon like a 1950s diner. It addressed us directly: I felt you and I knew you loved me x. Personal and anonymous with its single kiss. We were sold; there was a signature Tracey Emin and it was curated in such a way as to distract me from cakes in the gallery café. We were drawn in by contemporary works alternating between the tender and horrifying. There was a set and place-named dining table for Females of the French Revolution, a seemingly burnt face staring out of a canvas and an intimate painting of a crumpled duvet cover in photographic detail. Damien Hirst, David Bailey, photos, paintings, collage, sculpture – it had it all.

And we hadn’t even entered the exhibition yet. Re-fuel on freshly baked Passion Cake and we were ready for the FREE (yes, free!) exhibition. We journeyed through Monet, Pissarro and others’ realism and impressionism, and into Minimalism, Cubism, Futurism and Vorticism by Samuel John Peploe, Edward Burra and more, finally ending with contemporary cubism, realism and surrealism. It was an intimate glimpse at private collections – that sounds sexual but perhaps disappointingly, none of the art was.

The gallery may have over-stated the presence of famous works on their website (for example, the only work by Matisse in the building is a doodle of two apples), but I’m not going to complain. It was enough to open my eyes to the works of different artists and the wonders of Aberdeen’s Art Gallery.

‘From Van Gogh to Vettriano’ is on until April 14th

Written by Lauren Hepburn, standing-room-only writer