The £40 Art Collection

When one walks into the £40 Art Collection a feeling of intimacy is evident. It is almost as if you’re viewing this private collection in the room of the owner’s house rather than a gallery in the centre of Edinburgh, making for an enjoyable alternative viewing experience.

The late Tom Alexander began his post-war collection of British art in 1947, and each year he would use the £40 wage he acquired from his job at the Officers Emergency Army Reserve to purchase a single piece of art. The exhibition not only displays each of these pieces, but also the letters of correspondence that Alexander kept with artists such as Sir Stanley Spencer and L.S. Lowry. It is this detail that makes the exhibition so endearing; reading the exchanges between artist and collector adds a personal dimension and shows the true passion and enthusiasm of an art collector.

In some circumstances the artist would return part of Alexander’s £40 claiming that they did not wish to take all of his annual income. Adding to the charm is a short video documenting Tom Alexander’s collection, including personal accounts which convey to us the zeal with which he would purchase his pieces and anticipate their arrival with the excitement of a child on Christmas morning.

Stand-out works in the exhibition include the delicate watercolour 'Interior of Waldron Church' by John Piper, in which sultry blues emerge from the murky grey stonework of the building, and the rich intensity of Vivien Alexander’s 'Irises and Brodick Bay'.

A very touching collection, you leave having gained an insight into the preferences and personality of a fervent and avid art collector. This exhibition shows that art can often tell us a lot about the person it appeals to as well the artist who created it.