The Edinburgh College of Art celebrates its centenary this year with Ten Decades, a major exhibition at the City Art Centre which opened to the public on Saturday 27 October.

At an official opening last Thursday, Professor Ian Howard, Principal of the college and a featured artist, told assembled guests he was "delighted" with the exhibition. He said: "[It provides] a slice through the last hundred years at the college."

ECA has existed at its present site overlooking the Grassmarket and retained the same name since 1907. However the institution's history goes back much further; opening as the Trustees Drawing Academy of Edinburgh in 1760, the college is able to trace its roots back as far as 1729.

Despite its previous association with Heriot-Watt University and its current relationship with the University of Edinburgh, the college has always remained an independent institution.

The exhibition, held jointly by the college, Edinburgh City Council and the Fleming Collection, London, features over 80 works from ECA alumni and academics, including Dame Elizabeth Blackadder, John Bellany, Callum Innes and Anne Redpath.

Work of recent graduates is also exhibited, including Secret Thoughts, a portrait by Graham Flack, who graduated in 2002. An untitled work by 2007 graduate and Centenary Prize winner Paul Chiappe, showcases his hyperrealist style.

The exhibition is arranged in chronological order, starting on the top floor and working down, allowing visitors to experience the progression of work produced by College graduates over the last century. The ground floor also features a video installation showing clips from the annual fashion show, and bands performing in the ECA student’s union – the Wee Red Bar.

Selina Skipwith, representing the Fleming Collection, spoke of her bemusement at the international media attention surrounding one piece, a portrait of Sean Connery as a life model at the college from 1952, wearing only a small item of underwear. The artist responsible, Al Fairweather, went on to become a successful jazz musician.

The exhibition will move to the Fleming Collection gallery in London after its time in Edinburgh. A charity auction in support of the college will also be taking place in London on Thursday 22 November, featuring many of the artists from the exhibition.