Once Upon A Time

BBC presenter and painter Lachlan Goudie tells Steve Pill why he is retelling the story of Scottish art and how his daughter’s princess obsession inspired his new work

- Steve Pill

They say never judge a book by its cover, yet the painting on the dust jacket of Lachlan Goudie’s The Story of Scottish Art tells you everything you need to know about the text contained within.

For starters, the Arthur Melville watercolour is not a typically patriotic masterpiece; it’s no iconic Highland landscape or Henry Raeburn’s skating reverend, but rather a very personal take on what it means to be a Scottish artist.

Secondly, it wasn’t even painted in Scotland, but rather the famous Moulin Rouge dancehall in Paris. The colours were an attempt to capture the dancers’ bright tulle petticoats in pure washes of pigment at a time when “abstract art” didn’t truly exist.

And perhaps most importantly, however, it is larger than life. Melville’s original pocketbook study was less than four inches wide, yet here is a detail double that size. It allows us to see the granulating textures in all their glories and also reflects Lachlan’s approach to his subjects. As anyone who has watched his BBC documentaries will attest, he has an enthusiastic way of expanding upon the human aspects of long-dead artists and connecting us with their creative process. It stems from a pure belief in the power and joy of painting.