Memorial Works

Delia was born and raised in Glasgow where she received great encouragement and inspiration from her art teacher at Pennilee Secondary School. At the age of 18 she moved to Dundee to study at Duncan of Jordanstone College, subsidising this by working as a life model.

She began teaching at DJCAD in 2003 and was elected to the RSA in 2008. I seconded Ronnie Forbes’ proposal of Delia to the Academy, as we were aware of, not only her great talent, but her passion for teaching and promoting contemporary art and artists, would significantly assist the Academy’s vision. She exhibited annually within the RSA and contributed continuously over these years to the committees of General Purposes, Exhibitions and Council. In 2017, Delia was the convenor of the RSA New Contemporaries, and in 2021, along with Jessica Harrison, co-convened the 195th RSA Annual Exhibition. On 22 November 2022, Delia was elected as the first female Treasurer in the 197-year history of the Academy, bringing her usual dedicated approach to seamlessly transition into the role. It was also her compassion for bringing her world into the Academy which attracted so many to her. I have two lovely memories of Delia in the RSA. An Assembly meeting, where Delia’s young baby, snuggled under her coat, was desperate to yelp out into the minute’s silence being observed for a recently departed member. The longest minute ever! And that Varnishing Day Lunch. Delia, towering above most in her platforms. Magnificent painting on the wall. Young child on hip. The atmosphere in the room and a toast raised to the youngest ever to attend our historic meeting.

Peter Collins was born in Inverness in 1935 and studied art at Edinburgh College of Art from 1952 to 1956 where he was greatly influenced by the work of John Maxwell RSA. He was awarded a Post Diploma Scholarship in 1957 and the Andrew Grant Travelling scholarship for travel to Italy (1957 – 1958).

Peter first exhibited with the Royal Scottish Academy in 1957 and was elected to the Society of Scottish Artists (SSA) in 1959. Living in Edinburgh from 1960 until 1965, he was a recipient of the RSA Latimer Award during this period.

In 1965, he moved to Dundee to take up a position as Lecturer at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art. He remained there in the Fine Art school until his retirement. In 1983 he relocated from Dundee to rural Perthshire. Peter exhibited widely with a first solo exhibition at the Scottish Gallery in 1968 with further exhibitions Art Across the Tay (Dundee) and Scottish Painting at the Richard Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh, also in that year. In 1969, he was included in the group exhibition Painters and Printers in Dundee at the New Charing Cross Gallery in Glasgow and then the 1970 exhibition Seven Painters in Dundee which was a Scottish Arts Council travelling exhibition. This led to the loose-knit group of painters, which included Dennis Buchan, Iain Fearn, James Howie, Neil Dallas Brown, James Morrison and Peter Collins, being referred to as the ‘Dundee Seven’. In 1971, he was included in the touring exhibition 12 Scottish Painters which toured across the United States.

Born in 1940, John Byrne grew up in the Ferguslie Park housing estate in Paisley, frequently cited at the time as the worst slum in Europe. Leaving school without any qualifications, he worked as a ‘slab boy,’ grinding pigment in a carpet factory in Elderslie. This experience would provide the inspiration for his trilogy of plays, The Slab Boys (1978), widely considered as one of the most important works of twentieth-century Scottish literature.

Byrne gained entrance to Glasgow School of Art in 1958 and earned the admiration of his tutors and peers as his talent for drawing and painting became apparent. As critic Cordelia Oliver has said, before long Byrne ‘could draw like Millais.’ Considering the rules and regulations of the art school to be too stringent, however, he transferred to Edinburgh College of Art in 1961, only to return to Glasgow to complete his degree having found Edinburgh even worse. He went on to win the prestigious Bellahouston Award for painting and travelled to Italy to view the works of the Renaissance Masters. From 1964 until 1966, Byrne designed jackets for Penguin Books. Having had his work rejected by various galleries, Byrne submitted a painting to the Portal Gallery, London, under the pseudonym of Patrick. Finding success under this guise, Byrne continued to present work as Patrick even after his cover was blown.