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Rare Prints and Monotypes
By Current and Past Members of the Royal Scottish Academy -
Printmaking has been a cornerstone of the visual arts in Scotland since the founding of the first open access printmaking studios in the 1960s.
Initially opened as spaces where young artists could continue to work after graduation, the print studios have provided welcoming communities encouraging collaboration, debate and experimentation ever since. After the opening of Edinburgh Print Workshop (now known as Edinburgh Printmakers) in 1967, Glasgow Print Studio soon followed in 1972 and Peacock Printmakers, Aberdeen, first opened its doors in 1974. One of the attractions of printmaking for artists has always been the opportunity to work in an inherently multiple format, allowing works to be distributed widely and collected affordably. In post-war Scotland there were few options for young artists looking to exhibit and sell their work and printmaking allowed works to be sent to national and international galleries, furthering reputation and renown whilst offering new means of income.
Many of the artists involved in the opening of the print studios have had long, rewarding relationships with the Royal Scottish Academy. Philip Reeves RSA (1931 – 2017) was crucial in the founding of both Edinburgh Print Workshop and Glasgow Print Studio and was elected an Associate of the RSA in 1971 and a Member in 1976. Arthur Watson, Past President of the RSA, was a Founding Member of Peacock Printmakers and has been a fervent proponent of Scottish printmaking ever since. For many years Alfons Bytautas RSA was Master Printmaker at Edinburgh Print Workshop. Elected an Associate of the RSA in 1994 and a Member in 2005, Bytautas is a virtuosic printer whose technical innovation in the field has had a far-reaching impact for printmakers.
Whilst printmaking lends itself to the production of multiple works, the practice in which an artist commits to limiting the number of prints produced of a single image, known as editioning, has made artists’ prints highly collectible. This exhibition presents enticing opportunities for collectors to acquire prints which are not readily available on the market. It also features several monotypes, unique printed works created by transferring a hand-applied image from plate to paper. Straddling painting and printmaking, monotypes present a wonderful means to collect unique works by renowned artists at a fraction of the cost that may be incurred in the acquisition of a painting.
The notes below offer a few insights into the highly collaborative practice of printmaking in Scotland and the community of artists that has grown up around it.
View all works
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Anne Redpath RSA, Corsican Village, late 1950s, lithograph, courtesy of the artist's family / Royal Scottish Academy / Bridgeman Images.
Anne Redpath RSA
Anne Redpath RSA was elected an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1947 and became the first woman to be elected a full Member in painting in 1952. These three lithographs were printed by Harley Brothers Ltd, commercial lithographers with premises at St James Square, Edinburgh. Inspired by the Paris ‘atelier’ system, the Harley Brothers printed over 100 editions with 35 artists during the late 1950s and early 1960s before the demolishment of St James Square began in 1962. Redpath’s Little Posy was the first print made by the Harleys funded by a grant from the Scottish Committee of the Arts Council of Great Britain. Redpath’s trips to Skye in the 1940s provided the inspiration for Landscape, Kyleakin and a stay in Corsica in 1954 resulted in Corsican Village. Amongst many other Academicians, Elizabeth Blackadder RSA, John Houston RSA and David Michie RSA also made lithographs with the assistance of the Harley Brothers. Based on his painting of the same subject from 1957 held by the Permanent Collection of the RSA, the lithograph Peasant by Sir Robin Philipson PPRSA (1916 – 1992) was also printed by the Harleys during the same period.
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Anne Redpath RSALandscape Kyleakin, late 1950sLithograph
Printed with Harley Brothers Ltd, lithographic printers in Edinburgh35.5 x 53 cmSold -
Anne Redpath RSACorsican Village, Late 1950sLithograph
Printed with Harley Brothers Ltd, lithographic printers in Edinburgh
Signed in plate29.5 x 43 cmSold -
Anne Redpath RSAThe Little Posy, 1957Lithograph
Printed with Harley Brothers Ltd, lithographic printers in Edinburgh36 x 53 cmSold -
Sir Robin Philipson PPRSAPeasant, 1958Lithograph
Printed with Harley Brothers Ltd, lithographic printers in Edinburgh53 x 35 cmSold
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Dame Elizabeth Blackadder RSA and John Houston RSA (1930 - 2008), photograph © National Galleries of Scotland.
Dame Elizabeth Blackadder RSA
When they were first married, Dame Elizabeth Blackadder RSA and her husband, John Houston RSA, lived on London Road, Edinburgh, in the flat above that of Anne Redpath RSA. Having attended Edinburgh College of Art together, Blackadder and Houston were good friends with Redpath’s son, the artist David Michie RSA. Blackadder’s first cat was a present from Michie when the couple moved to their new home at Queen’s Crescent. Blackadder remembers this first cat, named Couscous, as being a ‘wild’ character who did not remain with them long, but Michie’s present initiated a tradition of Blackadder cats that the artist drew and painted with scrupulous devotion. As Duncan Macmillan HRSA has said, when Blackadder painted her cats, ‘the seriousness of the undertaking was a gesture of respect, typical of her approach, not just to cats of course, but to her whole awareness of the world and the independent life of the things in it that she incorporated into her paintings.’ Blackadder first worked with Glasgow Print Studio at the invitation of director John MacKechnie RSA in 1985. These three etchings, made between 2003 and 2013, show Blackadder’s consummate skill in character study.
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Elizabeth Blackadder RSALouis in a Box, 2013EtchingImage size: 18 x 36 cm
Paper size: 50 x 56 cmEdition of 50£ 1,200.00 -
Elizabeth Blackadder RSAFred, 2003EtchingImage size: 25 x 30 cm
Paper size: 50 x 54 cm
Edition of 80£ 1,850.00 -
Elizabeth Blackadder RSALouis, 2011EtchingImage size: 22 x 30 cm
Paper size: 50 x 56 cmEdition of 50£ 1,200.00
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John Houston RSA
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David Michie RSA in his Studio, circa 1965, photograph courtesy RSA Collections.
David Michie RSA
Son of Anne Redpath RSA, David Michie RSA created the two-plate colour etching Yellow Garden in 1979 during his time as Visiting Professor of Painting at the University of the Arts, Belgrade. Michie was encouraged to make some etchings by Serbian printmaker, Marko Krsmanovic, who latterly visited Michie in Scotland and printed at Edinburgh Printmakers. Michie brought the plates for Yellow Garden back to Edinburgh Printmakers in the early 1980s and printed them with Master Printmaker Alfons Bytautas RSA. The screenprint, River Bank, printed at Edinburgh Printmakers by Tim Cockburn, has recently been redated to the late 1980s with Bytautas' assistance. Both prints are distinguished examples of Michie's skill in depicting botanical subject matter.
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Alfons Bytautas RSA printing, photograph by Chun-Chao Chiu.
Alfons Bytautas RSA
Alfons Bytautas RSA was introduced to etching at Edinburgh College of Art and his work gained exposure when it was included in the first Scottish Print Open Exhibition in the late 1970s. In 1983 Bytautas went to study at Atelier 17, the world-renowned studio of the pioneering post-war printmaker Stanley Hayter. From 1979 to 2009 Bytautas was Master Printmaker at Edinburgh Printmakers where he gained a strong reputation for technical innovation. Bytautas’ time in Paris is evident in his Modernist language of biomorphic forms and nebulous shapes that hint at his interest in the science of printmaking and, as he puts it, ‘the almost alchemical nature of its processes, the surprising ways in which it can transform the artist’s imagery and in doing so set the imagination free’.
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Alfons Bytautas RSAJourney, 2012EtchingImage size: 11.5 x 15 cm
Paper size: 25 x 35 cm2 artist's proofs£ 200.00 -
Alfons Bytautas RSAKopfstudie 2, 2014DrypointImage size: 18 x 15 cm
Paper size: 39.5 x 26.5 cmEdition of 15£ 200.00 -
Alfons Bytautas RSALight & Shadow, 2018EtchingImage size: 17 x 24 cm
Paper size: 28.5 x 39.5 cm2 artist's proofs£ 200.00
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Elspeth Lamb RSA printing on the Mailander offset press at the Edinburgh College of Art Inverleith campus, circa 1980, photograph courtesy of the artist.
Elspeth Lamb RSA
Elspeth Lamb RSA works across a wide range of printmaking techniques as well as papermaking. Over the last 20 years she has studied the art of Japanese woodblock printing (Mokuhanga) and been taught by Japanese masters including Tadashi Toda at the Crown Point Press, San Francisco. In 1983 she was awarded a Scottish Arts Council grant and a bursary from Edinburgh College of Art to study at the renowned publishing house, the Tamarind Institute of Lithography, part of the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. This rigorous course proved a turning point in Lamb's career and on her return to Edinburgh, Head of School David Michie RSA agreed to the establishment of a dedicated stone lithography area within Edinburgh College of Art.
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Elspeth Lamb RSAThe Sacred Cenote, 1991Lithograph and woodcut130 x 110 cmEdition of 6 plus 3 artist's proofs£ 3,000.00
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Elspeth Lamb RSAA Scots Quair 2, 1995Stone lithograph60 x 86 cmEdition of 6£ 1,100.00
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Elspeth Lamb RSASunset Heart, 1989Lithograph56 x 76 cmEdition of 12Sold
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Elspeth Lamb RSAThe Buried Mirror, circa 1993Screenprint
Published by Edinburgh Printmakers96 x 76 cmEdition of 36£ 1,100.00
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John MacKechnie RSA
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John Mackechnie RSAKibble Palace, Cupola, 1970sEtchingPaper size: 53 x 68 cm
Plate size: 31 x 46 cm£ 900.00 -
John Mackechnie RSASunburstEtchingPaper size: 53 x 71 cm
Plate size: 29 x 37 cm£ 900.00 -
John Mackechnie RSAHit Your LightsEtchingPaper size: 50 x 70 cm
Plate size: 20 x 51 cm£ 900.00 -
John Mackechnie RSABonnevilleEtchingPaper size: 50 x 66 cm
Plate size: 22 x 44 cm£ 900.00
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Joyce W. Cairns working on her first screenprint at Peacock Printmakers, Aberdeen, 1978, photograph courtesy of the artist.
Joyce W. Cairns PRSA
Joyce W. Cairns was elected President of the Royal Scottish Academy in 2018 and is the first woman to hold the position in the history of the Academy. Born in Edinburgh, Cairns studied painting at Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen (1966-71), and at the Royal College of Art, London (1971-74). Cairns' work is mainly autobiographical, based on past memories intertwined with present experiences, often set against the backdrop of the once fishing village of Footdee at the mouth of Aberdeen harbour where she lived for 33 years. Cairns was introduced to printmaking in the late 1970s at Peacock Printmakers, Aberdeen, where she made her first screenprint Variations on a Fish. In 1998 Cairns travelled to the Tidaholm Lithographic Academy, Sweden, with Arthur Watson PPRSA to produce lithographs with the Academy's Master Printers. The freedom afforded by the painterley medium of monoprinting lends itself well to Cairns' expressive, gestural style. These four monoprints were made at Peacock Printmakers with the assistance of Master Printmaker Michael Waight.
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Barbara Rae RSA printing in her Edinburgh studio, photograph by Bill Brady.
Barbara Rae RSA
Born in Falkirk, Barbara Rae RSA studied painting at Edinburgh College of Art (1961-65). Travelling to France and Spain on a post-graduate scholarship, her early work drew upon trends of abstraction and mixed media practices in European art at the time. Since her first solo exhibition in Edinburgh in 1967, Rae has gone on to exhibit worldwide. She was elected Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1980 and became a full Member in 1992. Rae travels extensively, notably to Ireland, Spain, Mexico and Arizona, but always returns to her Edinburgh studio where she prints with her Takach Press, manufactured in New Mexico. In 2018 the landmark exhibition Barbara Rae: The Northwest Passage was held at the Royal Scottish Academy. The exhibition charted Rae's expeditions to the Arctic Circle in the footsteps of her namesake, the explorer John Rae. Often working with Master Printmaker Michael Waight, the creation of monotypes is an essential element of Rae's creative output, bridging the gap between her painting and printmaking practices.
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Philip Reeves RSA in his studio.
Philip Reeves RSA
Philip Reeves RSA taught printmaking at Glasgow School of Art from 1954 until his retirement in 1991. Insisting on printmaking becoming part of the Fine Art Department at GSA, Reeves was hugely influential in the changing perception of printmaking from a specialist craft-skill, to a medium worthy of ‘serious’ artists. Prioritising line, colour and form in a manner more akin to American colour field painting and Minimalism than the gestural abstraction favoured by the Scottish art establishment at the time, Reeves worked in a style of quiet but powerful formalism, evoking the beauty of the mundane and overlooked. In the early 2000s, he became interested in the colour codes printed on the inside of cereal packets. This led to works composed of colour grids and repetitive shapes, often harmonising vivid colours in striking formations. In Secular Triptych three towers of colours subtly shift in tone, drawing the eye up and down, with the strong verticality typical of Reeves’ later work.
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Philip Reeves RSAPrimary Three with Black, 2003Etching58 x 60 cmEdition of 28 plus 2 artist's proofs£ 900.00
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Philip Reeves RSAChordAquatint49 x 71 cmEdition of 10Sold
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Philip Reeves RSASecular Triptych, 2001Aquatint46 x 48 cmEdition of 10£ 900.00
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Philip Reeves RSASuite, 1999Silkscreen screenprint73.5 x 58.5 cmEdition of 40 plus 1 artist's proof£ 1,900.00
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Kate Downie RSA printing as part of the Live Etching project at the Royal Scottish Academy during the exhibition Ages of Wonder: Scotland's Art 1540 to Now, 2017.
Kate Downie RSA
Kate Downie RSA is an American-born British landscape artist whose career over the past 30 years has spanned the media of painting, drawing, printmaking, performance and film. Downie's work responds to subjects as diverse as North Sea oil platforms, breweries, hospitals and bridge construction. In 2010 Downie won the RSA William Gillies Bequest Award allowing her to travel to Beijing and Shanghai to work with ink painting masters. In 2013 the new methodologies and techniques that Downie discovered in China resulted in the exhibition Walk through Resonant Landscape, mounted by the Royal Scottish Academy in conjunction with the Royal Glasgow Institute Kelly Gallery. In 2014 Downie was the Artist in Residence for the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Forth Road Bridge. More recently, the new Queensferry Crossing has become a key subject in her work. Having recently relocated her studio from Edinburgh to Fife, Downie's work is increasingly looking to the landscape of the east coast of Scotland.
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Kate Downie RSAYoung Mountain Pine, 2015Hand-washed monoprint on Japanese paperImage size: 60 x 45 cm
Frame size: 84 x 69 cmSold -
Kate Downie RSATidal Pool with Cloud (Forth Estuary), 2017Monoprint35 x 50 cmSold
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Kate Downie RSAMonsieur Braque's Allotment (Ceret), 2011Drypoint with watercolour wash45 x 60 cmEdition of 3£ 720.00
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Kate Downie RSAThe Clearing , 2011-15Monoprint with drypoint44 x 57 cmSold
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Kate Downie RSAWych Elm, 2009EtchingImage size: 47 x 76 cm
Frame size: 62 x 91 cmEdition of 100£ 680.00 -
Kate Downie RSAWall Walk in the Mist (Gubeikao), 2011-15Monoprint with chine collé and drypointImage size: 50 x 100 cm
Frame size: 69 x 118 cm£ 1,220.00 -
Kate Downie RSAWalking the Dragon Wall II, 2011-15Monoprint with chine collé and drypointImage size: 56 x 75 cm
Frame size: 74 x 93 cm£ 820.00 -
Kate Downie RSAWalking the Dragon I, 2011-15Monoprint with chine collé and drypointImage size: 56 x 75 cm
Frame size: 74 x 93 cm£ 820.00
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Henry Kondracki RSA
Best-known for his evocative paintings of city life and the Scottish landscape, Henry Kondracki RSA first joined Edinburgh Printmakers in 1973, several years before leaving his native city for London to study at the Byam Shaw School of Art and then the Slade School of Art. Having not yet been to art school when he first joined the printmakers, Kondracki was grateful for the assistance of then director, Ken Duffy, who taught the young artist how to make an etching. Created on Kondracki’s return to Edinburgh after art college, Union Street was printed with the assistance of Alfons Bytautas RSA. Kondracki also credits Bytautas with giving him ‘a few tips’ when he decided to produce a series of monoprints, including Toy Fire Engine, for an exhibition at Flowers Gallery in 1998.
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Arthur Watson PPRSA and Frances Walker RSA screenprinting at Peacock Printmakers, photograph by Andy Dewar.
Arthur Watson PPRSA
Arthur Watson PPRSA was the President of the Royal Scottish Academy from 2012 to 2018. He has been a presiding voice in Scottish contemporary art for the best part of half a century, providing impetus for a host of artist-led organisations and projects. A staunch supporter of Scottish printmaking, in 1974 Watson founded Peacock Printmakers where he collaborated directly with over 100 artists. In 1990 he represented Scotland at the Venice Biennale and in 1995 Watson was appointed Course Director of the Master of Fine Arts programme at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, Dundee, before becoming Head of Graduate Studies in Fine Art in 2000. He established the Centre of Artists Books and Fine Art publishing at the Visual Research Centre with projects including the Great Book of Gaelic for the Gaelic Arts Agency and Voices of Scotland for the Scottish Executive. The screenprint Tangled Tent was made in 1973 whilst Watson was a student at Gray's School of Art, Aberdeen.
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Arthur Watson PPRSA
Tangled Tent, 1973 Screenprint
38 x 58 cm
Artist's proof -
All Available Works
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Anne Redpath RSALandscape Kyleakin, late 1950sLithograph
Printed with Harley Brothers Ltd, lithographic printers in Edinburgh35.5 x 53 cmSold -
Anne Redpath RSAThe Little Posy, 1957Lithograph
Printed with Harley Brothers Ltd, lithographic printers in Edinburgh36 x 53 cmSold -
Anne Redpath RSACorsican Village, Late 1950sLithograph
Printed with Harley Brothers Ltd, lithographic printers in Edinburgh
Signed in plate29.5 x 43 cmSold -
Sir Robin Philipson PPRSAPeasant, 1958Lithograph
Printed with Harley Brothers Ltd, lithographic printers in Edinburgh53 x 35 cmSold
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Elizabeth Blackadder RSALouis in a Box, 2013EtchingImage size: 18 x 36 cm
Paper size: 50 x 56 cmEdition of 50£ 1,200.00 -
Elizabeth Blackadder RSAFred, 2003EtchingImage size: 25 x 30 cm
Paper size: 50 x 54 cm
Edition of 80£ 1,850.00 -
Elizabeth Blackadder RSALouis, 2011EtchingImage size: 22 x 30 cm
Paper size: 50 x 56 cmEdition of 50£ 1,200.00 -
John Houston RSATemple Garden with Waterfall and Pagoda, 1991Lithograph
Published by Glasgow Print Studio71 x 91 cmEdition of 30£ 960.00
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John Houston RSASunset, Gullane Bay II, 1989Woodcut
Published by Glasgow Print Studio56.5 x 75.5 cmEdition of 30£ 1,060.00 -
Alfons Bytautas RSAJourney, 2012EtchingImage size: 11.5 x 15 cm
Paper size: 25 x 35 cm2 artist's proofs£ 200.00 -
Alfons Bytautas RSAKopfstudie 2, 2014DrypointImage size: 18 x 15 cm
Paper size: 39.5 x 26.5 cmEdition of 15£ 200.00 -
Alfons Bytautas RSALight & Shadow, 2018EtchingImage size: 17 x 24 cm
Paper size: 28.5 x 39.5 cm2 artist's proofs£ 200.00
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Joyce Cairns PRSAWatching the Night, 2021Monoprint70 x 55 cm£ 1,950.00
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Joyce Cairns PRSANorth Sea ReflectionsMonoprint35 x 45 cm£ 1,500.00
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Joyce Cairns PRSAThe Day of the Dead III, 1996Monoprint50 x 70 cm£ 1,950.00
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Joyce Cairns PRSADr Gibson's TulipsMonoprint77 x 49 cmSold
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Barbara Rae RSACortijo, LanjarónMonotype90 x 70 cm£ 3,400.00
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Barbara Rae RSABallinglen Fence - Yellow FieldMonotype88 x 88 cm£ 3,400.00
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Barbara Rae RSAHillside, AlbuñolMonotype91.5 x 69.5 cm£ 3,400.00
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Barbara Rae RSAHarbour LoadingMonotype77 x 65 cmSold
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Barbara Rae RSAWinter Evening - Sierra ContraviesaMonotype90 x 70 cm£ 3,400.00
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Elspeth Lamb RSAThe Buried Mirror, circa 1993Screenprint
Published by Edinburgh Printmakers96 x 76 cmEdition of 36£ 1,100.00 -
Elspeth Lamb RSAA Scots Quair 2, 1995Stone lithograph60 x 86 cmEdition of 6£ 1,100.00
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Elspeth Lamb RSASunset Heart, 1989Lithograph56 x 76 cmEdition of 12Sold
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Elspeth Lamb RSAThe Sacred Cenote, 1991Lithograph and woodcut130 x 110 cmEdition of 6 plus 3 artist's proofs£ 3,000.00
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Henry Kondracki RSAUnion Street, 1989Etching30 x 22 cmSold
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Henry Kondracki RSAToy Fire Engine, 1997Monoprint24 x 32 cm£ 550.00
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Arthur Watson PPRSATangled Tent, 1973Screenprint38 x 58 cmArtist's proof£ 550.00
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Philip Reeves RSASecular Triptych, 2001Aquatint46 x 48 cmEdition of 10£ 900.00
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Philip Reeves RSAPrimary Three with Black, 2003Etching58 x 60 cmEdition of 28 plus 2 artist's proofs£ 900.00
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Philip Reeves RSAChordAquatint49 x 71 cmEdition of 10Sold
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Philip Reeves RSASuite, 1999Silkscreen screenprint73.5 x 58.5 cmEdition of 40 plus 1 artist's proof£ 1,900.00
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John Mackechnie RSABonnevilleEtchingPaper size: 50 x 66 cm
Plate size: 22 x 44 cm£ 900.00 -
John Mackechnie RSAKibble Palace, Cupola, 1970sEtchingPaper size: 53 x 68 cm
Plate size: 31 x 46 cm£ 900.00 -
John Mackechnie RSAHit Your LightsEtchingPaper size: 50 x 70 cm
Plate size: 20 x 51 cm£ 900.00 -
John Mackechnie RSASunburstEtchingPaper size: 53 x 71 cm
Plate size: 29 x 37 cm£ 900.00
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Kate Downie RSAYoung Mountain Pine, 2015Hand-washed monoprint on Japanese paperImage size: 60 x 45 cm
Frame size: 84 x 69 cmSold -
Kate Downie RSATidal Pool with Cloud (Forth Estuary), 2017Monoprint35 x 50 cmSold
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Kate Downie RSAWych Elm, 2009EtchingImage size: 47 x 76 cm
Frame size: 62 x 91 cmEdition of 100£ 680.00 -
Kate Downie RSAThe Clearing , 2011-15Monoprint with drypoint44 x 57 cmSold
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Kate Downie RSAMonsieur Braque's Allotment (Ceret), 2011Drypoint with watercolour wash45 x 60 cmEdition of 3£ 720.00
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Kate Downie RSAWall Walk in the Mist (Gubeikao), 2011-15Monoprint with chine collé and drypointImage size: 50 x 100 cm
Frame size: 69 x 118 cm£ 1,220.00 -
Kate Downie RSAWalking the Dragon Wall II, 2011-15Monoprint with chine collé and drypointImage size: 56 x 75 cm
Frame size: 74 x 93 cm£ 820.00 -
Kate Downie RSAWalking the Dragon I, 2011-15Monoprint with chine collé and drypointImage size: 56 x 75 cm
Frame size: 74 x 93 cm£ 820.00
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