Bruce Thomson

Bruce Thomson was a versatile Scottish contemporary artist whose work spanned five decades and four disciplines: painting, etching, sculpture and illustration. A distinctive, expressive line runs through everything he made, from Greek myth and Aesop's fables to the Highland landscape and the drawings he sent home to his children from the North Sea.

Painting

His paintings and drawings feature bold, fluid lines and abstract forms, with a strong emphasis on colour and movement. Many show the influence of surrealism and modernism, with organic shapes and dreamlike compositions, and a palette that ranges from vibrant, contrasting hues to subdued, monochromatic schemes.

Etching

His etchings reveal his command of traditional steel and copper-plate technique. He drew repeatedly on Greek myth, Aesop's fables and Robert Burns, in subjects from Leda and the Swan to the Three Graces, worked in the same flowing line that marks all his work.

Sculpture

His sculptural work is particularly noteworthy. Working with the natural growth patterns of wood, and in bronze, he transformed organic forms into dynamic, expressive pieces that seem to capture motion in stillness.

The Glenfarclas commission

Bruce was one of three Scottish artists chosen by the distillers J & G Grant to illustrate the millennium release of the Glenfarclas 40 Year Old Single Highland Malt, answering with Robert Burns' Tam o' Shanter and The Jolly Beggars. The full story is told in the journal.

Letters home

Alongside the published work are the drawings he sent home to his young family while working offshore in the North Sea, made with whatever materials were to hand. They are a rare and personal glimpse into the life behind the art.