Behind the scenes of the ‘From Camera to Canvas’ exhibition

Although this will be the moment the exhibition finally opens to the public, work on it began over two years ago, in the summer of 2018. A timeframe like this (or even longer) is not unusual for exhibitions of this nature. Museums and galleries plan their programmes years in advance, and a huge amount of unseen work goes into producing the finished exhibition over that time.

The journey of E. A. Hornel: From Camera to Canvas started soon after I took up my post at the National Trust for Scotland as the Morton Photography Project curator. One of the key aims of this project is to raise the profile of our photographic collections, especially the collection compiled by artist E A Hornel, now stored at Broughton House in Kirkcudbright, which was his home and his studio.

The City Art Centre in Edinburgh has a remit to showcase Scottish visual art and photography, as well as their own collections. As our proposed exhibition combined both Scottish visual art and photography, and the City Art Centre hold several paintings by Hornel in their collections, this was a good fit for them. However, we still had to apply to be accepted into their exhibition schedule, and collaborate with curators at the City Art Centre to make sure E. A. Hornel: From Camera to Canvas would be a perfect fit.

Once we knew the exhibition would open in November 2020, the hard work of actually developing it could begin! There are approximately 80 paintings by Hornel at Broughton House, as well as c1,700 photographs used by him to create his art. Not to mention the large number of books, photographic equipment, studio furniture and other ephemera that we could choose from.

By focusing on the themes we wanted to get across, we were able to whittle down all the potential options to a list of paintings, photos and other items that told the story of the photographs behind Hornel’s art. We were keen to use this opportunity to showcase paintings from the collection that are usually kept in storage, as well as examples from the extensive photography collection.

Choosing what to display is only the start of the process though. The condition of every item has to be checked by conservators to ensure it can be displayed. They recommend treatment that might be required to prepare items for the exhibition, and carry it out if necessary. Our registrar manages the loan agreement with the City Art Centre, and ensures everything is suitably insured. As objects move around the country (from Broughton House to conservation studios and on to the gallery) our Collections Information team keep object locations up to date in our database.

Everything is now at the City Art Centre, ready to be installed ahead of the exhibition opening on 7 November. Specialist art couriers were used to move the paintings, and the City Art Centre’s team of technicians will undertake the actual installation. By the time visitors are allowed in, everything will be on the walls, looking spick and span.

But an exhibition is not just the works of art on the walls. Interpretation to help visitors understand the art and exhibition themes has to be written, edited and designed. We invited authors to contribute essays to a book exploring the exhibition themes in more depth (soon to be available from our online shop). These had to be collated, edited and matched with images from the exhibition. The book itself has been designed, printed and distributed.