PAST EXHIBITION: This was part of the EAF21 programme.

Born in rural Lewis in 1926, Donald Smith was uniquely placed to connect the Gaelic world of the West with the English-speaking mainstream.

Living in a crofting community on the West Side of Lewis from 1974 to his death in 2014, a steady flow of portraits, large oil panels and works on paper emerged from his studio. Island fishermen and women were transformed into iconic images of working people. Developed from many hundreds of drawings and photographs, these are intensely lyrical paintings, celebrating the indomitability of the human spirit. 

Being one of a few post-war Scottish artists responding to swift social and cultural change, he saw himself as an outward looking Gael, with one foot in the culture of mainland Scotland, and one in the Hebrides. Developed in partnership with An Lanntair in Stornoway, this is the first major retrospective of Smith’s work.