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Perth EuroWalk

Point B - Tay Street

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Location: Marshall Place, Perth PH2 8NS

The former J.D. Fergusson Gallery – Photo Credit: The Fergusson Gallery by Dave Fergusson, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/The_Fergusson_Gallery_-geograph.org.uk-_2066275.jpg

On the corner of Marshall Place and Tay Street, we see the A listed former waterworks building which for a number of years housed the Fergusson Gallery. The gallery has now closed and the art collections have been moved to Perth Art Gallery. (Ref: https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-courier-advertiser-perth-and-perthshire-edition/20171106/281582355901129). The Perth Museum and Art Gallery has re-opened in March 2024 https://perthmuseum.co.uk/ after a large redevelopment project and we will visit these later in our Eurowalk.

The gallery housed the works of the Scottish Colourist John Duncan Fergusson (1874 – 1961), one of the four “Scottish Colourists”, who was born in Leith but had ancestral links to Perthshire. Fergusson trained in Paris at the Academie Julian and Academie Colarossi towards the end of the nineteenth century. He lived in Paris permanently for a while but even during times he lived Britain he travelled to France regularly. He was strongly influenced by the modern movements in French art at the time, like Fauvism, by Dutch portraiture and by art styles he encountered during his travels, like the work of Diego Velasquez in Spain.

Fergusson developed an interest in capturing dance and became part of an artists’ group known as the Rhythmists. In 1913 he met his partner (and often business partner) Margaret Morris, a famous dancer and choreographer. The gallery in Perth also now contains the archives of her work.

While thriving in the atmosphere of Paris, Fergusson always considered himself a true Scotsman – taking his Celtic identity with him to Europe.

You can read more about Fergusson here or see some of his sketches here.

Directly outside the gallery, the sculpture “Torse de Femme” is of a female torso is a cast of a JD Fergusson sculpture. It is part of the River Tay Public Art Trail.

We now continue along Tay Street. Walk along the riverside walkway towards the town centre. You will pass various public art exhibits from the River Tay Public Art Trail plus the various features of the flood defence system. Cross across Queen’s Bridge and look out for the carvings on the pillars on the flood defence wall as we continue walking along the riverside walkway.

A number of the carvings are coats of arms of Perth’s twin towns including Aschaffenburg (Germany), Bydgoszcz (Poland), Cognac (France) and Pskov (Russia). There is also a plaque to Aschaffenburg in the St. John’s Centre as the centre was opened in 1988 by their Mayor on a visit to Perth.

Coat of arms of the the city of Bydgoszcz (Poland), twinned with Perth – Photo thanks to Susannah Rae

Further information about the public art display can be found in this interactive online website.

The Eagle of Perth by Shona Kinloch – Photo thanks to Susannah Rae

The Eagle of Perth sculpture by Shona Kinloch can be seen across from the Royal George Hotel, is based on the history of a ship called “The Eagle”. The ship was built in 1839 by the Merchant Guild of Perth, to improve trade, particularly with The Baltic. Some history of the ship and her sister ship The Rose can be found towards the end of this local history document.

Walking Route Instructions: From The Eagle of Perth sculpture we will now walk back a little and cross at the pedestrian crossing to High Street and the building on the corner of Tay Street and High Street, where we will make our next stop.