Anda Paterson R.S.WI. R.G.I. (Scottish, 1935-2022)
The Protestors by Anda Paterson, 1974. Gouache and watercolour.
Anda Paterson was born in Glasgow and studied at Glasgow School of Art from 1952-1958. She was taught by David Donaldson, Mary Armour and Benno Scholz.
Anda Paterson (1935-2022) was an important presence in Scotland’s cultural landscape for some 70 years. As an artist, she stood apart from her contemporaries and predecessors: her images of beggars, peasants and outcasts flew in the face of the polite “drawing-room-picture” tradition, so deeply rooted in our visual culture. Perhaps most strikingly, Anda’s distinctive style cannot be aligned to any specific Scottish or British influence. As an “administrator”, she encouraged a unified, cooperative, artist-led approach to promotion: she co-founded the Glasgow Group and played a key role in its success for some fifty years.
She balanced life as an artist with teaching at schools in Glasgow. One of her pupils was Turner Prize Winner Douglas Gordon.
