Alasdair Gray (28 December 1934 – 29 December 2019) was a titan of Scottish art and literature. Gray studied at the Glasgow School of Art from 1952 to 1957. It was during his time here that he began work on his debut novel, ‘Lanark’, which would not be published until 1981.
Although better known as a novelist, Gray was also a muralist, playwright, printmaker and illustrator. Gray's best-known productions as a visual artist were his graphic illustrations for his own books, and he was interested in a tradition of writers who have also illustrated their own work, including William Blake and Rudyard Kipling.
Closely associated with the Glasgow Print Studio, in 1979 a booklet The Comedy of the White Dog featuring two short stories by Alasdair was published under the Print Studio Imprint. The studio also worked with Alasdair to publish a suite of prints, Lanark, to coincide with the publishing of his novel in 1981.
Alasdair made occasional prints throughout his life and later on printmaking became a major part of his artistic output. His written language was intrinsically intertwined with the visual and we were honoured to build a lasting relationship with him, working closely with our Master Printers.
In 2008 he completed the series of screenprints, The Scots Hippo, based on the T. S. Elliot poem, The Hippopotamus, each verse illustrated in Alasdair’s inimitable style.He was focused and driven, and would not let anything stand in his way. When he was refused permission to use the original poem by the estate of T. S. Eliiot, Alasdair simply reworked the poem into Scots language.
He went on to produce many screenprints with Glasgow Print Studio over the years, often returning to and reworking images and making them anew.
