Collections

Recently we have acquired several artworks by artists who have been involved in our programme including Zoë Paul, Graham Fagen and Alastair MacLennan you can read more about these acquisitions here…

Images: Mick Peter, Zoe Paul Ceramic Plates, Graham Fagan Drawing, Alistair MacLennan Drawings.

The painting collection at Hospitalfield is predominantly oil paintings collected and commissioned by Patrick Allan-Fraser during the second half of the 19th Century from his peer group of artists.This group were referred to as The Clique and met at the Royal Academy Schools in London. The painting collection also includes works painted by Allan-Fraser showing european scenes and copies of masterpieces, which Patrick-Allan encountered during his travels, including of Titian’s Flora. There is also a series of small works showing local places. This ‘Arbroath’ series was mainly produced by promise of a commission for an edition of Sir Walter Scott’s The Antiquary.

You can browse all of the oil paintings in Hospitalfield’s collection on the ArtUK website

Images: paintings by Patrick Allan Fraser from Hospitalfield’s collection, including of a sleeping maid, a character from the Antiquary and Elizabeth Allan Fraser reading in the dining room.

There is an important collection of letters and papers that give valuable background to the history of the house, the estate and the collections.

Of particular interest are the letters to Patrick Allan-Fraser from the artists that he commissioned works from for his collection. This part of the archive gives an invaluable background to the relationships that Allan-Fraser had with his artist friends. There is also a series of letters between Allan-Fraser and Charles Dickens and his associates as they discuss their efforts to provide for artists and writers of the future. Other valuable records include details of the day to day running of and the maintenance of the estate.

There is little information within the Trust’s own records of the 20^th century however the Hospitalfield Alumni Association have recently invested funds in to a PhD position, supervised by the University of Aberdeen, that will start building the appropriate research culture around this aspect of Hospitalfield’s history and the impact of the ‘college’ on 20^th century Scottish art.

It is the aim of the Trust to make this material available in a form that can be productively shared and enable the reading of Hospitalfield’s significant creative, cultural and social history over several centuries; significant for Angus and more broadly for Scotland. For more information on plan see Future Plan.

Images: Letter from Charles Dickens to Patrick Allan Fraser, Archive materials.

This room was Patrick’s library for many years. The majority of the books in the library however belonged originally to the Parrott family of Hawkesbury Hall. Elizabeth Fraser, Patrick’s mother-in-law, inherited the estate in 1843 when her brother Francis Parrott died. We do not know when the books were brought to Hospitalfield.

In addition to books and periodicals on the arts, the collection covers a wide range of topics including history, travel and classical architecture and sculpture. There are 18th century medical books which belonged to Dr. Francis Parrott, Elizabeth Fraser’s father, and a small but fascinating collection of mid-18th century maps.

Both Elizabeths, mother and daughter, were keen amateur musicians and their music scores for piano and harp can still be found in the library today.

The collection continues to grow, and we are building up a 21st century library for the house through recommendations and donations from artists in residence who have spent time here in recent years.

Images: Madiha Aijaz self portrait in library, residency workspace in library, stonemason image selected by James Rigler for his project the Dancing Stones, Book collection in library.

In 2021, Hospitalfield was awarded funds from Museums Galleries Scotland to undertake a Painting Conservation Survey, a complex audit of the condition of over 250 oil paintings held in the collection at Hospitalfield. We made a film with volunteers, all of whom contribute to collections care and management at Hospitalfield and painting conservators Egan, Matthews & Rose who were commissioned to undertake the survey. In the film, volunteers describe their motivations for volunteering and conservators discuss their approach to painting conservation.