The remarkable lives, love and artistic legacy of two of Scotland’s most distinctive 20th-century artists have returned to Ayrshire with the successful launch of a major new exhibition at Kilmarnock’s Dick Institute.
Robert MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun: Artists, Lovers, Outsiders was officially celebrated with a special preview event on Thursday, September 24, bringing the story of the men famously known as the “Two Roberts” back to the part of Scotland where their extraordinary journey began.
Presented by Ayrshire360 and curated by acclaimed author and broadcaster Damian Barr, the exhibition explores not only the artistic achievements of Robert MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun, but also the remarkable personal and creative partnership that shaped their lives and careers.
The pair became major figures in mid-century British art, developing reputations for their distinctive and powerful work while building a life together at a time when being openly gay carried considerable social and legal consequences.
Their relationship was inseparable from their creative story, and the new exhibition places that partnership alongside their paintings and wider artistic achievements, giving visitors an opportunity to discover more about the two men behind the work.
Both came from working-class Ayrshire backgrounds before going on to study at Glasgow School of Art and establish themselves within the British art world.
Their journey eventually took them south, where they became associated with some of the most significant artistic and literary figures of their generation.
Despite the recognition they achieved, their lives were also marked by considerable personal challenges, making the return of their work to Ayrshire particularly significant.
Damian Barr joined guests at the Dick Institute for the exhibition preview, sharing insights into MacBryde and Colquhoun, their work, their relationship and the legacy they left behind.
The event marked a special homecoming for two artists whose careers took them far beyond Ayrshire but whose beginnings remained rooted in the area.
The Dick Institute is also the only Scottish venue on the exhibition’s UK tour, making the Kilmarnock exhibition a particularly important opportunity for Scottish audiences to experience the collection.
The exhibition brings together pieces drawn from local collections and includes works which have never previously been displayed publicly.
For visitors, it offers the chance to see the Two Roberts’ work within the landscape and community from which their story first emerged.
Their lives have experienced renewed attention through Damian Barr’s acclaimed novel The Two Roberts, which explores the artists’ relationship, ambitions and experiences.
The exhibition provides a real-world companion to the story told in the novel, allowing audiences to encounter the art alongside the lives and circumstances that helped create it.
MacBryde and Colquhoun’s story is particularly striking because they were not simply two artists working alongside one another.
They shared their lives as well as their creative ambitions, navigating the British art world as working-class Scottish gay men during a period when homosexuality between men remained criminalised.
The exhibition therefore explores questions of identity, class, sexuality, creativity and belonging alongside the paintings themselves.
Following the success of the September launch, Damian Barr is set to return to the Dick Institute on Thursday, November 26, for a special book reading.
The event will give visitors another opportunity to hear from the author and exhibition curator and discover more about the remarkable lives of the Two Roberts.
Further information about the November event will be announced through Ayrshire360.
For Kilmarnock and the wider Ayrshire community, the exhibition represents much more than another stop on a national tour.
It brings the story of Robert MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun back to Ayrshire, celebrating two local men who went on to make their mark on British art while sharing an extraordinary personal and creative partnership.
Robert MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun: Artists, Lovers, Outsiders is now open at the Dick Institute in Kilmarnock and will run until January 2027.
Admission is free.
Further information is available from Ayrshire360.