[CPProt.net] Blaze destroys work by famous Scots artists

[Museum Security and Cultural Property Protection (Ton Cremers)]

Blaze destroys work by famous Scots artists
LAURA ROBERTS
 
"I keep on remembering more and more things that are lost. It is truly
awful. The fire spread with such speed, blowing out the windows of the
drawing room." - MAGNUS LINKLATER


"My wife noticed the flames first and within seconds the whole tree was on
fire. The fire brigade guided us out through the smoke and falling glass." 
Story in full PAINTINGS by some of Scotland's most revered artists,
including Samuel Peploe and William MacTaggart, have been destroyed in a
devastating New Year fire caused by faulty Christmas tree lights. 

The works of art, along with antiquarian books, were lost at the £1 million
home of Magnus Linklater, a former chairman of the Scottish Arts Council, in
Edinburgh's New Town. 

The fire consumed the entire contents of the drawing room, which was filled
with books and irreplaceable works of art. 

Among the works lost were two paintings by the Scottish Colourist Peploe and
two by MacTaggart. Three paintings by Robin Phillipson and one by William
Gillies were also lost, as were works by the Scottish modern artist Alison
Wood and Anne Redpath, one of Scotland's most important artists of the 20th
century. 

Last night, art experts said the works had huge cultural value and their
loss was a tragedy. 

Mr Linklater, a former editor of The Scotsman, and his wife, Veronica, were
entertaining guests for Hogmanay when the fire started in the early hours of
yesterday. 

As he surveyed the damage, Mr Linklater said he was still trying to account
for all the precious items that had perished. "I keep on remembering more
and more things that are lost," he said. "It is truly awful. The fire spread
with such speed, blowing out the windows of the drawing room. 

"My wife noticed the flames first and within seconds the whole tree was on
fire. The fire brigade guided us out through the smoke and falling glass." 

The couple, who own three floors of an A-listed Georgian townhouse in the
city's Drummond Place, also lost their collection of antiquarian books,
including a rare edition of works by Sir Walter Scott and a complete
collection of the writings of Rudyard Kipling. Mr Linklater said the
destruction of irreplaceable bound manuscripts of books by his father, Eric
Linklater, was "a devastating loss". 

The couple and their seven guests were in the drawing room when the
Christmas tree lights ignited at 1:20am, setting fire to the curtains and
quickly spreading throughout the room. 

Mr Linklater tried to put out the blaze with an extinguisher before calling
the fire brigade. He was the last out of the house after ensuring that
people asleep in the top-floor flat were alerted as smoke filled the upper
levels. 

He said: "I managed to shut the doors, which prevented the house from going
up, but everything in the drawing room is lost. There was a brilliant and
unique William MacTaggart picture of the view of the house which is
irreplaceable called In The Garden. It once hung in the Scottish Gallery of
Modern Art." 

When asked if his collection was insured, Mr Linklater said: "I hope so." He
estimated the paintings alone had been worth about £100,000. 

He was treated in hospital for smoke inhalation and minor burns to his hands
but was discharged shortly afterwards. 

The Linklaters were relieved to discover their Siamese cat, Selkie - the
Orcadian for seal - half-way up a chimney on the top floor when they
returned yesterday to survey the damage. 

Mr Linklater said: "We got all the people out but at the time the cat was
unaccounted for so we were very pleased. We consider ourselves amazingly
lucky we all got out. We are determined to restore the house to its former
glory, no matter what it takes. 

"Unfortunately, things like the original fireplace were also destroyed. The
great thing about these wonderful New Town houses is they are very
splendidly built. The stone is all still there, even if all the wood is
gone." 

Four fire crews tackled the blaze for four hours. Although the fire was
confined to the drawing room, there was considerable smoke and water damage
to the rest of the rooms. 

Paul Stirton, a senior lecturer in the history of art at Glasgow University,
said the loss of the collection was a tragedy. "In cultural terms, Mr
Linklater's collection is priceless, to some extent. The fact that they have
gone is a great loss," he said. 

Dr George Rawson, a fine art librarian at the Glasgow School of Art, said:
"These paintings are of enormous cultural value. Peploe is particularly
highly rated, but they are all significant. I wouldn't be able to put a
financial value on them, but it would be significant. It's a very sad loss
that they have now all gone."

Linklater at top in arts and journalism

MAGNUS Linklater, the first salaried chairman of the Scottish Arts Council,
from 1996 to 2001, is best known as a journalist and broadcaster, with a
career spanning 40 years. 

Mr Linklater grew up in Orkney and was educated at Eton. He started his
career as a reporter on the Daily Express in Manchester before moving to the
Evening Standard in London as a diarist and then to the Sunday Times in
1969. He had a number of roles during his 14 years at the paper, and was
features editor, news editor and assistant editor. 

After three years as managing editor of the Observer, he was named editor of
The Scotsman in 1988, staying in the post until 1994. Since then, Mr
Linklater has been a regular columnist for The Scotsman's sister paper
Scotland on Sunday and the Times. 

Now 63, he won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Scottish Press Awards
last April. At the time he said: "I am very honoured and flattered to win
this award, although it does make me feel rather old. My time as editor of
The Scotsman I regard as the best days of my career." 

Mr Linklater has published several historical books, the majority of which
focus on aspects of Scottish life and history. He describes his interests as
cricket, fishing and book collecting. 

He married Veronica Lyle, now Baroness Veronica Linklater of Butterstone, in
1967. She was made a life peer in 1997 after she contested the Perth and
Kinross seat as a Liberal Democrat candidate. They have two sons and one
daughter.

This article: http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=2822006