The Glasgow Boys

When the Glasgow Boys rose to prominence in the 1880s, there was a sense of wonder at how a group of Scottish painters could hold such sway in the academies, salons and secessions of western Europe and North America. The group’s firm grasp on modernity brought a new lease of life to the mêlée of‘fin de siècle’ styles. The Glasgow Boys placed themselves at the forefront of British art, primed to take on an aesthetic which signalled the beginnings of modernism in Scotland.