Joan Eardley in Port Glasgow

The painter, Joan Eardley, was introduced to Port Glasgow in the early 1950s by her friend from Glasgow School of Art, Dorothy Steel, who came from Gourock.

One of the strands of Absent Voices is 'Walking in the footsteps of Spencer and Eardley'.

Stanley Spencer spent time in Port Glasgow too – but a few years earlier – during the Second World War.

He found himself fascinated by the people and the work being carried out in the shipyards.

According to the Tate's website (the ties that bind sugar with art are strong... more HERE), Spencer visited Port Glasgow in 1940 to fulfil a commission to paint its shipyards and was attracted by the cemetery there.

Joan Eardley, who lived in Bearsden, north of Glasgow, was introduced to Port Glasgow by Dorothy who had a studio there, and in 1950 and she spent much time in the town drawing.

According to a recent catalogue produced by The Scottish Gallery in conjunction with an exhibition and the publication of a new book about Eardley, a few years later she completed this ambitious picture, Children, Port Glasgow.

It was exhibited at The Scottish Gallery in a group show for the International Festival; Six Young Scottish Painters in 1955.

The street was Bouverie Street, thought to be one of the longest continuous tenement buildings in Europe. It is now earmarked for demolition. The painting is Children, Port Glasgow.