Eástre, Hymn to the Sun

On the way into Glasgow this afternoon I had to get something at Kelvingrove. So managed a quick shot of this bust, Eástre the Saxon goddess of spring, by John Duncan Fergusson. It is believed to be a portrait of the artist’s wife Margaret Morris. As a dancer and leader of a dance school, Morris was involved in a performance called ‘Hymn to the Sun.’

John Duncan Fergusson is best known as a painter and the most commercially successful and critically regarded of the Scottish Colourists.

J D Fergusson became a close friend of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, then a neighbour in Chelsea, from whom Margaret Morris commissioned a number of designs for studio flats and a theatre. Sadly, they came to nothing, but their friendship grew and it may well have been Fergusson who recommended Mackintosh to go to the south of France to rest and paint.

The Mackintosh Choir are performing a Christmas Concert tonight at Mackintosh Queen's Cross.

On Thursday evening we have Feargus Hetherington on Violin/Viola and Mira Opalinska on Piano. Polish pianist Mira Opalinska joins Feargus in music by Bach and works from both Scotland and England.

And our final Christmas Concert is on Friday when we welcome back Les Sirènes Female Chamber Choir. So join the winners of Choir of the Year 2012 and welcome the festive season with the perfect combination of beautiful choral music and Christmas classics in the beautiful setting of Mackintosh Queen's Cross.