Scottish Gouache Painting Pack Greyhounds Racing Signed Wendy Wood 1892-1981

1 Fine Scottish Original Art Gouache Painting Pack Greyhound Animal Dogs Racing.

Original work of art.

Highly collectible sought after by collectors.

Set in a nice white frame.

Gouache on paper with front protective glass cover.

Initial signed in white on the front by the known British artist Wendy Wood.

A rather fine example of her work.

Subject 4 racing greyhound dogs.

Title "Greyhounds"

Old purchase price label verso.

Artist biography Wendy Wood 1892-1981. She was also a practising artist who had trained with Walter Sickert and she regularly sent work to the Royal Scottish Academy. Wood was a close friend of St John Caddell with whom she shared a studio in Edinburgh. Ref source nationalgalleries.

Wendy Wood, born Gwendoline Emily Meacham, (29 October 1892 – 30 June 1981) was a campaigner for Scottish independence. An eccentric and colourful figure, she was also a gifted artist, sculptor and writer, and her theatrical political activism often created controversy.

Wood was born in Maidstone in Kent, England, before her parents moved to South Africa, where her father was a brewery manager and landscape painter, and was brought up over there. Wood adopted her mother's maiden name in 1927 to emphasise her artistic connections. Her maternal grandfather was the sculptor Samuel Peploe Wood, and her great-uncle was the painter Thomas Peploe Wood. If challenged as to her Scottish birthright, she would reply, "One does not have to be a horse to be born in a stable", echoing the old proverb that is sometimes misattributed to the Duke of Wellington, albeit for a different purpose.

In 1928, Wood was one of the founders of the National Party of Scotland, which grew into the Scottish National Party, but, in the 1930s, decided that a non-party approach to Scottish independence was more effective. On Bannockburn Day in 1932, Wood led a group of nationalists into Stirling Castle, then an Army barracks as well as being open to tourists; to tear down the Union Flag and replace it with Scotland's lion rampant.[2] Eric Linklater wrote that she flushed the Union Jack down the toilet, and she sued him for libel, eventually settling out of court for a farthing damages.

In the 1930s, Wood also founded the Scottish Watch, a youth organisation (not to be confused with a later, unrelated extremist organisation of the same name). In 1949, she had founded the Scottish Patriots, which, at the time of her death in June 1981, were some 2,000 strong.

In the 1950s, came protests against the use of the regnal title "Elizabeth II" in Scotland, as Scotland had not had an Elizabeth I (see also the case of MacCormick v. Lord Advocate). Wood hung an effigy of the Secretary of State for Scotland in Glasgow in 1950 and displayed a Home Rule banner at that years' Highland Games. Wood was arrested and spent spells in prison on several occasions.

From 1956, Wood shared an artist's studio and house with her partner, Florence St John Cadell at Whinmill Brae in Edinburgh. The house is now split in two and addressed as 17 and 18 Coltbridge Gardens. Wood's portrait by Florence St John Cadell is held by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
The studio at Whinmill Brae, Edinburgh.

In 1960, Wood spoke at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, to try to mobilise them behind the re-convening of the Scottish Parliament, which she asserted had not been properly dissolved in 1707, merely adjourned. This request was turned down. Wood engaged in many international campaigns, for Irish causes, to the remembrance of the British concentration camps during the Second Boer War which killed thousands, to supporting the Indian independence movement and supporting the Icelandic people in their 1970s cod war over fishing grounds. In 1972, came Wood's hunger strike for home rule, which effectively failed, but in 1979, Scots were given a referendum on the matter.

In the early-1970s Wood often read Scottish stories on the BBC children's TV programme Jackanory under the name Auntie Gwen. Having spent over a decade as a crofter in Moidart (moving to Edinburgh in 1952) she had a wide span of experience to call upon. In all she wrote ten books, the last being her autobiography, Yours Sincerely for Scotland. Later in the 1970s, she unsuccessfully stood as a candidate in an election to be Rector of the University of Dundee with the support of the University's Scottish Nationalist Association. Memorial to Wendy Wood, Old Calton Burial Ground.
Wood remained active into her late-eighties. She died in Edinburgh on 30 June 1981, aged 88. A small memorial was placed in Old Calton Cemetery in 2021. It lies near the north parapet wall on Waterloo Place.

This painting is of exceptional quality.

Provenance Scottish auction label verso.

Circa mid 20th century.

We select our artworks based upon subject, quality & significance.

We offer our clients exceptional professional customer service.

Condition report.

Offered in fine used condition.

The front painting area is in good overall condition, with some scuffs scratches and stains in areas. The frame and glass cover have scuffs, scratches, wear marks commensurate with usage & old age.

With hanging thread on the back ready for home display.

International worldwide shipping is available via ebay's global shipping programme.

Viewings are welcome by appointment only for customer support please send a message thankyou.

Cash on collection is welcome.

Browse our other exciting collections available in our shop gallery.

Dimensions in centimetres of frame approximate

High (48cm)
Wide (60cm)
Depth (3cm)

Payment

[We accept the following payment methods, all major credit cards & debit cards through Paypal & cash on collection.]

Reserve: $750.00

Shipping:

Domestic: Shipping rates are determined by destination

International: Foreign shipping rates are determined by destination. International shipping may be subject to VAT.

Combined shipping: Please ask about combined shipping for multiple lots before bidding.

Location: This item ships from the United Kingdom

Your purchase is protected:
Photos, descriptions, and estimates were prepared with the utmost care by a fully certified expert and appraiser. All items in this sale are guaranteed authentic.

In the rare event that the item did not conform to the lot description in the sale, Jasper52 specialists are here to help. Buyers may return the item for a full refund provided you notify Jasper52 within 5 days of receiving the item.

Used