Writers reveal portraits' secrets

Warming the hearth - one of the paintings featured.

Research by female authors has uncovered the stories behind a series of portraits of Highlands women for a new exhibition.

Reflections is a joint project by Inverness Museum and Art Gallery and Random Acts of Writing (RAW) magazine.

Nine contemporary writers were asked to produce work to accompany nine portraits.

Details they found included the story of an Italian immigrant and a "forgotten genius".

RAW's editor, Jennifer Thomson, was asked to commission a series of short pieces by female Highland writers, each piece specifically linked to one of the paintings in the exhibition.

She said the writers had found stories of a 19th Century artist and of hardship.

Mrs Thomson said: "Morag Henderson has produced a piece set in Inverness and inspired by the research she carried out into the background of Invernessian Alexander Munro, a sculptor whose work was acclaimed as genius, but who has now been largely forgotten in his native city.

We can often discover what their husbands or brothers did but we know very little about the women themselves Katey Boal Inverness Museum and Art Gallery

"Munro's artistic ability was discovered when he attended Inverness Academy, when he got in trouble for spending his lesson-time carving mini-sculptures for his friends.

"Luckily, his head teacher recognised his innate talent, and encouraged his pupil to take his art studies seriously."

She said Munro ended up in London working with members of the artistic movement the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and counted among his clients royalty and the prime minister.

Singer-songwriter Fiona Mackenzie researched the background behind a work called Portrait of a Lady.

Mrs Thomson said: "Writing about the picture Portrait of a Lady by James Selbie, Fiona managed not only to find out new information about artist Selbie - a former teacher at Inverness Royal Academy - but also to identify the woman in the picture.

"Her piece, Maria, is based on the life of this extraordinary woman: an Italian immigrant to Scotland who suffered hardship in London before moving to the Highlands and raising five daughters."

Originally, Inverness Museum and Art Gallery had planned a simple showing of pictures which were usually hidden away in their storeroom, with the theme of Highland Women.

But they discovered they had a problem as many of the female subjects were unidentifiable.

The exhibition will run throughout November.

Museum learning and access officer Katey Boal said: "In some cases, this was because the pictures had never come with full identification.

"We can often discover what their husbands or brothers did but we know very little about the women themselves.

"We came up with an innovative solution to the problem of how to label the pictures when we got in touch with the local literary magazine, Random Acts of Writing.

"The result is a fascinating exhibition."

The exhibition will run throughout November in the museum.