Artistic coup for Crichton campus

A stone cone in Dumfriesshire is one of Mr Goldsworthy's more enduring works Enlarge Image

A unique academic catalogue of one of Britain's most famous living sculptors has been launched in Dumfries.

Andy Goldsworthy has an international reputation and is currently engaged on a major commission in Washington DC.

However, much of his inspiration comes from the landscape of Dumfriesshire, where he lives.

The new digital archive of his early work will be housed at the Crichton University campus in Dumfries, where he is an honorary professor.

Mr Goldsworthy specialises in art in the landscape.

Many of his long-lasting creations are built out of stone or wood.

However, some of his work is more fleeting with sculptures built from leaves or feathers or even melting ice.

The only record of their existence is in Mr Goldsworthy's own collection of sketches, notes, photographs and slides.

Academic study

It used to be a personal collection but now it has been made available for academic study.

A small part of the archive is available online but the detail is confined to a DVD in a Goldsworthy study room at the Crichton.

The £30,000 cost of the archive project has been contributed by the Crichton charitable foundation.

Convener Barbara Kelly hopes ultimately that subsequent volumes will cover the rest of the artist's career from 1986 to the present.