Biography
As well as being a curator and veterinary surgeon, David Brown was a prolific collector of 20th century art and bequeathed many works from his collection to a small number of public institutions including Tate, the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, the British Museum and Southampton City Art Gallery whose own collection he helped to form.
David and Liza Brown’s diverse collection included figure studies and landscapes together with language based works by Ian Hamilton Finlay and also a number of works by unfamiliar artists from the early 20th century.
After studying art history at the University of East Anglia in 1970, Brown took a post at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and curated exhibitions of work by Duncan Grant, Roger Hilton and Richard Long. In 1974 after fourteen months in Edinburgh, Brown moved to London where he was appointed Assistant Curator in the Modern Collection at Tate Gallery. He curated many exhibitions during his time at Tate including a major St Ives exhibition in 1985. The Contemporary Art Society was pleased to be able to assist in distributing works from The David & Liza Brown Bequest, and in 2013 have gifted five prints by Ian Hamilton Finlay to The Pier Arts Centre. Hamilton Finlay’s association with Orkney dates back to the 1950s and Pier Arts Centre has steadily built up a collection of early print works by the artist. The five prints are a great addition to the collection and will allow for a concentrated display of the artist’s early poetic works as well as offering opportunities to present Hamilton Finlay’s work in a broader Scottish context.
