The Tolbooth Steeple, Glasgow Cross
By Gerard M Burns

Gerard M Burns (b.1961) graduated with a degree in drawing and painting from Glasgow School of Art in 1983. After a time playing in bands, he returned to painting in 1990. Following twelve years as Principal of Art at St Aloysius’ College in Glasgow, he became a full-time painter in 1999. Gerard M Burns was born in Glasgow and all of his works of art in the NHS Fife collection depict Glasgow scenes. The artist is now well known as a portrait artist of key figures such as Alex Salmond, Nicola Sturgen, Ewan McGregor and Billy Connolly. His exhibition of 16 portraits was shown in New York in for Scotland Week in 2015 and he subsequently exhibited these portraits at a shopping centre in Easterhouse commenting “there shouldn’t be a postcode lottery when it comes to access to the arts” . After the exhibition he donated the paintings to raise money for a new hospice in Glasgow.