Presenter’s varied paintings show a man in search of himself

Lachlan Goudie has become a familiar face on our TV screens; his BBC series The Story of Scottish Art caught the public mood. Goudie is an excellent broadcaster: fresh, intelligent and enthusiastic.

Goudie’s diverse oeuvre ranges from whimsical, fey studies of Dorset countryside to robust semi-imagined landscapes of the Highlands and the Lofoten Islands. The flaming reds and brooding darker tones recall some of Munch’s Norwegian landscapes while his still-lives place him in the French, Italian and Scottish tradition. Perhaps it is the diversity of Goudie’s painting and drawing that creates a sense of an artist in search of himself. As a painter, Goudie clearly struggles with his craft, as a number of his works require a greater degree of technical acuity. For an example of assured craftsmanship look no further than Aleksander Zyw. Zyw, who was born in Poland in 1905 and died in 1995, tackled some of the same subject matter as Goudie. As a war artist he created memorable drawings and he also tackled landscape through the prism of a European sensibility.

Goudie, by his own admission, pits himself against some of the greatest names in art; he has learnt a great deal but has further to go. Hopefully it is a journey that he will share.

Until November 25