Angus Skene (died 2002) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certif ...

art collector A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...

and

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

-owner, notable as the founder of the

Ikon Gallery The Ikon Gallery () is an England, English art gallery, gallery of contemporary art, located in Brindleyplace, Birmingham. It is housed in the Listed building, Grade II listed, neo-Gothic former Oozells Street Board School, designed by John Henr ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

Biography

Skene developed an interest in

contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...

with his wife Midge while living near

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, before moving to

in 1951 to work as an accountant, and latterly the Finance Officer, at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

. Disappointed with the support for contemporary art provided by Birmingham's main artistic institutions - Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, the

Royal Birmingham Society of Artists The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (RBSA) is an art society, based in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, England, where it owns and operates an art gallery, the RBSA Gallery, on Brook Street, just off St Paul's Square, Birmingham, St Pa ...

and the

Barber Institute of Fine Arts The Barber Institute of Fine Arts is an art gallery and concert hall in Birmingham, England. It is situated in purpose-built premises on the campus of the University of Birmingham. The listed building, Grade I listed Art Deco building was desi ...

- he became friends with a group of artists who taught on the Foundation Course at the

Birmingham School of Art The Birmingham School of Art was a municipal art school based in the centre of Birmingham, England. Although the organisation was absorbed by Birmingham Polytechnic in 1971 and is now part of Birmingham City University's Faculty of Arts, Design a ...

, after seeing

David Prentice David Prentice (4 July 1936 – 7 May 2014) was an English artist and former art teacher. In 1964 he was one of the four founder members of Birmingham's Ikon Gallery. Prentice's work features in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Mu ...

's solo exhibition at the RBSA in 1963, and buying Prentice's work ''Kate and the Waterlilies'' for £25. Prentice delivered Skene's painting to his house in

Selly Oak Selly Oak is an industrial and residential area in south-west Birmingham, England. The area gives its name to Selly Oak ward and includes the neighbourhoods of: Bournbrook, Selly Park, and Ten Acres. The adjoining wards of Edgbaston and Harbor ...

strapped to the side of his

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and over dinner they decided to set up a venture for promoting the city's contemporary artists. Initial plans were for a "gallery without walls", and Skene purchased a set of collapsible screens to tour exhibitions to unconventional locations such as post offices and cinemas in a motorcycle sidecar. A constantly touring gallery proved impractical, however, and instead the Skenes sought a permanent home, eventually spending "a sizable chunk of a legacy" they had received renting an octagonal kiosk in the newly completed Bull Ring shopping centre for three years as the first home of the newly named

. As well as financing the gallery Skene drew up the initial terms and conditions of its operation, but when the gallery opened in April 1965 its founders and decision-makers were listed as Prentice and three other artists from the School of Art - Jesse Bruton, Sylvani Merilion and

Robert Groves Robert Martin Groves (born September 27, 1948) is an American sociologist and survey methodology expert, currently serving as the interim president of Georgetown University since November 2024. He served as the executive vice president and prov ...

. Skene shunned the limelight and asserted that the artists had the "right of final decision on all matters to do with exhibitions, and with design of equipment, advertising material, etc." Skene's role decreased when the lease on the kiosk expired in 1967 and the gallery began to attract support from the

Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...

, but he continued to "watch from the sidelines", and gave a lecture on the gallery's foundation in 1984.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skene, Angus Year of birth missing 2002 deaths Scottish art collectors People from Birmingham, West Midlands