351 artworks by 131 artists

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The art collections of Scottish Borders Council Museum and Gallery Service can be divided into two categories: Museum Collection – works held for their historical significance and Fine Art. The main collection of Fine Art is held at Hawick Museum and is known as the Permanent Collection. This body of work has grown from the endeavours of the local art club in the 1930s to collect nineteenth- and twentieth-century paintings to a visually comprehensive story of Scottish art in the twenty-first century. Alongside the artists who have Borders roots, such as Anne Redpath and William Johnstone, are others who have made their name on the international art scene such as Scottish Colourist Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell. The collections continue to expand with a remit to acquire work which is in some way linked to the Borders, either by the artist or subject matter. Most of the works are donations or bequests and some have been purchased with funding from grant-aiding bodies such as the National Fund for Acquisitions or the National Art Collections Fund. In 1996, the Scottish Arts Council, through the Gifting Scheme, awarded 28 artworks including a sculpture by Jake Harvey and a painting by Alberto Morrocco. However, the large and long-established collection of watercolour paintings by Selkirk artist Tom Scott RSA, who skilfully captured the very essence of the Scottish Borders, remain the most enduringly popular of all the artworks.