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Taken From The ScotsmanEdward Gage
NM
Born: 28 March, 1925, in Gullane, East Lothian Died: 24 February, 2000, in hospital in Edinburgh, aged 74
TEDDY Gage’s death robs those who knew him well of the best of friends, and marks the end of a remarkable career.
He left the Royal High School of Edinburgh in 1941 to study at the Edinburgh College of Art, but in the following year he found himself in the Scots Guards. From there he transferred to the Royal Scots, in which he was shortly commissioned as an officer. From 1945 to 1947 he served as a staff officer in India and Malaya, and was then demobilised, and returned to the college to complete his studies in the School of Drawing and Painting, which he did in 1950.
His progress in the army demonstrates considerable youthful ability, and there can be little doubt that the experience enabled him to bring a mature mind to the study of art.
Valerie Cockburn was a fellow student during Teddy’s college years, and in 1950 they married. Teddy then was awarded a postgraduate travelling scholarship, and they decided that it made economic sense to travel as far as Mallorca, and to stay there, painting and enjoying marital bliss. They settled in Deyá, an ancient village perched between mountain and sea, where they had as neighbour Robert Graves, the poet. He became a close friend and, in Teddy’s own words, taught him how to look for the significance behind events and occurrences, reawakened his interest in the Greek and other myths, and, by his own personality and achievement, gave him a yardstick for measuring true greatness.
Believing that he had found himself as a painter, Teddy Gage applied for and obtained the post of art master at Fettes College, Edinburgh. He at once found that he had a real love and gift for teaching, and spent 17 happy and successful years with the school. One former pupil has described how, as soon as he entered the art room, he was no longer a schoolboy subject to school masters, but one grown-up in full communication with another. His enthusiasm and inspiration have been spoken to by all who were taught by him, either at Fettes or at Napier College, where he was a senior lecturer from 1968 to 1986.
Teddy also designed stage sets and did a great deal of illustration work, especially for the BBC in the Radio Times. Painting was, however, his continuing main love. He produced a steady flow of pictures, and had ten one-man exhibitions between 1964 and 1986, besides contributing paintings to group exhibitions in Edinburgh, London and elsewhere. Examples of his work can be seen in many public collections throughout Scotland and England. From 1960 to 1964, he was president of the Society of Scottish Artists.
From 1966 till 1995, Teddy Gage was the art critic of The Scotsman, reviewing every exhibition of note in Edinburgh. He also found time to gather material for a book on contemporary Scottish painting, which was published in 1977, entitled The Eye in the Wind. This handsome and well illustrated volume deals briefly with the whole history of painting in Scotland, and certain cultural aspects, and then in more detail with the work of 52 painters whom Teddy felt to loom largest on the contemporary scene. Each is treated honestly, fairly and generously. An enormous amount of research clearly went into the preparation, and the style of writing is strong and concise, with beautiful control of a rich vocabulary.
In 1992, Teddy was made an MBE for services to Scottish art. A proper assessment of those services, and of his qualities as a painter, should really be made by someone who knows more about painting than the present writer. But the joyfulness, sincerity, love of life, and search for truth and beauty, which shine from his pictures tell us much about the man.
In his book, Teddy writes that he shares William Blake’s belief about art being a spiritual activity. Any description of him would be incomplete without a mention of his unwavering Christian faith, which was supported by the liturgy and pastoral ministry of the church in which he worshipped. He made no public parade of it, but it found expression in the tender, unsentimental drawings of the Madonna and Child with which, year by year, he adorned his Christmas cards.
The most vivid impression which Teddy made on all of us, whether privately or professionally, was of immense energy and vitality. His colleagues found it hard to understand how he made time to do all that he undertook, and it used to be said that he always seemed to be running instead of walking. His talk was lively and ranged over every kind of topic. He held strong views, and was never shy about expressing them. But he was also a kind and sympathetic hearer, and always on the side of the angels. Above all he saw the humorous side of everything. A great man for parties, he used to answer invitations in witty verses, and enlivened charades with outrageous overacting. All in all, he was great fun.
The Gages had retained a love of the Mediterranean from their Balearic days, and holidayed frequently in Malta and Greece, which inspired some of Teddy’s most endearing paintings. On their last visit to our house on Corfu in 1986, he was swimming with his old delight and vigour, but a few months later he suffered a severe stroke. He never walked again, passing his last 13 years in either his bed or a wheelchair. His ability to paint was also seriously damaged. But being able to speak and write, and intellectually as sharp as ever, he continued his art criticism for several years. He also wrote a number of serious and moving poems.
We never once heard him complain of his lot, and his comments on life were as funny as ever. He took high delight in his children and grand-children, while Valerie tended him lovingly until death released his spirit from its bodily prison.
He nothing common did or mean, upon any scene that he graced.
