Sharing the Creativity of Celtic Art :

through the George Bain Collection

We are extremely excited by the news that Groam House Museum has been successful in its application for grants to develop the George Bain Collection. Funding from Museums Galleries Scotland and Creative Scotland is enabling the museum to work with volunteers and specialists to digitise the Collection, develop outreach events, and create an interactive website to promote further study and use around the globe. This new project is a fantastic opportunity for people local and far to connect with ancient Celtic and Pictish art, through the work of more recent artists and craftspeople.

We are delighted to announce that we have appointed Jo Clements as the George Bain Project Officer to work on this unique development of Bain’s amazing study of Celtic art in an environment rich in Pictish sculpture and designs.

Bain was an artist, craftsperson, and educator. He made it his mission to understand how the early medieval art of Scotland, Ireland and Anglo-Saxon England was created. Bain taught others to create new designs using the same techniques. His book Celtic Art: The Methods of Construction gives step-by-step instructions on drawing Celtic patterns found on Pictish stones, in the Book of Kells, and in the Lindisfarne Gospels. As well as instructing others, Bain himself produced numerous Celtic designs.

The George Bain Collection of Groam House Museum is Recognised as a Nationally Significant Collection in Scotland. It consists of Bain’s art and educational material as well as much of his own archive that was created during the 20th century.