Remembering the Great War

About

This exhibition will be held at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. Thought-provoking and poignant, and encompassing famous Scots as well as far less well-known figures, it will make a major contribution to this year's global commemorations. Largely drawn from works in the National Galleries of Scotland collections, the exhibition will include a rich variety of portraits and related works in various media. Among those featured are Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig: James Keir Hardie who opposed British involvement in the war; Dr Elsie Ingles who took a team of Scottish nurses to Serbia; artists Sir James Gunn and Sir William Gillies who were wounded in action; James Maxton who organized a ship-workers' strike during the war; J S Haldane who invented the gas mask, and Harry Lauder who entertained troops at the Front, who wrote the morale-boosting anthem ‘Keep Right on to the End of the Road', and whose only son was killed in France on Boxing Day, 1916. It will provide a significant opportunity for a large number of people to learn about the devastating impact of the First World War and its consequences, and specifically about the key role that Scotland and the Scottish people played.