Paintings and tapestries from a much-loved Speyside artist who died last year have gone on display.
Maggie Riegler developed a global reputation during a career where she was a lecturer at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen and ran a studio in Deeside before establishing her own gallery in Craigellachie.
Yesterday, a memorial exhibition dedicated to her work was opened in Aberlour in the presence of her family.
More than 40 items by the celebrated craftswoman, never before seen to the public, have gone on display at The Gallery in the village alongside pottery crafted by her husband Stewart.
Friends and loved ones gathered at the venue last night for a special preview of the exhibition of the work of Mrs Riegler, who moved to Speyside in 1991.
After attending St Margaret’s School for Girls in Aberdeen, she was offered a university place at Cambridge to study English and history.
The decision to turn it down to take a place at Gray’s instead horrified her parents but has gone on to delight collectors from across the globe with some of her work held by Aberdeen Art Gallery.
Kerry Doran, owner of The Gallery and friend of Mrs Riegler, explained that throughout her later career the artist built up her own private collection of her work.
She said: “Working with the family and everyone else who loved Maggie it just felt the right thing to put the exhibition together.
“She was very modest. There were lots of stories with her work and it’s been good to work with her daughter Lucy to attach captions of them to the pictures she painted.
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“I displayed her work after she closed her own gallery in Craigellachie. I didn’t realise that she was building up her own collection at home though that had never been exhibited though.”
During her career Mrs Riegler also created large commissioned pieces for Eden Court in Inverness, St Mary’s Cathedral in Aberdeen and the Royal Princess cruise liner, which was christened by Princess Diana and still sails to this day.
She also produced at least 11 designs for limited editions of Speyside whiskies.
