1926
Born October 6th in Trinidad of Scottish parents, Duncan & Isabella. Duncan is an engineer on a sugar plantation. They also have another son, Jim, Norman’s older brother.
Norman (right) with parents Duncan & Isabella & brother Jim
1936
Having already crossed the Atlantic umpteen times, he finally returns to Scotland permanently.
Norman attends Marr College, Troon, where he is captain of the rugby team.
1944
Norman joins the Navy at 17.
He serves for 4 years as a radar operator on HMS Liverpool, stationed mainly in the Mediterranean.
Alpine skiing in the Navy (ca. 1945)
1948
Believing painting would be “a vocation that would last a lifetime”, Norman enrolls as a student at Glasgow School of Art (GSA) on an ex-serviceman’s grant, studying Drawing & Painting.
His parents are not in favour, but he placates them by saying he intends to be a commercial artist.
Norman drawing during his time at Glasgow School of Art
1951
Marries fellow GSA student, Pat Jordan.
Norman & Pat (ca. 1953)
1952
Birth of first son, Paul.
Dismissed in final year at Glasgow School of Art as “unteachable”.
Works as scenic artist at The Citizens Theater and other venues, Glasgow.
1953
Birth of second son, Bruno.
Works as a pig-man while living in caravan, the irregular hours left time to paint.
Pat and Norman on Polnoon Farm, south of Glasgow with sons Paul and Bruno
1954
Norman gets his first break as his work is included in a mixed exhibit at The Piccadilly Gallery, London.
Norman, Pat, Paul, Bruno & Norman's brother Jim on Troon beach (ca. 1954)
1957
Selected to exhibit in Artists of Fame and Promise alongside Jacob Epstein, David Bomberg and Christopher Nevinson at The Leicester Gallery, London.
Teaching art as an uncertified teacher in Dunbartonshire.
1962
Birth of third son, Daniel.
Begins teacher training.
1963
“Grudgingly” granted Diploma by Glasgow School of Art.
1967
Trips to London hawking his pictures around the galleries pay off, as he celebrates the first of two solo shows at The Upper Grosvenor Gallery, London.
The first of two solo shows at The Traverse Theatre Gallery, Edinburgh.
Vogue publishes a feature on his work, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Painter.
Photographed by Vogue for The Loneliness of the Long Distance Painter (1967)
1969
Birth of fourth son, Mark.
Second Edinburgh Festival show at The Traverse Gallery, Edinburgh.
1970
Second solo show at The Upper Grosvenor Galleries, London.
1973
Solo exhibition: Ansdell Gallery, London.
Norman, Daniel and Mark on Loch Lomond (ca. 1973)
1974
Scope: Norman Gilbert, BBC TV Documentary produced and directed by W. Gordon Smith is broadcast, 5th March.
Solo exhibition: Talbot Rice Centre, Edinburgh University.
Artwork taken into the collection of Stirling University.
1975
Solo exhibition: Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling University.
Macrobert Arts Centre (1975)
1976
Solo exhibition: City Art Gallery, Leeds.
Artwork taken into the collection of Kelvingrove Art Galleries, Glasgow.
1981
Solo exhibition: Drian Galleries, London.
1985
Family move to the large Victorian Terrace House where Pat grew up, in Pollokshields, Glasgow.
Norman is to live and work here for the next 34 years.
1989
Solo exhibition: Drian Galleries, London.
Artwork taken into the collection of Hertfordshire Education Authority.
1992
Retrospective exhibition: Eden Court Theatre Gallery, Inverness.
1998
Solo exhibition: Lloyd Jerome Gallery, Glasgow.
Norman in Bali (1998)
1999
Works exhibited at Richmond Hill Gallery, London.
2001
Work selected for Art for Europe, Scotland House, Brussels.
Participates in Fresh Art Fair at the Business Design Centre, Islington, London.
Fresh Art Fair at the Business Design Centre, London (2001)
2003
Participates again in Fresh Art Fair, Business Design Centre, London.
2006
Solo exhibition: Gallery Gora, Montreal, Quebec.
2010
Solo exhibition: Howden Park Centre, Livingston.
Norman’s wife, Pat, is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease.
2013
As he continues to care for Pat, Norman begins a trio of works entitled Pat. These images picture Pat on her own, echoing earlier pictures created when they were first married.
2016
Solo exhibition: The Sutton Gallery, Edinburgh. This was to be the last of Norman’s shows that Pat attended. She died of an Alzheimer’s related stroke on August 3rd, the day before their 65th wedding anniversary. Norman created his final drawings of Pat as he kept vigil by her bedside during her last days. The resultant series of twenty-five drawings, Hospital Drawings of Pat, depict her as she lay dying in the hospital.
Norman & Pat at the Sutton Gallery opening
2017
Included in the annual Royal Glasgow Institute (RGI) exhibition, Glasgow, as an “invited artist”.
2018
Solo exhibition: Passion, Vision & Spirit held at Tatha Gallery in Newport on Tay. Amid the publicity, the BBC produces a short film as part of their online Loop arts strand. The Unteachable Artist is viewed more than 7million times creating a new worldwide audience for his work.
Norman’s hospital drawings of Pat are exhibited for the first time in Drawing to a Close: End of Life Drawings by Norman Gilbert, Yellow Door Gallery; a collaboration with the End of Life Studies Dept at Glasgow University. The exhibition which receives national news coverage is part of the UK-wide Being Human Festival.
2019
Solo exhibition: Passion, Vision & Spirit II, Tatha Gallery, Newport on Tay.
Norman dies on 19 December, at QEII Hospital, Glasgow, of complications following a fall in which he broke his hip.
Book-signing at Tatha (2019)
2020
Book entitled Pat: End of Life Drawings by Norman Gilbert is published, with the support of Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia; and the Dementia Services Development Trust, Scotland.
Solo exhibition: Norman Gilbert 1982-2018, Koppe Astner, Glasgow.
Solo exhibition: Norman Gilbert: A Life in Colour, Tatha Gallery, Newport on Tay.
2021
Joint exhibition: The Armory Show, New York’s Art Fair, New York, USA.
Presented by ARUSHA Gallery, Edinburgh.
2022
Norman Gilbert Retrospective
A five month solo at Tramway Gallery, Glasgow.
Memory Serves: Drawing Others Close
26th August – 29th September
Two-Person Exhibition with Mark Gilbert.
School of the Arts Art Gallery, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha ,NE, USA.
Joint exhibition: Tatha Gallery, Newport on Tay.
2023
The Kaleidoscope Turns
9th June – 25th June
ARUSHA Gallery, Dundas Street, Edinburgh.
2024
We Are Ten
6th April – 11th May
Group exhibition: Tatha Gallery, Newport on Tay.
May: Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) purchase three Norman Gilbert oil paintings, including his last completed painting, and one Black & White artwork for the permanent art collection of Glasgow City Council (GCC) with the kind assistance of Art Fund, London.
Southside Patchwork
28th June – 20th July
Solo exhibition opening 27th June: 6 – 8pm.
ARUSHA Gallery, 6 Percy Street, Fitzrovia, London.
