Ainslie Yule FRBS, (1941 - 2022), Scottish

“This is another painting by Joe Hendry exploring the theme of the kilted Scottish figure. The man is shown from behind, hands clasped behind his back, standing quite calmly on the canvas.

What I like about this one is its simplicity. There’s nothing complicated about it — just a figure, a kilt, and a quiet bit of attitude. Hendry manages to make something very Scottish feel fresh and contemporary at the same time.”

Ainslie Yule was a Scottish sculptor, artist and printmaker born in North Berwick in 1941. He studied at Edinburgh College of Art from 1959 to 1964, where he won a travelling scholarship to New York in his final year. He later lectured at Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen, and was awarded the Gregory Fellowship in Sculpture at the University of Leeds for 1974–75.

Yule was active within the Scottish art scene during the 1970s and beyond, working across sculpture, drawing and printmaking. A key documented exhibition was Ainslie Yule: Sculptures and Drawings at Fruitmarket in Edinburgh in 1978, which featured 12 floor-based sculptures in materials including wood, plaster, steel and stone, together with 20 mixed-media drawings. That exhibition then toured to Third Eye Centre, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Ulster Museum and Forebank Studios.

His work is held in public collections, including Aberdeen Art Gallery, which owns Rack (1977). Auction records also show later sculptural works such as Fallen Angel (1986). Yule was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors in 1997.