Love Of His Life

Norman Gilbert’s twin passions, for drawing and painting and for his wife and family, are celebrated in a new show in Fife this spring, with the 92-year-old artist showing no signs of slowing down

- Catherine Coyle

“Everyone has left,” explains Norman Gilbert. “That’s why there are no people in my paintings now.” The 92-year-old artist is preparing for a solo show, at Fife’s Tatha Gallery, where thirty of his paintings will be exhibited. He’s not being morbid, though. Over the course of his career, Gilbert has painted a lot of figurative work, always using the people around him as models. His vast back catalogue contains countless images of his four sons, Paul, Bruno, Daniel and Mark, and, latterly, their partners and children. But the central figure in Gilbert’s work, and the person he misses painting most, is his late wife, Pat.