Facing the Nation

Illustrated with 167 full colour images, this landmark book charts Alexander Moffat's career from student days at Edinburgh College of Art in the 1960s to the recent Scotland's Voices. Iconic portraits of major figures in literature and the other arts are represented. The cultural significance of the visual chronicle Moffat has created lies in his approach to portraiture. He aims not only to capture a sitter's appearance but also to convey something of their inner character, reaching 'a balance between emotional expression and compositional order'.

BILL HARE was born in Edinburgh in 1944 and studied at the University of Edinburgh and the Courtauld Institute, University of London in the 1970s. Since then he has taught art history at the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh College of Art and the Open University. In 1985 he was appointed Exhibition Organiser at the Talbot Rice Gallery, working with many Scottish artists. Since 1995 he has concentrated on teaching and freelance curating, with his main focus on Scottish art since 1945. He has curated a number of important exhibitions both in Scotland and abroad, and has published books and catalogues on a range of different aspects of historical and modern Scottish art. He is currently an Honorary Fellow in Scottish art history at the University of Edinburgh.