# Peter Shaw’s Scottish art collection memorialises his brother lost to Aids

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/it-is-a-story-of-heartbreak-almost-beyond-comprehension-how-this-intimate-work-of-art-masked-a-forbidden-love-and-became-one-mans-memorial-to-his-beloved-lost-brother/
- Published: 2026-10-23T17:28:20+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-23T17:47:47+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16233949/It-story-heartbreak-comprehension-intimate-work-art-masked-forbidden-love-one-mans-memorial-beloved-lost-brother.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: Art, Culture, World

## Key points

- A Colquhoun painting became a memorial to Peter Shaw’s brother.
- Shaw paid £60,000 for the 1945 artwork in 2006.
- He plans to gift his 12,000-piece Scottish art collection to the nation.

## Summary

Peter Shaw has devoted his Scottish art collection to the memory of his younger brother Michael, who died of Aids aged 37. A painting of two men by Robert Colquhoun became a personal memorial to Michael and a reminder of the prejudice and secrecy that shaped gay men’s lives.

Shaw bought *Actors on a Stage* at auction in 2006 for £60,000, after bidding far exceeded its £30,000 estimate. The 1945 work is part of a collection of more than 12,000 objects, conservatively valued at over £10 million, which Shaw now hopes to give to the nation for public display near working-class communities.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.