Peter Shaw’s Scottish art collection memorialises his brother lost to Aids
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.
In short
- 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.
Explained simply
Aids is the illness caused by HIV, a virus that weakens the immune system. Before effective treatments became widely available, many people with Aids died, and gay men often faced stigma and discrimination; some kept their relationships or illness private.
Peter Shaw’s younger brother Michael was a gay man who died of Aids aged 37. Scottish artist Robert Colquhoun’s 1945 painting Actors on a Stage, showing two men, became a personal memorial to him.
Shaw’s collection includes more than 12,000 works and objects, including art by Scottish artists. He hopes it will be displayed publicly near working-class communities, raising questions about who can access art and how private memories can be preserved in a public collection.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “It is a story of heartbreak almost beyond comprehension: How this intimate work of art masked a forbidden love… and became one man’s memorial to his beloved lost brother”.