Scotland's treasures to come out of hiding

EDINBURGH, Scotland, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Many companies in Scotland have agreed to unveil their private art collections -- which include some of the country's most distinguished works of art.

The Scotsman reports that Barclay Price, director of the charity Arts and Business -- which is organizing the exhibition to mark its 20th anniversary -- says it will be the major artistic event of 2006.

"The idea came to me when I visited the boardroom of Royal Bank of Scotland and saw their collection of (Samuel John) Peploes," he said. "I was struck just how often there was art work on the wall but it was invisible to the public. So I thought wouldn't it be fun to put on an exhibition to let people see some of the work."

The exhibition will run from May 25 to June 9 in central Glasgow and will include works by major and less well-known artists.

One of the highlights will be a unique series of paintings by Glasgow artist Stephen Conroy that follow the theme of Scottish inventors -- depicting James Clerk Maxwell, Sir Robert Watson-Watt, James Watt, Thomas Telford, John Logie Baird and Alexander Graham Bell.