Glasgow School of Art reveals donation of treasure trove collection linked to Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst

More than 2000 rare objects linked to many of Britain's leading contemporary artists including Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin have been donated to Glasgow School of Art.

Students and staff will have full access to a new archive of materials amassed by the writer and art historian Jeremy Cooper.

Limited edition artworks, books, exhibition catalogues, T-shirts and even beer bottles all feature in the collection of artists' ephemera.

It is largely focused on the Young British Artists (YBA) movement which began to emerge in London in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The collection acquired by the art school includes little-seen material relating to exhibitions and events staged by Tracey Emin, Gilbert & George, Damien Hirst, Anya Gallaccio, Iain Hamilton Finlay, Rachel Whiteread, Tim Noble, Sue Webster, Michael Landy and Sarah Lucas.

Mr Cooper has donated other parts of his artist-related archive to the British Museum and V&A in London, the National Trust, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Pompidou Centre in Paris.

The art school said the donation would provide an "unmatched seam of exploration" on the YBA movement.

Mr Cooper, who was born in Dorset and now lives in Somerset, has been a long-time admirer of the Glasgow institution since he first visited in the 1960s while he was studying art history at Cambridge University.

After graduating he went on to work as an auctioneer and antiques dealer, moved into broadcasting with appearances on the TV show Antiques Roadshow and The Week's Antiques, and has written both fiction and non-fiction books.

Mr Cooper got to know a number of artists after he bought and converted an old furniture factory in the Shoreditch area of London in the mid-1980s, shortly before they began moving into the area to set up studios, stage exhibitions and put on their own indoor and outdoor events.

He said: "I didn't actually seriously look at contemporary art until I moved to Shoreditch.

"That only began when I met all these very young and then unknown artists who moved into Shoreditch, which was more than half empty at the time, and took over old industrial buildings. There were very few people living there at the time.

“I didn’t really collect ephemera. Other than the books, what I have donated was really just what I gathered over the years.”

Mr Cooper said he had come to Glasgow for the first time in the 1960s for a "pilgrimage" to see buildings which the architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh designed, including his famous art school, which was almost destroyed by two fires in 2014 and 2018.

He added: "The thing that I loved about Mackintosh was that he was so ahead of his time. He was quietly original. He wasn't publicity-seeking or self-satisfied at all.

"I really wanted to donate to public collections. When I got in contact with the art school they got back to me right away to say they were interested. I think it's the perfect place for all these things so they can be used in future."

Duncan Chappell, librarian and collections manager at the art school, said: “These works, lovingly curated by Jeremy over a number of years, will significantly enhance our resources on the Young British Artists movement of the 1990s and will prove an unmatched seam of exploration for our students and researchers for years to come.

“Jeremy Cooper became very good friends with many of these artists. He collected this material as part of his relationships with them, including small publications, private view invitations and posters for gallery exhibitions.

“A lot of what has been donated is incredibly rare material that simply isn’t available anywhere else. Jeremy has been really astute in keeping it all together.

"We can’t wait to explore and catalogue this wonderful resource and to discover its many gems.”