Artists Profiles

Joseph Denovan Adam 1842- 1896

Joseph Denovan Adam was a highly regarded painter of Highland Cattle, lived at at Craigmill House in Stirling between 1887 and 1895.  It was here he ran a school of animal painting.   Adam kept live animal models for his students to paint, including Highland cattle, sheep, donkeys, geese and other fowl.
Other facilities included a glass-sided studio in the field opposite Craigmill House, a tennis courts for recreation and wooden byres where some of the animals were housed.  One of his most famous Highland Cattle scenes is Loch Earn.

Alfred de Breanski 1852-1928

Alfred de Breanski Snr. was born in Greenwich London in 1852. He was an accomplished landscapist famous for his resplendent views of the Scottish Highlands.  He made his debut at the Royal Academy in 1872, where he exhibited until 1890 and also at the society of British Artists.  His speciality was spectacular scenes of Scottish Lochs at sunset.  Fine examples of his work are Anglers on the Dee near Balmoral, Call of the Highlands, A Highland Salmon Pool, In a Highland Glen. The Lake Path to Inversaid, A Selkirk Glen, Still Waters and A Loch in the Highlands.

Malcolm Butts 1943-present

Malcolm Butts was born in Heighington, Lincolnshire in 1943 he studied at Leicester College of Art and then taught at the School of Building and Printing and the Glasgow School of Art.  Now living on west coast of Scotland and devotes his time to painting.
 
He is a very detailed painter which is a chief characteristic of many his works which are in either oil or watercolour.  With paintings in the United Kingdom, Europe and the USA his Signed Limited Editions such as Brodick Bay Arran and Balmoral Castle are very sought after and excellent investments.  

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James Currie Burnie 1911-1983

James Burnie was born in 1911 within sight of Princes Dock in Glasgow.  He attended Glasgow School of Art and was also a prize winner at Paisley Technical College.  His early working life was spent as a marine architect and it was only after taking early retirement that he fully concentrated on his painting specialising in Seascapes.  His scenes such as Port of Glasgow-Queen's Dock, Puffer Queen's Dock Glasgow and Passing the Cumbraes are superbly detailed and very evocative.  Some of his puffer scenes such as Saxon, Sealink, Stormlight and Druid keep alive the well known names of the old puffers once so vital to the Islands of Scotland.

James Burnie is also well known in the North East where his acclaimed paintings of N. East Trawlers and Drifters won him critical acclaim.  This was in part due to his background as a marine engineer, and also his continual studying and painting of boats from as far afield as Aberdeen, Fraserburgh, Peterhead, Buckie, Kirkcaldy, Hull and Grimsby .

Elizabeth Cameron 1915-Present

Elizabeth first learned to paint from her governess, but then received more formal teaching at the Slade Art School and St. John's Wood Art School in London, painting mainly in oils.  In 1939 the Royal Academy and the Royal Scottish Academy accepted her landscapes and portraits for exhibition, but it was not until 1972 that she began to paint flowers in watercolour for which she is now renowned.  We are delighted to offer four stunning titles by Elizabeth for sale namely Rosa, Viola, Clematis and Lonicera.  Indeed she has received 3 Gold and 3 Silver medals from The Royal Horticultural Society for her accuracy in botanical detail and for pictorial excellence.

Eve Coote

Eve Coote lives and paints in her native Stirlingshire, she combines her talent for fine watercolours and gouache painting with a life long interest in natural history.  She carries out fieldwork studies of birds, flowers and wild animals in the scottish countryside to great effect as can be seen by her various Bouquet prints and her superb and detailed depictions of the Longtailed Tit, Wren, Blue Tit, Goldfinch, Chaffinch Greenfinch and Bullfinch. 

Joseph Crawhall  1861 - 1913

Joseph Crawhall was born in Morpeth in 1861 and brought up in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.  He trained at King's College School in London, where he met E.A. Walton (1860 - 1922). Crawhall, Walton and James Guthrie (1859 - 1930) painted at Roseneath (Glasgow) in 1879. Together they became part of the group of artists known as  'The Glasgow Boys', who adopted the realism of French painting of the time.

Crawhall abandoned oil painting in the mid-1880s, preferring the medium of watercolour in which he excelled. He is renowned for his paintings of animals and is particularly recognised as one of the best horse painters of the 20th century.  This is truly exemplified by The Huntsman and The Finish He is also noted as a great perfectionist, who once through away a painting, which was retrieved by a friend and went on to take the top award at an international art show.

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Robert Cleminson 1844-1903

Robert Cleminson lived in London. He was a sporting painter who specialised in Highland scenes. His subjects were deer, dead game, dogs, shooting etc.  One of his most famous paintings is Glen Orchy Royal.  He exhibited at Suffolk Street from 1865 –1868 and the British Institution. His typical work is he painted in a soft, diffuse style.  His work is very sought after today.

Victor Cirefice

Victor Cirefice was born in Anglesey, North Wales. He studied art at Manchester, Chelsea and at the R. A. Schools in London.  He was trained under Sir Peter Greenham R.A. in portraiture graduating in 1974. In 1977 he won a British Council Scholarship to study at the Academia Bell’arte Perugia for a year.  After leaving the R.A Schools Victor earned his living as an artist guided by his mentors Sean Haggerty F.R.S.A., Charles Tunnicliff R.A. and Sir Kyffin Williams R.A.

Working on Scottish Highland estates he discovered his roots which he refers to as pan-European Celtic, He is married with two children and now lives in County Down in an old converted mill.  Over the past 33 years Victor has exhibited in the R.A. Summer Show as well as solo exhibitions, his work has not been shown extensively, however they can be found in several public collections such as the National Gallery of Wales, the Courtauld Institute and the Museo Academia Perugia.

Thomas Faed 1826-1900

Thomas Faed was born in Scotland in 1826. Trained in Edinburgh he spent most of his life in London, where he became one of the most successful painters of his time. Although living in England, his paintings often dealt with Scottish subjects. Faed's most famous paintings include The Last of the Clan (1865), Thomas Faed died in 1900.

Richard Forsyth 1930-1997

Richard Forsyth was born in Glasgow in 1930, he spent many years as a carpet designer primarily in Chinese, Persian and Chintz designs before moving to the East Neuk of Fife in 1983 and carrying out his painting full time.  He devoted his time to producing works manly depicting Scottish scenes.

His technique has utilised a mixture of oil and pastel and was slightly impressionistic.  With many originals having been sold in the USA his Signed Limited Edition prints are especially sought after being an extremely good investment such as his Signed Limited Edition work the superb Spring in Glen Tilt and the marvellous Spring Ploughing in Loch Lomond. 

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Sir George Harvey  1806-1876

Sir George Harvey was born at St Ninians, Perthshire.  In his eighteenth year he entered the Trustees' Academy at Edinburgh. here he so distinguished himself that in 1826 he was invited by the Scottish artists, who had resolved to found a Scottish Academy, to join it as an associate.

Harvey's first picture, "A Village School," was exhibited in 1826 at the Edinburgh Institution. Among his best-known pictures are those depicting Scottish subjects such as the world famous "The Curlers," manifest the same close observation of character, artistic conception and conscientious elaboration of details. In 1829 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Scottish Academy; in 1864 he succeeded as president; and he was knighted in 1867. He died at Edinburgh on the 22nd of January 1876.

George Henry 1858-1943 

Born in Irvine in 1858, Henry trained at Glasgow School of Art while working as a clerk. From 1881 he associated with the group of artists known as ‘The Glasgow Boys’ Henry himself later became a member of this group and worked with Guthrie and Walton at the artists' colonies at Brig o' Turk and Rosneath.  He shared a studio with Hornel whom he met in 1885.  Together they moved away from the realist style of painting favoured by the group towards a more symbolist approach based on the decorative potential of colour, surface and pattern. This decorative style of painting reached its peak in their joint canvases of 1890 and 1891 - the remarkable Druids - Bringing in the Mistletoe the pair travelled together to Japan in 1893.

Edward Atkinson Hornel 1864 – 1933

Edward Atkinson Hornel was born in Australia in 1864, the son of Scottish immigrants, the family returned to Kirkcudbright where Hornel grew up and settled. He trained at the Trustees Academy in Edinburgh and worked for a time in Belgium. Hornel met George Henry (1858 - 1943) with whom he shared a studio and collaborated on work such as the famous The Druids Bringing Home the Mistletoe (1890). The pair travelled to Japan, a trip which had a great influence on Hornel who went on to produce a series of paintings of Japan. Edward Hornel became an early member of the influential group of painters known as the 'The Glasgow Boys', which included Henry, James Guthrie (1859 - 1930), E.A. Walton (1860 - 1922) and John Lavery (1856 - 1941).

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Louis Bosworth Hurt 1856-1929

John Knox 1778 - 1845

John Knox was based in Glasgow, Knox was a noted painter of landscapes following the style of Alexander Naysmyth (1758 - 1840).  His works include South Western View of Ben Lomond, North Western View of Ben Lomond, On The Shores of Loch Katrine and Loch Lomond.  He taught another noted landscapist, Horatio McCulloch (1805-67).

Sir Edwin Henry Landseer 1802-1873

Sir Edwin Henry Landseer Taught by his father, Edwin Henry Landseer first exhibited his paintings at the Royal Academy at the age of thirteen. He focused on animal figures, often dogs or deer, set in romantic landscapes.  In the 1830s his work gained wide popularity and was bought both by the aristocracy and the newly important middle class. He himself moved freely in aristocratic circles, and after 1836 he enjoyed royal patronage, especially in the 1840s when Victoria and Albert also discovered Scotland.

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Sir John Lavery RA (1856-1941) 

The artist John Lavery was born in Belfast, and studied in Scotland at the Glasgow School of Art from about 1874.  After finishing studies at the Glasgow School of Art he set up as an independent artist at twenty-three, further studying in London and Paris. He then became a leading member of informal group of painters known as the Glasgow School or ‘Glasgow Boys ’with works characterised by great energy.

His first success came with the showing of his Tennis Party at the Royal Academy, London, in 1886; it was much admired and, better still, bought for the Neue Pinakothek in Munich. Two years later he received a commission to paint the state visit of Queen Victoria to the Glasgow Exhibition, and this gave him social connections that brought him valuable commissions for the next fifty years. His career from then on was one of uninterrupted success. Knighted 1918, elected member of the RA 1921; he was also a member of the RHA, Royal Scottish Academy, and the academies of Rome, Antwerp, Milan, Brussels, and Stockholm. He received honorary degrees from QUB and TCD and was made a freeman of Belfast and Dublin. At eighty-four he published his autobiography, The Life of a Painter (1940). Died at Rosenarra House, Kilkenny, 10 January 1941.

John Mackie 1955- present

John Mackie was born in Glasgow in 1955 he served his apprenticeship on the streets of Glasgow, where he grew up, and the river Clyde was his inspiration.  John claims he owes a great deal to the old masters, the French Impressionists, the Scottish Colourists and of course to his art teacher David Donaldson at the Glasgow School of Art. John always strives to paint with feeling, passion and honesty.  One of his finest earlier works is the superb Poppies in Provence.  

Horatio McCulloch 1805 - 1867

Horatio McCulloch was born in Glasgow, where he studied with John Knox (1778 - 1845). In 1825 he moved to Edinburgh to become an illustrator. He then returned to Glasgow in 1827, where gained a reputation as a talented painter of landscapes, he painted romantic, dramatic, landscapes, executed on large canvases which include the renowned Inverlochy Castle.  He was elected to the Royal Scottish Academy in 1838.

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Mary McGregor 1958-present

Mary McGregor(nee Wilson)was born in Hampshire in 1958 she studied at Guildford Art College.  She moved to Scotland (via Spain and Gran Canaria) in the early 1970's. She joined the McGregor Clan and settled in Blairgowrie, Perthshire a few years later.  During the 1980's Mary’s art career took off when she was commissioned to do drawings and paintings of animals mostly dogs, cats and architecture along with the human portraits and landscape paintings.

Dogs and small animals have always been part of the McGregor household and a more recent passion are Horses, through meeting and painting them, she has come to appreciate the beauty and character of these magnificent animals. Her love of all animals is reflected in the way she captures their personalities. Pastel is her preferred medium and indeed her latest print the magnificent   A Highland Gathering was done in pastel to great effect as it captures perfectly the subtle colours of the Highland Dancers.

Bill Mcinally

William(Bill) Mcinally was born in Glasgow and studied under the artist Hugh Adam Crawford.  Bill exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy Edinburgh and The Fine Arts Institute in Glasgow.  As well as travelling to Europe and North America to paint, he also finds inspiration in his own native Scotland.  St. Andrews-Home of Golf, Cawdor Castle, Eilean Donan, Kilchurn Castle and Castle Stalker are all fine examples of his superb watercolours. 

Jack Mould 1925-1998

Jack Mould was born in 1925 in London he moved to Cornwall when he was 16 years old.  It was here he spent much of his life painting but he made many visits to Scotland where he painted the magnificent scenery he observed.  His superb set of six paintings Glen Shiel, Loch an Eilean, Loch Elvie, Glen Feshie, The River Spey and Loch Insh are all superb examples of his art.

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Erskine Nicol 1825-1904

Erskine Nicol was born in Leith in 1924 at aged only 12 he became an art student at the Trustees' Academy in Edinburgh under William Allan and Thomas Duncan.  In his early twenties he moved to Ireland to a post as a drawing instructor and portrait painter in the department Science and Art.  He lived in Ireland from 1845-1850 travelling extensively throughout that time.

In 1851 he exhibited a half dozen such works at the Royal Scottish Academy, such as Steady Johnnie Steady and many others. He became RSA in 1859 and went to live in London in 1862.  He was elected elected ARA in 1868 and he retired from the Academy in 1885, and went back to Scotland.

Ian G. Orchardson

Ian Orchardson lived in Saltcoats on the Ayrshire coast where he taught as an art teacher.  He then left teaching to concentrate full time on his interest of painting Clyde shipping.  He painted a variety of shipping including Steamers and Clippers as well as the series of six famous 'Doon the Water' stops of Dunoon Pier, Gourock Pier, Greenock Pier, Helensburgh Pier, Rothesay Pier and Wemyss Bay.  His painting gives an authentic feel of shipping on the Clyde of times now past, but his examples of his work highly sought after.  Ian died in Saltcoats in 1997. 

James Orr 1937-present

James Orr born in Glasgow in 1937 he trained at the Glasgow School of Art and currently lives and paints on the west coast of Scotland. His work details a fascination with the various aspects of the sea around beaches and coast.  He started exhibiting at The Royal Glasgow Institute for Fine Arts in 1981.  He bases many of his works on the variety of colour found particularly around the coasts of Scotland and France as exemplified by the stunning signed Limited Edition Print Sanary-Near Provence.

He is a regular exhibitor at the Royal Scottish Academy, and also exhibits in London His works are held in many private and corporate collections in U.S.A, Canada, France, Belgium and Hong Kong.  His Royal Highness Prince Philip also has James Orr’s work in his private collection.  His signed limited editions can be considered a very good investment in particular his earlier ones.

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Samuel John Peploe (1871-1935)

Samuel John Peploe was born in Edinburgh in 1871 he studied at the Royal Scottish Academy, there after he went to Paris with fellow artist Robert Brough where he studied at the Academie Julian and the Atelier Colarossi. He was one of the group of painters called "Scottish Colourists" the others being J D Fergusson, F C B Cadell, and G L Hunter all who were influenced by the French use of colour.

He had his first one man show at The Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh, in 1903 and another in 1909. He returned from France in 1912 with dozens of paintings far too much advanced for Edinburgh.  Rejected by his old dealer he put on his own show at the New Gallery in Shandwick Place.  For the next fifteen years Peploe retained a brilliant palette, evolving a mature style containing elements of Cezanne, the Jazz Age and Matisse some superb examples of his style are Roses and Still Life with Roses and Fan.

John Pettie 1839 - 1893

John Pettie was born in Edinburgh on the 17th March 1839, he moved with his family to East Linton in 1852 where he became set on an artistic career. At sixteen he entered the Trustees Academy in Edinburgh, where he studied art under Robert Scott Lauder (1803-69) and alongside William McTaggart (1835 - 1910), William Quiller Orchardson (1832 - 1910), Peter Graham (1836 - 1921), John MacWhirter and G.P. Chalmers (1833-78).

His works include paintings inspired by historical events and literature. In 1858, he exhibited his first work at the Royal Scottish Academy, entitled A Scene from the Fortunes of Nigel, which was inspired by the novels of Sir Walter Scott. He was soon exhibiting his work at the Royal Academy in London.  Such As his famous painting ‘Disbanded’ now hanging in the Dundee Art Gallery and Museum.  The success of his work in London encouraged him to move south in 1862, where he joined his friend Orchardson. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1866 and a full Academician in 1874.  The National Portrait Gallery (London) holds four works by John Pettie he died at on the 21st February 1893.

John Philip 1817 - 1867

John Philip was born in Aberdeen in 1817 and pursued his artistic education at the Royal Academy Schools in London. Inspired by the works of Sir David Wilkie, he began by painting scenes of Scottish life such as A Scotch Fair painted just as Phillip moved south of the border to London.  A Scotch Fair is a virtuoso piece full of action and narrative detail.

In the central group a cattle sale is taking place between a Lowlander and a Highlander. In the background amongst the crowd, a recruiting party is looking to enlist men for their regiment.  In this version of the subject the composition is dominated by three central figures, who are negotiating the sale of a cow and her calf. On the left a stout, ruddy cheeked Lowlander or Englishman, looking like the archetypal 'John Bull', counts out coins into his hand. Next to him an elderly Highlander is accompanied by his pretty blonde daughter who looks sorrowfully down to the calf, which playfully sucks her finger. The Highlanders, represented by the weary drover and his fair daughter, are forced to negotiate with a brash and pushy Lowlander. Phillip sees Scotland nostalgically, his Highland figures are heroic. They may be poor and unsophisticated but they retain their dignity. 

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Kenneth Reed

Over the past two decades Ken Reed has established himself as one of the world's leading painters of golf course landscapes, capturing the beauty and challenge of golf.  His distinctive watercolours are as evocative as they are accurate as seen in his superbly detailed Limited Edition print The Links Club House at St. Andrews.

Tom Shanks

Tom Shanks is widely acknowledged as one of the most impressive contemporary Scottish artists. He is known for his evocative paintings of the West Highlands which he has loved since childhood. A visit to the Isle of Skye  had a profound effect upon him and became the inspiration for a lifetime of paintings in moody differing weathers and light.
On leaving school, Tom became an apprentice carpet designer as his interest and skill developed, he applied to Glasgow School of Art to attend evening classes, but the exceptional quality of his work was recognised and he was encouraged to enrol for the full time diploma course.

His mastery of pen, ink and watercolour marks him out and few, if any, artists equal his skill in bringing to life the special atmosphere as demonstrated in the superb Loch Lomond and Ben Lomond highlighting the grandeur and changing moods of the Scottish mountains, lochs and glens. Tom Shanks exhibits in all the main Scottish annual exhibitions and his work is held in public and private collections worldwide.

Samuel Dukinfield Swarbreck 1799 - 1863

Samuel Dunkinfield Swarbreck was born in 1839 he painted lithographic architectural and interior subjects after his own watercolours. His two books Sketches in Scotland and Views of Edinburgh illustrating the likes of High Street Edinburgh were both published in 1839, there approximately 20 tinted lithographs in each. He also exhibited his paintings in London.

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Prudence Turner 1930-15th September 2007

Prudence Turner was born in Baluchistan in India on the 15th of March 1930, she developed a gift for painting at a very early age.  Her first recognition was at the age of 4 when she competed in a national competition against an eleven to fourteen age group.

Although mainly self taught she has lived and studied in many countries including France and Egypt and of course Scotland.  It was here staying at ballachulish near Glencoe that some of her most famous works were done as oil on canvas such as Loch Awe. Loch Lomond, Glen Shiel, In The Trossachs, Kyle of Lochalsh, Highland Lochan and Highland Sunset. 

David Stratton Watt 1912-present

David Stratton Watt is one of the most prominent and highly regarded living artists in Scotland today.  His Curling scenes such as Winter’s Glory, A Season’s Gathering, Curling on the Tay and his latest work The Curlers Dream in particular have received worldwide critical acclaim and recognition and he has a wide following at home here in Scotland as well as Europe the USA, Canada and New Zealand.

David was born in Perth in 1912 the son of a water bailiff.  David was only interested in Art at school and did not feel in any way academically inclined. After leaving school at the age of fourteen he worked in Dundee in advertising agencies doing commercial Art, layouts and copywriting.  He attended evening classes at Art School for lettering, Design, Anatomy and Life Drawing.

At eighteen David became an apprentice in the Renaissance manner to a very good but underestimated mural artist Tom Peddie whom David greatly admired both as a man and as a painter.  David was Tom’s assistant for ten years.  In 1940 David joined the R.A.P.C. but hated the clerical work.  However when Scottish Command held a competition propaganda poster competition David won 1st and 2nd prizes for his two entries.  These posters are now housed in the Imperial War Museum in London.  After that David was transferred to the Royal Engineers attached to the Royal Ordinance Survey as a draughtsman.

After the war David became freelance doing anything artistic that would earn him a living from designing soft drink labels to cinema posters.  He also carried out restoration work and designed and executed Rolls of Honour for Churches in and around Perth.  He was also employed as a staff artist in a Departmental Store in Stirling, winning a prize for his display units.

David was then appointed Art Master at Dall Boy’s Public School at Rannoch Perthshire where he stayed for a number of very pleasant years making many lifelong friends along the way.  He then returned to freelancing and being an itinerary Art Teacher for numerous Fife Primary Schools.  He also conducted evening classes for older students.

He then moved to an old cottage in Glenisla in the Angus Glens and it was here he found inspiration in rather idyllic surroundings.  It was here in the mid 1970’s that he painted his first of what became his world famous Curling scenes.  He started painting them as part of the natural scenes found at various lochs and ponds in and around Angus and Perhshire.  Along with Curling his winter sheep scenes are very highly regarded.

David’s Signed Limited Edition prints are truly unique showing the fantastic appeal of the outdoor Bonspiels of his native Scotland. All David’s major curling works have been reproduced as Signed Limited edition prints truly Limited to just a few hundred copies worldwide.  Some stunning examples of his curling works still available are Winter’s Glory, A Season’s Gathering, Curling on the Tay and the newly released The Curlers Dream.  These signed Limited Edition prints represent one of the best investments currently available in Scottish Art due to there unique nature and very limited numbers.  

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