Painter in oils and tempera, muralist, stained glass designer and illustrator. Born in Dundee, he was closely associated with the town planner and environmentalist Patrick Geddes, for whom he carried out various decorative schemes, such as the series of scenes from Scottish history in the Common Room of Ramsay Garden (1896). He also contributed illustrations to Geddes’ magazine, The Evergreen: a northern seasonal (1895), in which he blended a revivalist interest in Celtic folklore with influences from French Symbolism and Art Nouveau. His works in sculpture are extremely rare.
Bibliography: P.J.M. McEwan, The Dictionary of Scottish Art and Architecture, Ballater, Aberdeenshire, 2004; R. McKenzie, Public Sculpture of Edinburgh (2 vols), Liverpool, 2018, vol. 1, p. 439.
Ray McKenzie 2018