Alan Sutherland (born 1931, in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

) was a Scottish artist based in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. He died on 27 June 2019 at the age of 87.

Early life

He was born in

in 1931, and lived there for the first three years of his life. Shortly after his 3rd birthday his parents moved back to

where Alan spent his early formative years being educated at

Loretto School Loretto School, founded in 1827, is an independent boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 0 to 18. The campus occupies in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland. History The school was founded by the Reverend Thomas Langhorne in 1827. L ...

Musselburgh Musselburgh (; sco, Musselburrae; gd, Baile nam Feusgan) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It has a population of . History The name Musselburgh is Ol ...

. He was only thirteen when he had his first picture accepted for the

Society of Scottish Artists The Society of Scottish Artists is a Scottish artist-run organization which seeks to ''promote and encourage experimentation and the "adventurous spirit" in Scottish art.'' It was founded in 1891 and its main space for annual exhibitions has bee ...

and by the age of twenty two he had three portraits exhibited in the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country’s national academy of art. It promotes contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy, it became the ...

. He graduated from

Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

in 1952.

Career

Significant portrait sitters include

Quentin Crisp Quentin Crisp (born Denis Charles Pratt; – ) was an English raconteur, whose work in the public eye included a memoir of his life and various media appearances. Before becoming well-known, he was an artist's model, hence the title of ...

, Lord Cameron, Sir

Conolly Abel Smith Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Michael Conolly Abel Smith, (3 December 1899 – 3 December 1985) was a Royal Navy officer who served during the First and Second World Wars. Family Conolly Abel Smith (as he was usually known) was the second son of E ...

Sir Nicholas Fairbairn Sir Nicholas Hardwick Fairbairn, (24 December 1933 – 19 February 1995) was a Scottish politician. He was the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Kinross and Western Perthshire from October 1974 to 1983, and then for Perth and Kinros ...

QC, HRH Prince Philip: Duke of Edinburgh,

Sir Alec Douglas-Home Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel (; 2 July 1903 – 9 October 1995), styled as Lord Dunglass between 1918 and 1951 and being The 14th Earl of Home from 1951 till 1963, was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conse ...

, Angus Douglas-Hamilton, 15th Duke of Hamilton,

Henry Thynne, 6th Marquess of Bath Henry Frederick Thynne, 6th Marquess of Bath (26 January 1905 – 30 June 1992), styled Lord Henry Thynne until 1916 and Viscount Weymouth between 1916 and 1946, was a British aristocrat, landowner, and Conservative Party politician. Bac ...

, and William Maxwell "Max" Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook. To mark the bicentennial in 1987 the

New Club The New Club is a private social club in the New Town area of Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded in 1787, it is Scotland's oldest club. The club occupied premises on St Andrew Square from 1809 until 1837, when it moved to purpose-built rooms on ...

in Edinburgh, on recommendation from the

Royal Society of Portrait Painters The Royal Society of Portrait Painters is a charity based at Carlton House Terrace, SW1, London that promotes the practice and appreciation of portraiture. Its Annual Exhibition of portraiture is held at Mall Galleries, and it runs a commissio ...

, commissioned Alan for a portrait of their Patron His Royal Highness Prince Philip. The sittings took place in

Holyrood Palace The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace or Holyroodhouse, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinbu ...

and the portrait of the Duke currently hangs in the New Club Morning Room. Other notable works include the ceiling fresco at Invercreran House in Argyll Scotland. He has exhibited in The

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

London, the

Chelsea Society The Chelsea Society was founded in 1927, by the Chelsea historian and author Reginald Blunt, with the aim of protecting the historic fabric of Chelsea and of influencing future environmental changes. The Society's aims are to protect ...

, the

Paris Salon The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...

, the

Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts (RGI) is an independent organisation in Glasgow, founded in 1861, which promotes contemporary art and artists in Scotland. The institute organizes the largest and most prestigious annual art exhibitio ...

and Prouds Art Gallery Sydney.

References

External links

* * * https://web.archive.org/web/20061013055040/http://www.scottishart.co.uk/bio.php?bio_id=2&defval=Artist%20Biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutherland, Alan 1931 births 2019 deaths People educated at Loretto School, Musselburgh Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art 20th-century Scottish painters Scottish male painters British portrait painters People from Mumbai 20th-century Scottish male artists