Allan Douglass Mainds, (23 January 1881 – 4 July 1945) was a Scottish painter and designer.

Early life

Mainds was born in

Helensburgh Helensburgh (; gd, Baile Eilidh) is an affluent coastal town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local governm ...

in 1881. His mother was Catherine Thompson Gilfillan, his father was the artist W. R. Mainds, who made watercolour sketches of the buildings of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

during the late nineteenth century. Allan D. Mainds trained at the

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; gd, Sgoil-ealain Ghlaschu) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and ...

, and during his time there he won the Haldane Travelling Scholarship, which supported a period abroad studying in Brussels under the supervision of

Jean Delville Jean Delville (19 January 1867 – 19 January 1953) was a Belgian people, Belgian symbolist painter, author, poet, polemicist, teacher, and Theosophist. Delville was the leading exponent of the Belgian Idealist movement in art during the 1890s. ...

. He went on to Paris, Venice and a six-week visit to Rome where he studied the frescoes of

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...

and

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...

in the Vatican.

Career

Mainds focused on portrait painting, in addition to watercolours of landscapes and still life subjects; his portraiture subjects included Robert Bolam. Mainds also worked as a designer of costumes and posters, in addition to theatre design. He was a member of staff at the Glasgow School of Art from 1909 to 1931, teaching ornament, life drawing and painting. From 1910 to 1918 he lectured in the history of costume and armour. He became a member of 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 ...

in 1929. In 1931 he became professor of fine Art and Director of the King Edward VII School of Art, Kings College, University of Durham.

Military service

Mainds served in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

with the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of t ...

, reaching the rank of captain. He sketched landscape for the artillery and later on taught in a convalescent hospital. In 1916 he married Mary Hogg, who had been a student at the Glasgow School of Art. he is included in the Glasgow School of Art's First World War Roll of Honour.

Later life

In 1931, Mainds became Professor of Fine Art at Armstrong College, which was then part of the

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

division of

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

. He died on 4 July 1945 at 34 Elmfield Road, Gosforth. Photographs by Allan Mainds are held at the Conway Library in the Courtauld, London, and are being digitised.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mainds, Allan D. Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art Royal Scottish Academicians Academics of the Glasgow School of Art 1881 births 1945 deaths 20th-century Scottish painters Scottish male painters 20th-century Scottish male artists