Hugh Adam Crawford, (28 October 1898 – 1982), was a Scottish artist and oil painter, mostly of portraits and figures, who was an influential and charismatic figure in the 1930s Glasgow art scene. During a long teaching career, Crawford influenced and inspired many notable students including

Joan Eardley Joan Kathleen Harding Eardley (18 May 192116 August 1963) was a British artist noted for her portraiture of street children in Glasgow and for her landscapes of the fishing village of Catterline and surroundings on the North-East coast of Scotlan ...

Robert MacBryde Robert MacBryde (5 December 1913 – 6 May 1966) was a Scotland, Scottish still-life and figure painter and a theatre Scenic design, set designer. Early life and career MacBryde was born in Maybole, Ayrshire, to John MacBryde, a cement laboure ...

and

Robert Colquhoun Robert Colquhoun (20 December 1914 – 20 September 1962) was a Scotland, Scottish Painting, painter, printmaker and theatre Scenic design, set designer. Colquhoun was born in Kilmarnock and was educated at Kilmarnock Academy. He won a s ...

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Life and work

Crawford was born in

Busby, East Renfrewshire Busby is a village in East Renfrewshire, Scotland. Busby is in the same urban area as Glasgow, although it is administratively separate. It lies on the White Cart Water south of Glasgow City Centre and northwest of the outskirts of East Kilbri ...

and studied 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 ...

, where he was taught by

Maurice Greiffenhagen Maurice Greiffenhagen (15 December 1862 – 26 December 1931

from 1919 to 1923. He briefly moved to London to study part-time at the

Central School of Art The Central School of Art and Design was a public school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and Cra ...

and at

Saint Martin's School of Art Saint Martin's School of Art was an art college in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1854, initially under the aegis of the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Saint Martin's became part of t ...

before returning to Glasgow in 1925 to join the staff at the Glasgow School of Art. He eventually became Head of Painting there, a post he was to hold until 1948. As well as developing a strong style of portrait painting Crawford also painted murals, notably for a Roman Catholic chapel at

Bellahouston Bellahouston ( gd, Baile Ùisdean, sco, Hughstoun) is a district in the southwest of Glasgow. It is bordered by Dumbreck, Ibrox, Pollokshields, Craigton. History Bellahouston Estate in the parish of Govan was purchased in 1726 by James Row ...

and St Columba's Church in Glasgow. He also completed murals at the

John Brown & Company John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish Naval architecture, marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and the ''Queen Elizabeth 2 (ship), Queen Elizabeth 2''. At its ...

shipyard and at the

Scottish Brewers Scottish & Newcastle plc was a brewing company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, which expanded from its home base to become an international business with beer volumes growing almost tenfold. The company was listed on the London Stock Ex ...

premises in Glasgow. When Crawford's depiction of wartime casualties, ''Tribute to Clydebank (The Stretcher Bearers)'' was shown at 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 ...

in 1942 it was declared 'picture of the year' and he considered it his best work. Also during World War Two, Crawford received a short-term commission from the

War Artists' Advisory Committee The War Artists Advisory Committee (WAAC), was a British government agency established within the Ministry of Information at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 and headed by Sir Kenneth Clark. Its aim was to compile a comprehensive artist ...

for three portraits. The first, in May 1941, was for a portrait of the

Lord Provost of Glasgow The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Glasgow is the convener of the Glasgow City Council. Elected by the city councillors, the Lord Provost serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city. The office is equiv ...

. This was followed by a subject for the

Ministry of Home Security The Ministry of Home Security was a British government department established in 1939 to direct national civil defence, primarily tasked with organising air raid precautions, during the Second World War. The Ministry for Home Security was headed ...

in February 1942 and finally a portrait of a Company Sergeant-Major in the

Seaforth Highlanders The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw servic ...

which was completed in May 1942. When Crawford left the Glasgow School of Art in 1948 he became Head of

Gray's School of Art Gray's School of Art is the Robert Gordon University, Robert Gordon University's art school, located in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is one of the oldest established fine art institutions in Scotland and one of Scotland's five art schools today, and ...

until 1954 when he was appointed Principal of the

Duncan of Jordonstone College of Art The University of Dundee; . Abbreviated as ''Dund.'' for post-nominals. is a public university, public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a University college#United Kingdom, university college in 1881 with a donation ...

in Dundee, a post he retired from in 1964. He was elected an Associate 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 1938 and became a full member in 1956.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, Hugh Adam 1898 births 1982 deaths 20th-century Scottish male artists 20th-century Scottish painters Academics of the University of Dundee Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art Artists from Glasgow British war artists People associated with Dundee People from Busby, East Renfrewshire Royal Scottish Academicians Scottish male painters World War II artists