James McBey (23 December 1883 – 1 December 1959) was a largely self-taught artist and etcher whose prints were highly valued during the later stages of the etching revival in the early 20th century.
He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters by
Aberdeen University
, mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
, established =
, type = Public research universityAncient university
, endowment = £58.4 million (2021)
, budget ...
.
[Anonymous (1958). ''Who's Who in Art'', ninth edition. London: The Art Trade Press Ltd]
Early years
McBey was born in
Newburgh, Aberdeenshire
Newburgh is a coastal village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The village dates to 1261 AD, when Lord Sinclair wanted to establish a chapel in the area. Originally built as a school, somewhat later the chapel of Holy Rood was established.
Geograp ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, educated at his village school, and at the age of 15 years became a clerk in a local bank. After reading an article on etching in an art magazine, he borrowed from Aberdeen public library Maxime Lalanne’s treatise on etching ''Traité de la Gravure a l’Eau-Forte'', attended evening classes at
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 ...
,
and taught himself how to create etchings on zinc plates. He printed the results on paper using a domestic mangle.
[Anonymous (1959). Obituary. Mr. James McBey. Etcher and painter in oils. ''The Times'' 3 December 1959, issue 54,634, p 17] By 1910 he had enough confidence in his own ability to abandon banking and spent the summer in the Netherlands where he viewed etchings by
Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...
and etched 21 plates of his own.
[ From 1910 onwards he travelled widely, visiting Europe, North Africa and America.] By 1911 his etchings were of sufficiently high quality to earn him an exhibition at the Goupil Gallery
Goupil & Cie is an international auction house and merchant of contemporary art and collectibles. Jean-Baptiste Adophe Goupil founded Goupil & Cie in 1850. Goupil & Cie became a leading art dealership in 19th-century France, with its headquart ...
in London and his prints were published in both London and Glasgow.[ In 1912 McBey travelled to Morocco with James Kerr Lawson and began working in watercolours.]
World War I
At the start of World War I
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 ...
McBey's poor eyesight prevented him enlisting as a soldier but in February 1916 he was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank.
Australia
The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
while employed with the Army Printing and Stationery Service, based in Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...
. While on leave there he completed two series of sketches, ''France at her Furnaces'', showing the munition works at Harfleur
Harfleur () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France.
It was the principal seaport in north-western France for six centuries, until Le Havre was built about five kilometres (three miles) downstream i ...
, and some views of the Somme. After these drawings were shown in London, McBey was appointed an official war artist to the Egyptian Expeditionary Force
The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) was a British Empire military formation, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and the Force in Egypt (1914–15), at the beginning of ...
. Throughout 1917 and 1918 McBey accompanied the Allied advance in Palestine, from Gaza to Damascus. Working in both watercolours and oils McBey produced some 300 pieces, many of which are now in the Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...
. As well as portraits of the Allied commanders, McBey painted notable portraits of Emir Faisal, and T. E. Lawrence
Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...
. McBey spent five days on a reconnaissance mission in the Sinai Desert with an Imperial Camel Corps
The Imperial Camel Corps Brigade (ICCB) was a camel-mounted infantry brigade that the British Empire raised in December 1916 during the First World War for service in the Middle East.
From a small beginning the unit eventually grew to a brigad ...
patrol, consisting of rough-riders from the Australian outback, and witnessed Allenby's entry into Jerusalem in December 1917.
Post-war career
Although the British government made little use of his work during the war, when he returned to Britain McBey produced a series of etchings based on his drawings of the Camel Corps patrol. ''The Long Patrol'' sold well and greatly enhanced his reputation.
He made several visits thereafter to the Middle East and North Africa. During the post-war print boom in the 1920s his etchings fetched prices at auction that had only been achieved before by the .[ McBey was featured by Malcolm Salaman in the second volume of the series ''Modern Masters of Etching''][Salaman,M.C. (1924). ''Modern Masters of Etching No. 2. James McBey''. London: The Studio Ltd] and Salaman also compiled a catalogue of his work, published in 1929.[Salaman,M.C. (1929). ''The etchings of James McBey''. London: Halton and Truscott Smith] McBey also had commissions to paint a number of formal portraits, including one of Sir Harry Lauder
Sir Henry Lauder (; 4 August 1870 – 26 February 1950)Russell, Dave"Lauder, Sir Henry (1870–1950)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, January 2011, accessed 27 April 2014 was a S ...
in 1921, which today is in the Glasgow Museums
Glasgow Museums is the group of museums and galleries owned by the City of Glasgow, Scotland. They hold about 1.6 million objects including over 60,000 art works, over 200,000 items in the human history collections, over 21,000 items relating to ...
.Art UK
/ref>
Marriage and death
In 1929 McBey visited America and returned in 1931 to marry Marguerite Loeb, a photographer and bookbinder from Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. In 1932 the couple bought a house near Tangier
Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the cap ...
in Morocco and later bought a second property in Marrakesh
Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...
. During World War II, McBey lived in America and in 1942 he became an American citizen. After the war he returned to live in Tangier, whilst making regular trips to both Britain and the United States. He died in Tangier, Morocco in 1959.[Anonymous (1959). Artist’s Death in Tangier. ''The Times'' 2 December 1959, issue 54,633, p 12]
Legacy
The work of James McBey is held by the National Portrait Gallery, London
The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...
; the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco. The permanent collection of the Fin ...
; the National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...
, Washington; the Huntington Library
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington, is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington (1850–1927) and Arabella Huntington (c.1851–1924) in San Mar ...
, California; and by the Aberdeen Art Gallery
Aberdeen Art Gallery is the main visual arts exhibition space in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1884 in a building designed by Alexander Marshall Mackenzie, with a sculpture court added in 1905. In 1900, it received the art ...
where the McBey Art Reference Library was established in his name in 1961, based on a bequest from McBey’s wife. There is an almost complete collection of his etchings at the Boston Public Library
The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also the Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse'') of the Commonweal ...
.[
]
Further reading
* ''Shadows & Light: The Life of James McBey'' by Alasdair Soussi (Scotland Street Press, 2022)
References
External links
James McBey exhibition catalogs
*
James McBey at Conrad R. Graeber Fine Art
{{DEFAULTSORT:McBey, James
1883 births
1959 deaths
19th-century Scottish painters
20th-century British printmakers
20th-century Scottish painters
Alumni of Gray's School of Art
Artists from Aberdeen
British war artists
People from Aberdeenshire
Scottish etchers
Scottish male painters
World War I artists
19th-century Scottish male artists
20th-century Scottish male artists