Penelope Beaton ARSA RSW (1886-1963) was a Scottish watercolour painter influenced by the expressionism movement. A member of both the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Society of Watercolour Painters, Beaton was both an alumna and a senior lecturer at the

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 ...

and had her work exhibited widely across Scotland.

Early life

Beaton was born in Edinburgh and studied at the Edinburgh College of Art, graduating in 1917. After commencing her studies she briefly worked as a school mistress at

Hamilton Academy Hamilton Academy was a school in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The school was described as "one of the finest schools in Scotland" in the Cambridge University Press County Biography of 1910, and was featured in a 1950 Scottish Seconda ...

. Her former pupils included one of the Glasgow Girls

Mary Nicol Neill Armour Dr Mary Nicol Neill Armour LLD, née Steel, (27 March 1902 – 5 July 2000) was a Scottish landscape and still life painter, art teacher and an Honorary President of the Glasgow School of Art and the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts. B ...

, who reportedly was greatly encouraged by Beaton's support. Beaton subsequently became a member of the faculty staff at Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) in 1919, eventually becoming the Head of the Junior Department. Notable colleagues included John Maxwell who was appointed as her assistant. He later became a senior lecturer in painting and drawing at the ECA and a notable painter in what came to be known as the Edinburgh School.

Painting career

Beaton's work was exhibited widely throughout Scotland, including 102 works at the Royal Scottish Academy, as well as the

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 the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour. Between 1925 and 1964 she was a regular exhibitor with the Scottish Society of Artists and from 1928 to 1964 with the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts. Beaton was elected an Associate member of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1957. Beaton's early use of colour was influenced by the expressionistic style of

William George Gillies Sir William George Gillies (1898–1973) was a renowned Scottish landscape and still life painter. He is often referred to simply as W. G. Gillies. Life Gillies was born in Haddington, East Lothian. He had just enrolled at the Edinburgh C ...

who both trained and taught with her at the ECA. Like Gillies, Beaton worked in both

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

and

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

. Inspired by the jagged east coast and the scenery of Scotland, Beaton created a number of landscapes including a series based on the shoreline of Iona, the earliest of which was exhibited at the Edinburgh College of Art's second exhibition of former students.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beaton, Penelope 1886 births 1963 deaths 20th-century Scottish women artists Royal Scottish Academicians Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art Painters from Edinburgh