Robert Rattray Tatlock (1889–1954) was a Scottish writer and art critic.

Early career

Born at 34 Gray Street in

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 ...

on 25 January 1889, his parents were Hannah Tatlock ( Butterworth) and John Tatlock, of Baird & Tatlock, who manufactured scientific instruments and was also a chemical merchant. The family lived at 34 Gray Street in Glasgow near the

River Kelvin The River Kelvin (Scottish Gaelic: ''Abhainn Cheilbhinn'') is a tributary of the River Clyde in northern and northeastern Glasgow, Scotland. It rises on the moor south east of the village of Banton, east of Kilsyth. At almost long, it init ...

. Tatlock attended both

The Glasgow Academy The Glasgow Academy is a coeducational independent day school for pupils aged 3–18 in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2016, it had the third-best Higher level exam results in Scotland. Founded in 1845, it is the oldest continuously fully independent s ...

and the

Royal College of Science and Technology The Royal College of Science and Technology was a higher education college that existed in Glasgow, Scotland between 1887 and 1964, and is the predecessor institution of the University of Strathclyde. Its main building on George Street now serve ...

, the latter of which is now the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

. Between 1910 and 1913 he studied painting and drawing 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 ...

, though evening classes.

Military service

Tatlock served in a Quaker organisation, the Friends War Victims Relief Committee, which had been formed in 1870. During this period of service he worked in both Russia and France. La façade ouest de la

Later life

Between 1920 and 1933 he worked as the editor of ''

The Burlington Magazine ''The Burlington Magazine'' is a monthly publication that covers the fine and decorative arts of all periods. Established in 1903, it is the longest running art journal in the English language. It has been published by a charitable organisation sin ...

'', an academic journal covering the fine and decorative arts, and which is now the longest running English language art journal. During the Second World War, both

Roger Fry Roger Eliot Fry (14 December 1866 – 9 September 1934) was an English painter and critic, and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Establishing his reputation as a scholar of the Old Masters, he became an advocate of more recent developme ...

and

Campbell Dodgson Campbell Dodgson, CBE DLitt Hon RE (13 August 1867 – 11 July 1948) was a British art historian and museum curator. He was the Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum in 1912–32. Biography Student Campbell Dodgson was the eight ...

made a significant effort ensure that the Burlington survived. Tatlock's time as editor saw an increase both in circulation, and in the number of adverts. This gave the magazine a greater degree of financial stability. Tatlock was an art writer as well as an editor, and was the chief art critic for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' between 1924 and 1934. His work also appeared in ''

The Contemporary Review ''The Contemporary Review'' is a British biannual, formerly quarterly, magazine. It has an uncertain future as of 2013. History The magazine was established in 1866 by Alexander Strahan and a group of intellectuals anxious to promote intellig ...

'' and the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

''. He was a proponent of greater recognition of the importance of art, and also a greater acceptance of modern art. The Burlington Magazine 1903

In 1924 he married the artist

Cicely Hey Cicely Hey (1896–1980) was a British artist known as a painter, sculptor and model-maker. Although born in England she spent much of her career in Wales. Biography Hey was born in Faringdon in Oxfordshire. She first studied art at the Brusse ...

. He died in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

on 29 June 1954. Robert R Tatlock is listed on the Glasgow School of Art's First World War Roll of Honour.

Publications

*''A Short History of Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day'' (1900) *''Spanish Art'' (1927)

Family

He was nephew to the Glasgow City Analyst (and named after), Robert Rattray Tatlock and a cousin to the younger analyst,

Robert Tatlock Thomson Robert Tatlock Thomson FRSE FRIC (1856–1950) was a 19th/20th century British chemist and public analyst. In 1908 he was involved in the first legal definition of Scotch whisky. Life He was born in Glasgow in 1856 one of five chemist brother ...

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tatlock, Robert Rattray 1889 births 1954 deaths Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art Scottish art critics Writers from Glasgow