Thomas Corsan Morton (1859–1928) was a Scottish artist, known as one of the

Glasgow Boys The Glasgow School was a circle of influential artists and designers that began to coalesce in Glasgow, Scotland in the 1870s, and flourished from the 1890s to around 1910. Representative groups included The Four (also known as the Spook School ...

Life

Born in Glasgow, Morton worked briefly in a lawyer's office, and went to the city's

School of Art An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-second ...

. After a period at the

Slade School The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

in London, he studied in Paris under

Gustave Boulanger Gustave Clarence Rodolphe Boulanger (25 April 1824 – 22 September 1888) was a French figurative painter and academic artist and teacher known for his Classical and Orientalist subjects. Education and career The Néo-Grecs and the Prix de Rom ...

and

Jules Joseph Lefebvre Jules Joseph Lefebvre (; 14 March 183624 February 1911) was a French figure painter, educator and theorist. Early life Lefebvre was born in Tournan-en-Brie, Seine-et-Marne, on 14 March 1836. He entered the École nationale supérieure des Bea ...

. He exhibited widely in the UK and beyond, often in exhibitions with work by other members of the Glasgow School, including

Secessionist Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics lea ...

exhibitions in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

in the 1890s. Morton was primarily a landscape artist. Some of his work came from summer painting trips with others of the "Boys". These included stays in

Kirkcudbright Kirkcudbright ( ; sco, Kirkcoubrie; gd, Cille Chùithbeirt) is a town, parish and a Royal Burgh from 1455 in Kirkcudbrightshire, of which it is traditionally the county town, within Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The town lies southwest of C ...

and in

Cockburnspath Cockburnspath ( ; sco, Co’path) is a village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It lies near the North Sea coast between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Edinburgh. It is at the eastern extremity of the Southern Upland Way a long-distance footpa ...

, James Guthrie's home, in the 1880s. He taught landscape painting at the Glasgow School of Art, and assisted Francis Newbery with the life drawing classes. His first one-man-show was organised in November 1894 at the gallery of Alexander Reid at 124 St Vincent Street in central Glasgow. In May 1908, he was appointed Keeper of the

Scottish National Gallery The Scottish National Gallery (formerly the National Gallery of Scotland) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by W ...

in Edinburgh. He moved to 7 Comiston Road in the south of the city.Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1910 After retiring from that post in 1925 he became Curator of the newly established Art Gallery in

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, ...

, where he died in December 1928. He is buried in the

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...

, Edinburgh with his wife Amelie Robertson (1869-1942), whom he had married in 1890, and their daughter Mildred Bruce Tupman (d.1972). The grave lies to the north of the southern path, near to that of

Henry Snell Gamley Henry Snell Gamley (commonly called Harry Gamley) (1865–1928) was a Scottish sculptor specialising in war memorials and sculpture on tombs. He was however also responsible for other figurative sculpture on prominent Edinburgh buildings ...

Known works

*''Road at

Bridge of Allan Bridge of Allan ( sco, Brig Allan, gd, Drochaid Ailein), also known colloquially as ''Bofa'', is a town in the Stirling council area in Scotland, just north of the city of Stirling. Overlooked by the National Wallace Monument, it lies on the A ...

'' (1917) *''Woods in Autumn'' *''James Morton, MD, President of the

Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, is an institute of physicians and surgeons in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by Peter Lowe after receiving a royal charter by James VI in 1599, as the Glasgow Faculty, it originally exist ...

'' *''Souvenir de Manet''

Kelvingrove Art Gallery Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is a museum and art gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. It reopened in 2006 after a three-year refurbishment and since then has been one of Scotland's most popular visitor attractions. The museum has 22 galleries, h ...

*''Sunny Woodlands''

Art Gallery *''Landscape with Cattle''

Art Gallery *'' Jean Armour Burns'', Burns Museum *''A Cathedral City -

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

'' *''The Wood-Cutter'' (1887) *''Daffodils'' (1888) *''Still Life: Roses and Oranges'' *''Still Life with Forsythia''

Gallery

File:Thomas Corsan Morton - Daffodils 1888.jpg, Thomas Corsan Morton - Daffodils (1888) File:Thomas Corsan Morton - The Woodcutter 1887.jpg, Thomas Corsan Morton - The Woodcutter 1887 File:Thomas Corsan Morton - Sun glitter on the Forth.jpg, Sun glitter on the Forth File:Thomas Corsan Morton - Mother and child on country lane.jpg, Thomas Corsan Morton - Mother and child on country lane

References

*Roger Billcliffe, ''The Glasgow Boys'', Frances Lincoln 2008 *'Career and Influence',

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

, Dec 26, 1928
Who's Who in Glasgow 1909Biographical note - Whistler correspondence
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, Thomas Corsan 19th-century Scottish painters Scottish male painters 20th-century Scottish painters 1859 births 1928 deaths 19th-century Scottish male artists 20th-century Scottish male artists