William McCance (1894–1970) was a Scottish artist, and was second Controller of the Gregynog Press in Powys, mid-Wales.

Biography

Born on 6 August 1894 in Cambuslang, Scotland, William McCance was the seventh of eight children. After attending

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 ...

, McCance entered

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, an ...

, studying there 1911–15 and subsequently undertaking a teacher-training course at Glasgow's Kennedy Street school. A conscientious objector in

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 ...

, McCance was imprisoned. After discharge from prison in 1919, McCance and his illustrator/engraver wife,

Agnes Miller Parker Agnes Miller Parker (1895–1980) was an engraver, illustrator and painter in oil and tempera. Born in Ayrshire, she spent most of her career in London and southern Britain. She is especially known as a twentieth century wood-engraver thanks to ...

(1895-1980, married 1918), moved to London, where McCance was employed as a teacher and art critic, writing for ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

''. McCance's paintings in the 1920s were unusual in that he was one of the few Scottish artists who embraced the

cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

, abstract and machine-inspired arts movements that spread across Europe following the

First World War 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 ...

. In the 1930s McCance took the post of second Controller of the famous Gregynog Press, Wales, founded in 1922, after which he taught book design at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

. William McCance died on 19 November 1970, aged 76 in Ayrshire. A collection of his paintings is held in the National Galleries of Scotland and Dundee Art Gallery, and in 1975 a retrospective exhibition of his work was shown at Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh.National Galleries of Scotland. Paintings by William McCance
Retrieved 2011-06-20

References

External links

Glasgow School of Art

The Gregynog Press, Wales {{DEFAULTSORT:McCance, William 1894 births 1970 deaths People educated at Hamilton Academy Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art 20th-century Scottish painters Scottish male painters People from Cambuslang Scottish art critics Scottish conscientious objectors British conscientious objectors Academics of the University of Reading Scottish Renaissance 20th-century Scottish male artists