Sir Robert (Robin) James Philipson RSW (17 December 1916 – 26 May 1992) was an English

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

who was influential within the Scottish art scene for over three decades.

Life

Philipson was born in 1916 in

Broughton-in-Furness Broughton in Furness is a market town in the civil parish of Broughton West in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. It had a population of 529 at the 2011 Census. It is located on the south western boundary of England's Lake District ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

, the son of James Philipson. He was originally educated at

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle, Cumbria, C ...

Secondary School. His family moved to Scotland when he was 14. He was then schooled at

Dumfries Academy Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from ...

and then studied at

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 ...

from 1936 to 1940. On the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

he joined the

King's Own Scottish Borderers The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSBs) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. On 28 March 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's O ...

and was posted to

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

, seeing action in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

. After the war, he returned to Edinburgh and became a lecturer at the College of Art in 1947, later taking the post of Head of the Drawing and Painting Department from 1960 to 1982. Philipson's early work was mainly of

landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the p ...

still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

s and interiors. He was strongly influenced by Gillies and

Maxwell Maxwell may refer to: People * Maxwell (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** James Clerk Maxwell, mathematician and physicist * Justice Maxwell (disambiguation) * Maxwell baronets, in the Baronetage o ...

, with whom, amongst others, he shared membership of the group known as The Edinburgh School. He is particularly renowned for his

cockfight A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years. The first documented use of the ''word'' gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or ent ...

paintings, a series begun in the early 1950s. His later work in the 1960s explored more general figurative studies plus

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Ch ...

and

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

interiors and

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Cartha ...

s. Philipson's 1960 painting, ''Cathedral'' was inspired by a visit to

Amiens Cathedral , image = 0 Amiens - Cathédrale Notre-Dame (1).JPG , imagesize = 200px , img capt = Amiens Cathedral , pushpin map = France , pushpin label position = below , coordinates = , country ...

in northern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. He explores the subject in a manner reminiscent of Monet's earlier studies of

Rouen Cathedral Rouen Cathedral (french: Cathédrale primatiale Notre-Dame de l'Assomption de Rouen) is a Roman Catholic church in Rouen, Normandy, France. It is the see of the Archbishop of Rouen, Primate of Normandy. It is famous for its three towers, each ...

, creating a sense of grandeur by expressing the verticality of the gothic architecture and by showing the patterns of coloured light coming from the stained-glass windows. Philipson was well known for his bold use of colour and his liberal use of heavy

impasto ''Impasto'' is a technique used in painting, where paint is laid on an area of the surface thickly, usually thick enough that the brush or painting-knife strokes are visible. Paint can also be mixed right on the canvas. When dry, impasto provides ...

in his works. He was appointed as President of the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country’s national academy of art. It promotes contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy, it became the ...

in 1973, a position he held until 1983. Philipson received four honorary doctorates: DUniv (from both Stirling and Heriot Watt); LLD (from Aberdeen); and Dlitt (from Glasgow). In 1977 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were

John Cameron, Lord Cameron John Cameron, Lord Cameron, KT, DSC, PRSE, FBA (8 February 1900 – 30 May 1996) was a Scottish judge and President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh from 1973 to 1976. Life Cameron was born in London, the son of John Cameron SSC NP, a so ...

, Alick Buchanan-Smith,

Anthony Elliot Ritchie Anthony Elliot Ritchie FRSE FRCPE LLD (30 March 1915–14 September 1997) was a 20th-century Scottish physiologist and educator. Life Ritchie was born at 20 Upper Gray Street, Edinburgh on 30 March 1915, the only son of Jessie Jane Elliot an ...

, R. Martin and S. Smellie. He also received many honours during his career, including a

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

hood in 1976 for his services to art in Scotland. He died in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

on 26 May 1992.

Family

He married three times: in 1949 to Brenda Mark (d.1960); in 1962 to Thora Clyne; and following divorce from Thora in 1975 married Diana Mary Pollock the following year.

Solo exhibitions

*1973/76/83~The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh *1973~Roland Browse & Delbanco, London * 1977~Retrospective Exhibition, McRobert Centre, Stirling University * 1976/78~Loomshop Gallery, Lower Largo * 1978~Browse & Darby Gallery, London * 1979~Haddington House Festival Exhibition, Stirling Gallery * 1980~Macaulay Gallery, Stenton * 1994~Retrospective Exhibition, Browse & Darby Gallery, London and to Billcliffe Fine Art, Glasgow * 1999~Retrospective Exhibition, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art

Locations of Philipson's Works

*Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh *Scottish Arts Council *Royal Scottish Academy *Aberdeen; Liverpool; Walker; Manchester; Whitworth; Glasgow; Perth; Cardiff; *National Museum of Wales *London Contemporary Art Society *Fleming Wyfold Art Foundation, London *Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle *North Carolina Art Gallery and Museum *Hutton-in-the-Forest, Penrith, Cumbria.

References

External links

*
Biography at the National Gallery of Scotland

{{DEFAULTSORT:Philipson, Robin 20th-century Scottish painters Scottish male painters Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art British Army personnel of World War II 1916 births 1992 deaths People from Broughton-in-Furness Knights Bachelor Royal Scottish Academicians People educated at Dumfries Academy Royal Academicians 20th-century Scottish male artists