Douglas Strachan
Encyclopedia
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
-1950 ) was considered the most significant Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
designer of stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
windows in the 20th Century. Schooled at Robert Gordon's, he studied art at Gray's School of Art
Gray's School of Art
Gray's School of Art is an integral part of the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen that is one of the oldest established fine art institutions in Scotland...
in Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, at the Life School of the Royal Scottish Academy
Royal Scottish Academy
The Royal Scottish Academy is a Scottish organisation that promotes contemporary Scottish art. Founded in 1826, as the Royal Institution for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts, the RSA maintains a unique position in Scotland as an independently funded institution led by eminent artists and...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, and the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. From 1895-1897 Strachan worked in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
as a black and white artist on several newspapers, and as a political cartoonist for the Manchester Evening Chronicle
Manchester Evening News
The Manchester Evening News is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in the United Kingdom. It is published every day except Sunday and is owned by Trinity Mirror plc following its sale by Guardian Media Group in early 2010. It has an average daily circulation of 90,973 copies...
, until ill-health forced him to return to Aberdeen.
Although Strachan was interested in Futurism
Futurism
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century.Futurism or futurist may refer to:* Afrofuturism, an African-American and African diaspora subculture* Cubo-Futurism* Ego-Futurism...
, Cubism
Cubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
, and Vorticism
Vorticism
Vorticism, an offshoot of Cubism, was a short-lived modernist movement in British art and poetry of the early 20th century. It was based in London but international in make-up and ambition.-Origins:...
, his work shows little influence of this. Strachan often composed his windows in areas of pure colour which were then defined by areas of silvery white.
His largest commission was to design the windows for the Scottish National War Memorial in Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...
.
Strachan's work can also be seen at:
- St Andrew's United Reformed Church (incl. War Memorial Window - 'Sacrifice'), HampsteadHampsteadHampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its... - All Saints, Jesus LaneAll Saints, Jesus LaneAll Saints is a church on Jesus Lane in central Cambridge, England, which was built by the architect G F Bodley. The church was constructed between 1863 and 1870 and, as a notable example of the Gothic Revival style and the Arts and Crafts Movement, is a Grade II* listed building...
, CambridgeCambridgeThe city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the... - Palace of PeaceFredensborg PalaceFredensborg Palace, , is a palace located on the eastern shore of Lake Esrum in Fredensborg on the island of Zealand in Denmark. It is the Danish Royal Family’s spring and autumn residence, and is often the site of important state visits and events in the Royal Family...
at The HagueThe HagueThe Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders... - Humbie Parish ChurchHumbie Parish ChurchHumbie Parish Church is a church in the small village of Humbie, East Lothian, Scotland. It is part of the Church of Scotland, and is a linked charge which joins the parishes of Bolton & Saltoun, Yester and Humbie....
, East LothianEast LothianEast Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh.... - King's College Chapel, AberdeenKing's College, AberdeenKing's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and an integral part of the University of Aberdeen...
- Noble College, University of Aberdeen
- St Machar's Cathedral, Aberdeen
- St Lawrence's Church, East RountonEast RountonEast Rounton is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It is about 1 mile west of the A19 and 8 miles north east of Northallerton. It is on the River Wiske and West Rounton is nearby....
, North Yorkshire (memorial window to Gertrude BellGertrude BellGertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, CBE was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist who explored, mapped, and became highly influential to British imperial policy-making due to her extensive travels in Greater Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Arabia. Along... - Fraserburgh Old Parish ChurchFraserburgh Old Parish ChurchFraserburgh Old Parish Church was founded in 1571 in the village of Faithlie which was soon to be built up into the town of Fraserburgh. The church itself was the first new structure of Sir Alexander Fraser's new town after the Castle of Kinnaird's Head. It did not take long for the church to...
(1906) - St Magnus Cathedral, KirkwallKirkwallKirkwall is the biggest town and capital of Orkney, off the coast of northern mainland Scotland. The town is first mentioned in Orkneyinga saga in the year 1046 when it is recorded as the residence of Rögnvald Brusason the Earl of Orkney, who was killed by his uncle Thorfinn the Mighty...
, Orkney (1912) - St Margaret's Chapel, Edinburgh CastleEdinburgh CastleEdinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...
(1922) - Westminster College, CambridgeWestminster College, CambridgeWestminster College in Cambridge is a theological college of the United Reformed Church, formerly the Presbyterian Church of England. Its principal purpose is the training of clergy for ordination, but is also used more widely for training within the denomination...
- BothwellBothwellBothwell is a small town in the South Lanarkshire council area of Scotland. It lies on the north bank of the River Clyde, adjacent to Uddingston and Hamilton, nine miles east-south-east of Glasgow city centre....
Parish Church, South Lanarkshire, Gilchrist Window, for Dr. Marion GilchristMarion Gilchrist (doctor)Dr Marion Gilchrist was the first female graduate of the University of Glasgow; the first woman to qualify in medicine from a Scottish university; and a leading activist in the Women’s suffrage Movement in Scotland... - St. Margaret's Church, Hoathly, Sussex
- St. Thomas' Church, Winchelsea, East Sussex
- St Michael and All Angels, Waterford, HertfordshireWaterford, HertfordshireWaterford is situated on the River Beane, just 2 km north of the county town of Hertford in Hertfordshire, England, on the A119 road. It is most notable for the church of St Michael and All Angels, which has Pre-Raphaelite stained-glass windows from the Morris & Co. factory...
- Paisley Abbey, Paisley
- St John's Kirk, PerthPerth, ScotlandPerth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...
, Scotland - University of Glasgow Chapel
- University of Glasgow Bute Hall