William MacTaggart
Encyclopedia
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...
painter known for his landscapes of East Lothian, France, Norway and elsewhere. He is sometimes called William MacTaggart the Younger to distinguish him from his grandfather, the painter William McTaggart
William McTaggart
William McTaggart was a Scottish landscape painter who was influenced by Impressionism.-Life and work:...
.
Life and work
William MacTaggart was born at LoanheadLoanhead
Loanhead is a small town in Midlothian, Scotland, to the south of Edinburgh, and close to Roslin, Bonnyrigg and Dalkeith. The town was built on coal and shale mining, and the paper industry.-History:...
in Midlothian
Midlothian
Midlothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It borders the Scottish Borders, East Lothian and the City of Edinburgh council areas....
. He went to Edinburgh College of Art
Edinburgh College of Art
Edinburgh College of Art is an art school in Edinburgh, Scotland, providing tertiary education in art and design disciplines for over two thousand students....
between 1918 and 1921, and there he made friends with other young artists like William Gillies
William George Gillies
Sir William George Gillies was a renowned Scottish landscape and still life painter.Gillies was born in Haddington, East Lothian; he studied at Edinburgh College of Art and taught there after graduation for over 40 years. He was principal of the College from 1959 until his retirement in 1966...
, Anne Redpath
Anne Redpath
Anne Redpath OBE was a Scottish artist whose vivid domestic still lifes are among her best-known works.Redpath's father was a tweed designer in the Scottish Borders. She saw a connection between his use of colour and her own...
, John Maxwell
John Maxwell (artist)
John Maxwell was a Scottish painter of landscapes and imaginative subjects.Born in Dalbeattie in Kirkcudbrightshire, Maxwell studied at Edinburgh College of Art from 1921 to 1927 and then, with the aid of a travelling scholarship, from 1927 to 1928 at the Académie Moderne in Paris under Léger and...
and William Crozier
William Crozier (Scottish artist)
William Crozier was a Scottish landscape painter.Born in Edinburgh, Crozier studied at Edinburgh College of Art and was a fellow student and friendly with William Gillies, Anne Redpath and William MacTaggart...
. Later they would be considered the core group of the Edinburgh School
The Edinburgh School
The Edinburgh School refers to a group of 20th century artists connected with Edinburgh. Most studied at Edinburgh College of Art during or soon after the First World War, and some taught there together in the mid-20th century. As friends and colleagues, they discussed painting and were influenced...
. Crozier was a major artistic influence on MacTaggart, and he joined his friend on some of his trips to the south of France, made for the sake of MacTaggart's health, as well as for painting opportunities.
In 1927 he joined the Society of Eight whose members included Cadell
Francis Cadell (artist)
Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell RSA was a Scottish Colourist painter, renowned for his depictions of the elegant New Town interiors of his native Edinburgh, and for his work on Iona....
and Peploe
Samuel Peploe
Samuel John Peploe was a Scottish Post-Impressionist painter, noted for his still life works and for being one of the group of four painters that became known as the Scottish Colourists...
, and two years later held his first solo exhibition. In the early 1930s he shared a studio with Gillies. Around the same time he met Fanny Aavatsmark, a Norwegian, and they married in 1937.
MacTaggart started teaching at Edinburgh College of Art in 1933 and was president of the Society of Scottish Artists between 1933 and 1936. In 1948 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...
made him an Academician and he later served as president. He was also a member of 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 and was knighted in 1962.