Sir James GuthriePPRSA (10 June 1859 – 6 September 1930) was a
Scottishpainter, associated with the
Glasgow Boys. He is best known in his own lifetime for his
portraiture, although today more generally regarded as a painter of Scottish Realism.
Early life and education
Guthrie was born in
Greenock, the youngest son of the Rev. John Guthrie, a minister of the
Evangelical Union church,[2] and Anne Orr. He originally enrolled at
Glasgow University to study
law, but in 1877 abandoned this in favour of painting. Unlike many of his contemporaries he did not study in
Paris, being mostly self-taught, although he was mentored for a short time by James Drummond in Glasgow and then
John Pettie in
London.[3] In 1879, he moved to London to study painting. during the summer he painted at rural locations, often Rosneath and Helensburgh but mostly at Cockburnspath.[4] Guthrie spent some time[when?] with his friend
Edward Arthur Walton living in
Cheyne Walk in
Chelsea[5]
In 1888, he was elected an associate of the
Royal Scottish Academy , and a full member in 1892.
In November 1902 he was unanimously elected to succeed Sir
George Reid as RSA president,[7] and he moved with his family from Glasgow to Edinburgh.[4] In 1903, he was knighted.
A member of
Glasgow Art Club Guthrie exhibited often at the club's annual exhibitions.[8][9]
In 1920, the King of Belgium conferred Guthrie with the Cross of Commander of the
Order of the Crown.[3][10]
In 1921, he joined the newly-formed
Society of Graphic Art, and exhibited with them in 1921.
Personal life and death
In the late 1880s Guthrie met Helen Newton Whitelaw, a wealthy widow at her family home, Rowmore, in
Rhu,
Dunbartonshire. They married in 1897 and in 1899 their son Thomas Whitelaw Boyd Guthrie was born in Chelsea, London. On October 20, 1912 she died of cancer at the age of 52.[4]
Guthrie died in the house of his retiral in 1930.[3]
His grave in Rhu was designed by the architect
Alexander Nisbet Paterson.[4]
Work
By 1885, Guthrie was a reputable portrait painter and in later life he virtually abandoned other subjects.
He was commissioned by many of the rich and famous of his day to paint their portraits. The list is quite impressive:
Herbert Henry Asquith (portrait and sketch study) Scottish National Portrait Gallery (archive)