Sir William George Gillies

Artist, born in Haddington, East Lothian, E Scotland, UK. He studied at the Edinburgh College of Art, in Italy, and in France. His finely organized interpretations of Scottish landscape (many in watercolour) are well known, and his work is represented in the Tate Gallery. He later became principal of Edinburgh College of Art (1961–6).

Sir William George Gillies (1898 – 1973 was a renowned Scottish landscape and still life painter.

Born in Haddington, East Lothian, he studied at Edinburgh College of Art, and taught there after graduation for over 40 years. In 1922 along with nine fellow students, including William Crozier and William MacTaggart, he founded the 1922 Group, an exhibition society which promoted their works at the New Gallery in Edinburgh for the next ten years.

Assisted by a travelling scholarship, Gillies studied under André Lhote in Paris in 1923 and he went on to visit Italy in 1924.

In 1934 Gillies attended an exhibition of Paul Klee's work and was impressed by the childlike qualities and imaginative use of colour that he saw. Gillies has created a grid-like composition, using bold blocks of contrasting colour emphasising the vertical lines of the buildings and the ships masts.

Although he experimented with portraiture in his early career, Gillies concentrated principally on landscapes and still lifes, frequently depicting the Lothian, Fife and Border regions. Both in his prolific output over the course of his career, and in his 40 years of teaching, Gillies influence on Scottish painting of the twentieth century has been profound.