Details

Name

James Guthrie

Brief Biography

1859 – 1930, British / Scottish

Occupation

Painter

Description

James Guthrie, the son of a Greenock minister, was one of the so-called Glasgow Boys painters, or Glasgow School of Painters. He originally studied law, graduating with a MA from Glasgow University, before abandoning his legal career for painting. He studied in London and Paris, notably spending time in the studio of Scottish narrative painter John Pettie, but was mainly self-taught. His works were influenced by the French Naturalist painter Jules Bastien-Lepage and the American artist James McNeill Whistler. Guthrie's portraiture was evolved from a strong artistic personality and progressed in expressiveness to mastery in the final stages of his life. He was elected ARSA in 1888, RSA in 1892, PRSA in 1902, at the early age of 43, and knighted in the same year. He held the position as President for 17 years. During that period he was instrumental in raising the sum of £10,000 to form a fund, the interest of which secured for the annual exhibitions of the Academy examples of the best art of the times. Guthrie was a member of several continental academies. His large portrait group, 'Some Statesmen of the Great War', is in the National Portrait Gallery, London.