Adam Bruce Thomson

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, RSA, PRSW (22 February 1885 – 4 December 1976) or ‘Adam B’ as he was often called at

Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

, was a Scottish painter perhaps best known for his oil and water colour landscape paintings, particularly of the Highlands and Edinburgh. He is regarded as one of the Edinburgh School of artists.

Biography

Thomson was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and studied at the Royal Institution School of Art and the RSA Life School. He went on to study at the

between 1908 and 1909, where he gained technical expertise in

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...

drypoint Drypoint is a printmaking technique of the intaglio (printmaking), intaglio family, in which an image is incised into a plate (or "matrix") with a hard-pointed "needle" of sharp metal or diamond point. In principle, the method is practically iden ...

and

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

and in the difficult media of

pastels A pastel () is an art medium that consists of powdered pigment and a binder (material), binder. It can exist in a variety of forms, including a stick, a square, a pebble, and a pan of color, among other forms. The pigments used in pastels are ...

and watercolours. Thomson's early years at the Edinburgh College of Art, had all the rigours of life classes, study of the antique and copying the

Old Masters In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...

. Thomson graduated with Diplomas in Drawing and Painting, and Architecture before travelling to Spain, Holland, Paris on various scholarships during 1910. One of his earliest surviving oils, from 1910, depicts St. Martin’s Bridge in

Toledo, Spain Toledo ( ; ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, the capital of the province of Toledo and the ''de jure'' seat of the government and parliament of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castilla� ...

. In 1912 Thomson took up employment at the

. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Thomson served in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

as a Second Lieutenant. Following the Battle of Arras he produced some poignant works on-the-spot and was able to record troops moving near

Arras Arras ( , ; ; historical ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a ...

by the shattered façade of the Abbey of Mont St Eloi. Other works, including ''Reconstructing the Bridge, Montignies'' were exhibited at the RSA in 1921 and, more recently, at the Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh and at the

Scottish National Portrait Gallery National Galleries Scotland: Portrait is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. Portrait holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Collec ...

. Also displayed was a finely detailed pen and pencil drawing of

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp. 155� ...

L 33 which crashed at New Hall Farm,

Little Wigborough Little Wigborough is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Great and Little Wigborough, in the Colchester borough of Essex, England and forms part of Winstred Hundred Parish Council. Little Wigborough is located between Peld ...

on the night of 23 September 1916. On 15 April 1918 Thomson married Jessie I. Hislop, the sister of his great friend and fellow Edinburgh artist Walter Balmer Hislop and they set up home in

Marchmont Marchmont () is a mainly residential area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It lies roughly south of the Old Town, separated from it by The Meadows and Bruntsfield Links. To the west it is bounded by Bruntsfield; to the south-southwest by Greenhi ...

. The couple had three children born between 1919 and 1924. In 1919 Thomson resumed his staff position at the Edinburgh College of Art and would remain there until 1950. During this career Thomson taught etching, composition, still life to the painting school and colour theory to the art and architecture students. Regular visitors to the Thomson family home included his student and protégé William Wilson and also William Crozier. Other close colleagues from the Edinburgh College of Art and the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country's national academy of art. It promotes contemporary art, contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy ...

included

Stanley Cursiter Stanley Cursiter (29 April 1887 – 22 April 1976) was an Orcadian artist who played an important role in introducing Post-Impressionism and Futurism to Scotland. He served as the keeper (1919–1930), then director (1930–1948), of the Nat ...

and

David Macbeth Sutherland David Macbeth Sutherland (1883-20 September 1973) was a Scottish artist mainly known for his landscapes and portraits paintings and for his long tenure as the Director of Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen. Biography Sutherland was born in Wic ...

. In the 1920s in particular Thomson's work was at its closest to that of

Samuel Peploe Samuel John Peploe (pronounced PEP-low; 27 January 1871 – 11 October 1935) was a Scottish Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter, noted for his still life works and for being one of the group of four painters that became known as the ...

, Francis Cadell and other contemporaries, notably John Guthrie Spence Smith and Penelope Beaton. Thomson's oil paintings share some of the characteristics of his colleagues at the College in particular Sir

William George Gillies Sir William George Gillies (21 September 1898 – 15 April 1973) was a renowned Scottish landscape and still life painter. He is often referred to simply as W. G. Gillies. Life Gillies was born in Haddington, East Lothian and is brother o ...

and Sir William MacTaggart. The early 1930s saw his series of monumental paintings of his home town including ''North Bridge and Salisbury Crags, from the North West'', now in the Edinburgh City Art Centre, and ''The Old Dean Bridge'' exhibited at the RSA in 1932. Throughout his life, Thomson painted extensively using watercolours and oils in and around Edinburgh, the Berwickshire coast, South West of Scotland on the Solway, the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

and Abbeys (

Kelso Abbey Kelso Abbey is a ruined Scottish abbeys, Scottish abbey in Kelso, Scottish Borders, Kelso, Scotland. It was founded in the 12th century by a community of Tironensian monks first brought to Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland in the reign of Alexander ...

Melrose Abbey St Mary's Abbey, Melrose is a partly ruined monastery of the Cistercian order in Melrose, Roxburghshire, in the Scottish Borders. It was founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks at the request of King David I of Scotland and was the chief house of t ...

Dryburgh Abbey Dryburgh Abbey, near Dryburgh on the banks of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders, was nominally founded on 10 November (Martinmas) 1150 in an agreement between Hugh de Morville, Constable of Scotland, and the Premonstratensian canons reg ...

), Lismore,

Benderloch Benderloch (, ) is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The name is derived from ''Beinn eadar dà loch'', meaning "mountain between two lochs". Benderloch lies on the A828 road in the coastal parish of Ardchattan and Muckairn, Argyll, Sco ...

Mull Mull may refer to: Places *Isle of Mull, a Scottish island in the Inner Hebrides ** Sound of Mull, between the Isle of Mull and the rest of Scotland * Mount Mull, Antarctica * Mull Hill, Isle of Man * Mull, Arkansas, a place along Arkansas Highwa ...

Stornoway Stornoway (; ) is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotlan ...

Iona Iona (; , sometimes simply ''Ì'') is an island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there are other buildings on the island. Iona Abbey was a centre of Gaeli ...

, Ross and Cromarty,

Plockton Plockton () is a village in the Lochalsh, Wester Ross area of the Scottish Highlands with a 2020 population of 468. Plockton settlement is on the shores of Loch Carron. It faces east, away from the prevailing winds; this, together with the North ...

and elsewhere.Scottish Gallery – Adam Bruce Thomson
/ref> The archives of the

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS; ; ) is one of Scotland's National Collections. It is one of the largest libraries in the United Kingdom. As well as a public programme of exhibitions, events, workshops, and tours, the National Library of ...

hold some 24 of his sketchbooks, spanning around 40 years of work. He was awarded the OBE in 1963 and become president of both the

Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW) is a Scottish art society established in 1878. The current patron is Charles III. It is a registered charity based in Glasgow and holds an annual exhibition. The first preliminary meeting ...

and the Society of Scottish Artists. His work has been exhibited recently in November 2013 Edinburgh, 'Painting the Century', at an exhibition of some of his pastels ('Adam Bruce Thomson - The Pastels'), in October 2015, and in April 2017 at an exhibition of some of his watercolours (Adam Bruce Thomson 'Untroubled Certainty'), all at the Scottish Gallery, Dundas Street, Edinburgh. A major retrospective of Adam Bruce Thomson’s work entitled 'Adam Bruce Thomson - The Quiet Path' curated by Dr Helen E. Scott was on display at the

City Art Centre The City Art Centre is part of the Museums & Galleries Edinburgh, which sits under the Culture directorate of the City of Edinburgh Council. The City Art Centre has a collection which include historic and modern Scottish painting and photograph ...

(Market Street, Edinburgh) from Sat 11 May to Sun 6 Oct 2024.

Awards and honours

* 1936–37 President of the

Society of Scottish Artists The Society of Scottish Artists is a Scottish artist-run organisation which seeks to ''promote and encourage experimentation and the "adventurous spirit" in Scottish art.'' It was founded in 1891 by Patrick Geddes, William Gordon Burn Murdoch and ...

(SSA) * 1937 Elected Associate

(RSA) * 1946 Elected to the

(RSA) * 1947 Elected to the

* 1949–56 Treasurer of the RSA * 1956–63 President of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (PRSW) * 1963 Awarded

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

* 1971 Awarded first May Marshall Brown Memorial Award of the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour * 1971 Became Honorary Retired Member of the Royal Scottish Academy * 1976 Awarded the William J. Macaulay Memorial Award of the Royal Scottish Academy

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Adam Bruce 1885 births 1976 deaths 20th-century Scottish painters Scottish male painters Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art Painters from Edinburgh British Army personnel of World War I Edinburgh College of Art Scottish landscape artists British modern painters Officers of the Order of the British Empire Royal Scottish Academicians Scottish watercolourists Scottish etchers Scottish landscape painters 20th-century British printmakers Royal Engineers officers Presidents of the Society of Scottish Artists 20th-century Scottish male artists Military personnel from Edinburgh

Biography

Awards and honours

References

Further reading

External links