Barbara Balmer RSA (23 September 1929 – 31 December 2017) was a Scottish artist and teacher.

Biography

Balmer was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and, between 1946 and 1951, studied art at Coventry School of Art and then at the

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 ...

. A travelling scholarship enabled Balmer to further her studies in France and Spain during 1951 and 1952. She also visited Italy with a group led by

Douglas Percy Bliss Douglas Percy Bliss (28 January 1900 – 11 March 1984; Urdu: ڈگلس پرسی بلیس) was a Scottish painter and art conservationist. Bliss's family was of Northamptonshire, England. His grandfather moved to Moray, Scotland. Bliss himse ...

. From 1970 to 1980, Balmer was a visiting lecturer at

Gray's School of Art ''Gray's Anatomy'' is a reference book of human anatomy written by Henry Gray, illustrated by Henry Vandyke Carter and first published in London in 1858. It has had multiple revised editions, and the current edition, the 42nd (October 202 ...

in Aberdeen. Seven of her paintings were adapted as dust jackets for editions in the

Virago A virago is a woman who demonstrates abundant masculine virtues. The word comes from the Latin word ''virāgō'' (genitive virāginis) meaning "vigorous maiden" from ''vir'' meaning "man" or "man-like" (cf. virile and virtue) to which the suffi ...

Modern Classics series. A large mural by Balmer is situated in

Cumbernauld Cumbernauld (; ) is a large town in the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, most-populous locality in Scotl ...

Town Hall. Balmer had a solo exhibition at the Aberdeen Art Gallery during 1995 and 1996. She was a regular exhibitor at 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 ...

, 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 ...

and 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 also with the Glasgow Group and regularly at the Richard Demarco Gallery in Edinburgh, where she had a solo show in 1970. Balmer's portrait of Demarco is in 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 ...

and several other public galleries hold examples of her work. A retrospective exhibition of her work was held at the

Aberdeen Art Gallery Aberdeen Art Gallery is the main visual arts exhibition space in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1884 in a building designed by Alexander Marshall Mackenzie, with a sculpture court added in 1905. In 1900, it received the art ...

and toured to venues in Dundee, Lincoln and Coventry. Balmer lived and worked at various times in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and most recently in Stamford in Lincolnshire. A working visit to

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

was an annual event. She was married, for some 65 years, to the artist and designer George Mackie and the couple had two daughters.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balmer, Barbara 1929 births 2017 deaths 20th-century Scottish painters 21st-century Scottish painters 21st-century Scottish women artists Academics of Robert Gordon University Alumni of Coventry School of Art and Design Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art Artists from Birmingham, West Midlands Royal Scottish Academicians 20th-century Scottish women painters 21st-century British women painters 21st-century British painters