Colin Gibson (5 November 1907 – 7 April 1998) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

painter, born in

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. He won the

Guthrie Award The Guthrie Award is awarded annually with few exceptions to at most two recipients by the Royal Scottish Academy and is one of the most prestigious art awards in Scotland. It is named after the artist James Guthrie. Foundation of award The awar ...

in 1943 with his work, the painting ''Lisbeth''. Lisbeth was the name of his wife. He was also a noted journalist, writing largely about nature and also his local Angus area.

Life

Colin Gibson was born in 1907. His parents were Colin Gibson, a missionary, and Euphemia Sophia Axworthy (1879 - 8 February 1954). They had married in 1903 in Arbroath. They had two sons Colin, and his elder brother William Axworthy Gibson (1904 - 1979). He was Art medallist at Arbroath High School. While still at High School he wrote nature notes for the Arbroath Guide and drew football cartoons for the Arbroath Herald. He worked in journalism, writing for the People's Friend and wrote nature diaries in the Dundee Courier. Gibson loved nature and visited the island of

Rona Rona, RONA or Róna may refer to: Places *Rona (Kristiansand), a neighbourhood in Kristiansand, Norway * Rona (river), a river in Maramureș County, Romania * Rona, Bellevue Hill, a historic house in the Sydney suburb of Bellevue Hill * Rona, Swi ...

, near Skye in 1933–34 to study the flora and fauna. He married Elizabeth Jarvis Lawrence (1911 - 1990) on 6 July 1938, known as Lisbeth.

Art

He went to

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 ...

and studied there from 1925 to 1929. He won two travelling scholarships at the School and went to Italy then Spain. His paintings of Venice are considered noteworthy. Gibson first exhibited 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 ...

when he was staying at Lynash in Arbroath. In 1935 he submitted two works:- ''The Mountain Blaaven, Skye''; and the ''Premlinary Sketch For Panel In The Rowett Agricultural Research Institute, Aberdeen''.The Royal Scottish Academy Exhibitors 1826 - 1990. Charles Baile de Laperriere. Hilmarton Manor Press. 1991. He moved to Monifieth and in 1941 he submitted two works to the RSA:- ''Arbilot Mill''; and ''Dalbrack, Glenesk, In Spring''. In 1942 that increased to five works:- ''Lisbeth''; ''Pensive Girl''; ''Girl Seated With Hand Poised''; ''Still Life''; and ''My Love Is Young!''. In 1943 he submitted six works to RSA:- another portrait ''Lisbeth''; ''L'Allegra''; ''Itinerant''; ''Girl, Seated Reading A Book''; ''Artist At Work''; ''Figure Studies - Red Chalk''. This paid off with the RSA giving him the joint

alongside

Alberto Morrocco Alberto Morrocco (14 December 1917 – 10 March 1998) was a Scottish artist and teacher. He is famous for his works featuring landscapes of Scotland and abroad, still-life, figure painting and interiors, but perhaps his best known works are hi ...

. Six works was his high point, but he continued exhibiting work at the RSA. His last year to do so was in 1948:- ''Young Model''; ''Women Disrobing''; and ''Woman In White''. In 1969 the Earl of Strathmore asked Gibson to paint the then Prince Charles' favourite fishing spot on the River Dee. The work is now part of the Royal Collection.

Death

He died on 7 April 1998 in Arbroath. He is buried in the Western Cemetery in Arbroath. In 2017, the colour sketches that Gibson did from the isle of Rona were turned into island stamps; his sketches of Dry Harbour, Church Cave and the cliffs seen in rough weather from Dry Harbour were all turned into local issue stamps.

Works

Dundee's Barrack Street museum hosted a retrospective exhibition of his work in 1988. Gibson's work should not be confused with that of the Belfast painter Colin Gibson, notable for paintings of Northern Ireland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Colin 1907 births 1998 deaths Scottish male painters Guthrie Award winners Alumni of Gray's School of Art