Dugald Sutherland MacColl (10 March 1859 – 21 December 1948) was a Scottish watercolour painter,

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

, lecturer and writer. He was keeper of the Tate Gallery for five years.

Life

MacColl was born in Glasgow and educated at the University of London and the University of Oxford between 1876 and 1884. He also studied at the Westminster School of Art and the Slade School under

Alphonse Legros Alphonse Legros (8 May 1837 – 8 December 1911) was a French, later British, painter, etcher, sculptor, and medallist. He moved to London in 1863 and later took British citizenship. He was important as a teacher in the British etching rev ...

between 1884 and 1892. Although an accomplished watercolourist, he is best remembered as a writer and lecturer on art. From 1890 to 1895 he was art critic for '' The Spectator'', and for the '' Saturday Review'' from 1896 to 1906. MacColl became a member of the New English Art Club in 1896, and edited the '' Architectural Review'' from 1901 to 1905. He published the authoritative book, ''Nineteenth Century Art'', in 190

and his biography ''Philip Wilson Steer'' was awarded the 1945 James Tait Black Memorial Prize. In his journalism and books he was a major advocate of the French Impressionists, and was influential in spreading their ideas and shaping public attitudes in Britain towards favouring Impressionism. From 1906 to 1911 he was keeper of the Tate Gallery and, after the retirement of Sir Claude Phillips, the Wallace Collection from 1911 to 1924. Dugald Sutherland MacColl died in 1948 in London. A Memorial Exhibition of his work was held at the Tate Gallery in 1950. His son was René MacColl, a cricketer and journalist.

Campaigns

During his career, MacColl campaigned for a number of artistically controversial causes. In 1903, in the ''Saturday Review'', he argued that the administrators of the estate of Sir Francis Chantrey, who had left the Chantrey Bequest to the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

to fund the purchase of artworks for the nation, were departing from the terms and buying mediocre works. After his subsequent book in 1904, ''Administration of the Chantrey Bequest'', a government committee initiated reforms. He also campaigned for the government to spend more on art, resulting in the founding in 1903 of the National Art Collections Fund. In the 1920s he campaigned, unsuccessfully, for the preservation of John Rennie's Waterloo Bridge. Herbert Morrison and London County Council were eventually successful in their advocacy for its demolition and replacement. Other causes included his opposition, as a member of the Royal Fine Art Commission, to the 1925 proposal to build a

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is usually located ...

under the north wall of Westminster Abbey. He was also a central figure in discussions of "Gothic" additions to Oxford colleges, and in efforts to preserve the

Foundling Hospital The Foundling Hospital in London, England, was founded in 1739 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram. It was a children's home established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children." The word "hospital" w ...

Selected publications

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Notes

References

External links

Biography at the Tate Gallery

National Portrait Gallery
Biography and works held in the NPG collection, retrieved 2 September 2006 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maccoll, Dugald Sutherland 1859 births 1948 deaths 19th-century Scottish painters 20th-century Scottish painters Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford Alumni of University College London Alumni of the Westminster School of Art Artists from Glasgow British Impressionist painters James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients People associated with the Tate galleries Scottish art critics Scottish curators Scottish male painters Scottish watercolourists 19th-century Scottish male artists 20th-century Scottish male artists