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 Gray's School of Art is the Robert Gordon University's art school, located in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is one of the oldest established fine art institutions in Scotland and one of Scotland's five art schools today, and ranked among the Top 20 S ...

in Aberdeen.

Biography

Sutherland was born in

Wick, Caithness Wick ( gd, Inbhir Ùige (IPA: �inivɪɾʲˈuːkʲə, sco, Week) is a town and royal burgh in Caithness, in the far north of Scotland. The town straddles the River Wick and extends along both sides of Wick Bay. "Wick Locality" had a population o ...

in 1883 and began to study law but moved to Edinburgh to work as an apprentice in a lithographic business. He left that post to study at the

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

(RSA), under Charles Mackie, and 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 ...

. Sutherland was awarded the RSA Carnegie Travelling Scholarship in 1911 and travelled to Spain, France and the Netherlands. A year later he joined with Alick Riddell Sturrock, John Guthrie Spence Smith, William Mervyn Glass, Eric Robertson,

William Oliphant Hutchison Sir William Oliphant Hutchison LLD PRSA (2 July 1889 – 5 February 1970) was a Scottish portrait and landscape painter. He was an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy, President of the Royal Scottish Academy and a member of the Royal Society ...

and later

Adam Bruce Thomson Adam Bruce Thomson Order of the British Empire, OBE, Royal Scottish Academy, RSA, Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour, PRSW (22 February 1885 – 4 December 1976) or ‘Adam B’ as he was often called at Edinburgh College of ...

to form the Edinburgh Group of young Scottish artists sharing a studio at 21 Picardy Place,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

while serving with the 16th

Royal Scots The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of Scotland. The regime ...

McCrae's Battalion McCrae's Battalion was the affectionate name given by the people of Edinburgh to the 16th (Service) Battalion of the Royal Scots in World War I, raised from volunteers in 1914 as part of the Kitchener's Army, New Armies called to the Colours by He ...

. He returned to the Edinburgh College of Art, and with Mary Newbery and

Dorothy Johnstone Dorothy Johnstone (1892–1980) was a Scottish painter and watercolourist. Life Johnstone was born in Edinburgh in 1892 and grew up in Napier Road, near the Gothic Mansion, Rockville. Her father, landscape artist George Whitton Johnstone RSA ...

ARSA (1892-1980), helped to revive the Edinburgh group. He taught the gifted students

William George Gillies Sir William George Gillies (1898–1973) 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. He had just enrolled at the Edinburgh C ...

and

William McTaggart William McTaggart (25 October 1835 – 2 April 1910) was a Scottish landscape and marine painter who was influenced by Impressionism. Life and work The son of a crofter, William McTaggart was born in the small village of Aros, near Campb ...

. In 1924 Sutherland and Dorothy Johnstone were married and they had a daughter, Anne, and a son, Sir Iain Johnstone Sutherland who had a distinguished career as a British diplomat and was an Ambassador to the Soviet Union between 1982 and 1985. David Sutherland left Edinburgh in 1933 to take up the Directorship of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), ...

, now part of Robert Gordon's University. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

he was appointed an Official War Artist recording Newfoundland lumberjacks on

Deeside Deeside ( cy, Glannau Dyfrdwy) is the name given to a predominantly industrial conurbation of towns and villages in Flintshire and Cheshire on the Wales–England border lying near the canalised stretch of the River Dee that flows from neigh ...

. He was Inspector of Arts in the Highland Division and painted the landscapes of the North West coast of Scotland including

Caithness Caithness ( gd, Gallaibh ; sco, Caitnes; non, Katanes) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Caithness has a land boundary with the historic county of Sutherland to the west and is otherwise bounded b ...

Wester Ross Wester Ross () is an area of the Northwest Highlands of Scotland in the council area of Highland. The area is loosely defined, and has never been used as a formal administrative region in its own right, but is generally regarded as lying to t ...

Plockton Plockton ( gd, Am Ploc/Ploc Loch Aillse) 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, a ...

and

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially different boundaries. The Aberdeenshire Council area incl ...

. The Sutherlands retired to east Aberdeenshire in 1948. David Sutherland is mainly known for his Scottish and Breton landscapes and portraits with many on display 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 ...

. He died in

on 20 September 1973.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutherland, David Macbeth 1883 births 1973 deaths 20th-century Scottish male artists 20th-century Scottish painters Academics of Robert Gordon University Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art Artists from Edinburgh British Army personnel of World War I McCrae's Battalion Modern painters Royal Scottish Academicians Scottish male painters Scottish watercolourists Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Scots soldiers World War II artists