Iain Macnab of Barachastlain (21 October 1890 – 24 December 1967) was a Scottish wood-engraver and

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

. As a prominent teacher he was influential in the development of the British school of wood-engraving. His pictures are noted for clarity of form and composition. His concepts of the sense of motion which could be created by the shape of repetitive parallel lines were of profound influence, in particular in relation to the art of linocut – an art form which both he and Claude Flight pioneered at the

Grosvenor School of Modern Art The Grosvenor School of Modern Art was a private British art school and, in its shortened form ("Grosvenor School"), the name of a brief British-Australian art movement. It was founded in 1925 by the Scottish wood engraver Iain Macnab in his h ...

where with the teachers included Cyril Power and

Sybil Andrews Sybil Andrews (19 April 1898 – 21 December 1992) was an English-Canadian artist who specialised in printmaking and is best known for her modernist linocuts. Life in England Born in 1898 in Bury St Edmunds, Andrews was unable to go straight t ...

. His work was shown in the British pavilion at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

of 1930.

Early life

Iain Macnab was born in

Iloilo Iloilo ( ; ), officially the Province of Iloilo (; ; ; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital and largest city is Iloilo City, the regional center of Western Visayas and politically independen ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

on 21 October 1890 to Scottish parents, the son of John Macnab of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank. The family moved to Scotland when he was young. Macnab served in France in the

First World War 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 ...

as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's) is a light infantry company (military unit), company (designated as Balaklava Company, 5th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland) and was a line infantry regiment of the British Army tha ...

. He was severely wounded as a machine-gun officer, invalided out and spent two years in bed recovering from his wounds. He rejoined the military in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, despite his age, and became a

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off or P/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Pilot officer is the lowest ran ...

in the

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF) in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force ( ...

. He was again wounded and invalided twice, in 1942 and 1945. He married the dancer Helen Wingrave.

Education

Macnab was educated at

Merchiston Castle School Merchiston Castle School is an independent boarding school for boys in the suburb of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has around 470 pupils and is open to boys between the ages of 7 and 18 as either boarding or day pupils; it was modelled ...

in Edinburgh before studying at

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; ) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and design. These are all awa ...

and then at Heatherley’s in 1918. From 1919 to 1925 he was principal of Heatherley’s School of Art. In 1925 he became the founding principal of the

. Macnab was hereditary armourer and standard bearer to the Macnab of Macnab. Macnab died in London on 24 December 1967. His younger sister Chica Macnab was also an artist.

Published works

* Reprinted 1973, Norwood Editions, USA * Revised second edition 1940 * Reprinted 1947 * Wood-engravings by Iain Macnab *

Public collections

Works by Macnab are in the following public collections: *

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

* Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow *

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

, London *

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street in Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University ...

, Oxford *

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...

, Cambridge *

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

* UK Government Art Collection *Government of Canada *Government of New Zealand

Arts organisations

Macnab was a member of the following arts organisations: *

Royal Institute of Oil Painters The Royal Institute of Oil Painters, also known as ROI, is an association of painters in London, England, and is the only major art society which features work done only in oil. It is a member society of the Federation of British Artists. Histor ...

, president (at his death in 1967) * Imperial Arts League, chairman * National Society of Painters, Sculptors and Engravers, fellow *

Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE), known until 1991 as the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, is a leading art institution based in London, England. The Royal Society of Painter-Etchers, as it was originally styled, was ...

, honorary auditor

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macnab, Iain 1967 deaths 1890 births 20th-century Scottish painters 20th-century British engravers Alumni of the Heatherley School of Fine Art British illustrators British modern painters People educated at Merchiston Castle School Artists from Iloilo Scottish engravers Scottish male painters Scottish wood engravers Sibling artists British Army personnel of World War I Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders officers Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Royal Air Force officers 20th-century Scottish male artists Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art

Early life

Education

Published works

Public collections

Arts organisations

Further reading

References