James Douglas Charlton Edgar (22 May 1903 – 12 October 1976) was a New Zealand art teacher, artist and art gallery director. Edgar was born in

Brantford Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully indep ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, on 22 May 1903. He received his art education 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 ...

. He and his wife emigrated to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

in New Zealand for him to teach at the Dunedin School of Art at

King Edward Technical College King Edward Technical College is a former technical college in Dunedin, New Zealand. The college was established in 1889 as the Dunedin Technical School when the Caledonian Society of Otago instigated Night school, night education classes. B ...

. Edgar was director of the

Dunedin Public Art Gallery The Dunedin Public Art Gallery holds the main public art collection of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Located in The Octagon in the heart of the city, it is close to the city's public library, Dunedin Town Hall, and other facilities such as ...

from 1965 until his retirement in 1971. In the

1976 Queen's Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1976 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were published on 4 June 1976 for ...

, he was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, for services to art. Edgar died a few months later on 12 October 1976, aged 73, in Dunedin.

References

1903 births 1976 deaths Artists from Ontario New Zealand artists New Zealand art educators People from Brantford Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire Canadian emigrants to New Zealand {{NewZealand-artist-stub