Robert Henderson Blyth (21 May 1919 – 18 May 1970) was a Scottish landscape painter and artist.

Life and work

Blyth was born in the Newlands area of Glasgow and studied at the

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 ...

from 1934 to 1939. Blyth joined the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...

in 1941 and served with them until the end of the Second World War. During the war Blyth continued to paint and sketch, whilst on active service in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Four paintings from this period were acquired by the

War Artists' Advisory Committee The War Artists' Advisory Committee (WAAC), was a British government agency established within the Ministry of Information at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 and headed by Sir Kenneth Clark. Its aim was to compile a comprehensive artis ...

. Towards the end of the conflict Blyth's unit, 157 Ambulance, was based in Hamburg much of which had been devastated by RAF bombing raids in 1943. Blyth used the background of a destroyed city in his most famous painting, ''In the Image of Man''. Painted after the war ended the painting's title parodies the Judeo-Christian concept of man made in the image of God and shows a city in ruins behind a bomb damaged crucifix. In 1945 Blyth won the Guthrie Award from 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 ...

. In 1946 he painted ''Existence Precarious'', a self-portrait as a soldier in a trench, which is now in the

National Gallery of Scotland The National (formerly the Scottish National Gallery) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by William Henry Playfa ...

. Also in 1946 he began teaching at the

Edinburgh School 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 ...

and became an artist in residence at

Hospitalfield House Hospitalfield House is an arts centre and historic house in Arbroath, Angus, Scotland, regarded as "one of the finest country houses in Scotland". It is believed to be "Scotland's first school of fine art" and the first art college in Britain. It ...

. In 1954 he moved to Aberdeen to take a post at

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 ...

, where he became head of drawing in 1960, a post he maintained until his death in 1970. The

Scottish Arts Council The Scottish Arts Council (), was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from the Scottish Government as well as National Lottery funds ...

organised a memorial exhibition to Blyth which toured Scotland during 1972.

Memberships

* Associate

, 1949 * Member

Society of Scottish Artists The Society of Scottish Artists is a Scottish artist-run organisation which seeks to ''promote and encourage experimentation and the "adventurous spirit" in Scottish art.'' It was founded in 1891 by Patrick Geddes, William Gordon Burn Murdoch and ...

, 1949 * Member

Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW) is a Scottish art society established in 1878. The current patron is Charles III. It is a registered charity based in Glasgow and holds an annual exhibition. The first preliminary meeting ...

, 1949, * Member

, 1958.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blyth, Robert Henderson 1919 births 1970 deaths 20th-century Scottish male artists 20th-century Scottish painters Academics of Robert Gordon University Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art Artists from Glasgow British Army personnel of World War II People from Newlands Royal Army Medical Corps soldiers Royal Scottish Academicians Scottish male painters World War II artists 20th-century British war artists Guthrie Award winners