Dr Thomas Elder Dickson PSSA

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(26 August 1899 – 31 March 1978) was a Scottish artist operational through the 20th century. He was also Vice-Principal of 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 ...

from 1947 to 1968. He was President of the

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 ...

1946 to 1950.

Life

He was born on 26 August 1899. He attended

Barrhead High School Barrhead High School is a secondary school in Barrhead, East Renfrewshire. It was established in 1967. Fiona Johnston is the current headmistress, appointed in 2020. The school underwent a £30 million refurbishment in 2017 so the school is now ...

. In 1916, during 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 ...

he joined the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

(later the RAF). After the war he attended the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

graduating with an MA. Moving to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

he gained a PhD in 1936 from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

in 1940. His proposers were

James Drever James Drever FRSE (29 January 1910 – 5 November 1991) was a Scottish academic who served as the first Principal of the University of Dundee. He has been described as 'one of the most pivotal figures in the university's history'. Early life ...

, Robert Grant,

Alexander Craig Aitken Alexander Craig "Alec" Aitken (1 April 1895 – 3 November 1967) was one of New Zealand's most eminent mathematicians. In a 1935 paper he introduced the concept of generalized least squares, along with now standard vector/matrix notation ...

, and

John Derg Sutherland John Derg Sutherland (23 April 1905 – 14 June 1991), also known as Jock Sutherland, was a Scottish physician, psychoanalyst and theorist, notable also for his role as Medical Director of the Tavistock Clinic. Life and career John "Jock" Derg Su ...

. He died on 31 March 1978.Scotsman (newspaper): obituaries 1 April 1978

Publications

*''An Introduction to Colour'' (1932) *'' W. G. Gillies'' (1974)

Family

He married Nessie Bell Stewart in 1928.

References

1899 births 1978 deaths Scottish landscape artists Alumni of the University of Glasgow 20th-century Scottish painters Scottish male painters Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 20th-century Scottish male artists {{UK-painter-19thC-stub