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THE MICHIE FAMILY

THE MICHIE FAMILY
4 – 30 JUNE 2012
16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZ
Tel 0131 558 1200 Email mail@scottish-gallery.co.uk
Web www.scottish-gallery.co.uk
Front cover: David Michie, At the Harbour, Granton, 1953, oil on canvas, 56 x 69 cms
Inside covers: James Michie, Bristol Construction Site, 1955, pencil, 66 x 85 cms

foreword
It is not uncommon for some artistic talent to pass onto the next generation and for a number of siblings and children
to pursue a similar creative pathway. Anne Redpath is recognized as one of the greatest painters of her generation; her
reputation grew beyond the confines of Scotland in her lifetime and continues to grow. Two of her sons, David and Alastair
have pursued careers in painting, although quite separately. They both used their own family name, Michie, that came
from their father James and for many it will be his group of paintings which provides the surprise in this family exhibition.
He was an architect/peintre who perhaps suffered as a painter because of his chosen profession as an architect. Architecture
has long been accepted as a pillar equal to painting in the academies of the arts but professional duties and affiliations put a
restraint on the architect’s ability to be accepted as a painter beyond the expectation of competence. For James Michie the
burgeoning talent of his wife may have put a further barrier in the way of a full flowering of his own ability. Diffidence, a lack
of hard work, jealousies and an absence of self-belief have undermined many potentially successful careers and sometimes
the furnace of one man’s genius can consume the lesser abilities of his immediate family. For the Michie boys painting was
not a family business (in the sense of the Renaissance family atelier) but two individuals combining natural talents with
a steely determination to pursue their own star. For Lindsay, the middle son, different, practical gifts launched him on a
business career with GEC which many would consider as equally ‘successful’ as the mercurial Alastair or David, prospering
at Edinburgh College of Art. Some will look at this exhibition and see family likenesses in approach to painting. All will have
a glimpse of family life, with the inclusion of one piece of Redpath-adorned furniture, and truly their mother’s personality
expressed large in her work and her home must have been somehow formative on the children.
Guy Peploe
Lindsay, David and Alastair at Eyemouth c.1940; Michie boys and
friends at Chateau Gloria c.1932; Anne in St Omer 1921; Alastair;
James in Uniform c.1914; David; Anne at Edinburgh College of
Art c.1915; Anne Redpath
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James Beattie Michie
(1891–1960)
Though born in Inverness, James Michie was from a family firmly based in Hawick. He attended school there, and thereafter
was apprenticed to an architectural practice, Alan Hopkirk, in that town. My father joined the army in 1914 when war broke
out and served in the Royal Scots Regiment. Several years were spent on the Western Front, and he was then despatched to
India, serving in the 54th Sikh Regiment.
Married in 1920 to Anne Redpath, he was apprenticed that year to the War Graves Commission, and joined other,
mainly young, architects under the direction of Edwin Lutyens, tasked in the design and layout of the many war cemeteries,
big and small, that were spread about in the north-east corner of France. My father’s interest in painting can be seen
developing at that time, and the landscape, often featuring a windmill, became a subject of attraction. An interest in painting
remained throughout his life. This was not particularly unusual for an architect. Charles Rennie Mackintosh and others have
shown much skill and achievement in painting.
Moving to the south of France in the late 20’s, my father became a private architect to a wealthy American, Charles
Thompson, who had bought a large villa, he named Chateau Gloria, at St Jean on Cap Ferrat, adjacent to Villefranche.
He carried out a number of projects – a loggia, a swimming pool in the large garden of the estate, and other projects within
the chateau. In 1931 he was commissioned to paint two murals in the Chapelle St Roseline at a Carthusian Monastery,
Chartreuse Notre-Dame de Montrieux, situated in wooded country about 30 kilometres north of Toulon.
Thompson lost much of his wealth during the years following the 1929 crash and in 1934 he sold the chateau,
returning to America, and the Michie family moved back to Hawick. Employment prospects at this time were bleak, but
my father was fortunate to be appointed to a prominent architecture practice, Charles Holden and Partners, in London.
When war broke out in 1939, he volunteered to join the army and was placed in the Gloucestershire Regiment and, no doubt
because of his Scottish background, was appointed as requisitioning officer for the Borders. He spent the war years based
in Galashiels, attending to the needs of the thousands of soldiers who required billeting in the Borders region. He had time
to make paintings, surprisingly. After the war he was appointed as a lecturer at the West of England School of Architecture
in Bristol. He balanced his time teaching architecture to his students and making paintings, and held exhibitions there.
It was a varied life with different experiences. Making paintings was a constant thread.
David Michie
April 2012
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Borders Landscape, c.1944
watercolour on paper laid on board, 44 x 53 cms
5

Landscape, Northern France
oil on canvas, 43 x 58 cms
6

Bristol Construction Site, 1955
pencil, 66 x 85 cms
7

Two Figures
oil on canvas, 61 x 61 cms
8

Still Life with Chinese Figures
oil on canvas, 64 x 73 cms
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anne redpath
(1895–1965) OBE, RSA, ARA, RWA
Anne Redpath was born on the 29th of March, 1895 in Galashiels in the heart of the Scottish Borders. Her father Thomas
Redpath was a celebrated tweed designer who was recognised both as an innovator and exceptional colourist. It was not just
an eye for colour that Anne inherited from her father, but a focus and professionalism to her craft which was to drive her
throughout her life. One of four children, Anne attended Hawick High School where her artistic talent was spotted by the
art teacher John Gray (later to be president of the Royal Society for Painters in Watercolour).
Anne arrived at Edinburgh College of Art in 1913, although she had to simultaneously attend a teacher training
course at Moray House to keep her father happy. Graduating with a diploma in 1918, she was also awarded a year’s postgraduate
study followed by a travelling scholarship the following year. She visited Brussels, Bruges, Paris, Florence and most
importantly, Sienna. Her encounter with the Siennese Primitives was to impress her greatly. It was their simplification of
form partnered with a powerful vision that had most resonance with her, and their influence is seen in her landscapes of the
1920s and 30s as well as work from the end of her life. On her return from her travels Anne was engaged to James Michie,
a young architect also from the Borders. They married in 1920 and almost immediately moved to St Omer in Northern
France, where James was working for the War Graves Commission. It was in St Omer where the first two Michie sons were
born. She did have a small exhibition in St Omer in 1921 (and again in St. Raphael in 1928) but at this stage Anne’s painting
took a back seat, her priorities were with her young family. They had moved again at this point to St. Jean, Cap Ferrat near
Nice. Although painting was not her first priority at this time, her drive as an artist was by no means diminished. In her own
words:
‘Young women often come up to me and say: “I am going to be like you and give up everything for painting”, but
that’s not how I see it at all. I could never have sacrificed my family to painting, and I don’t think anyone else should either…
I put everything I had into house and furniture and dresses and good food and people. All that’s the same sort of thing as
painting really, and the experience went back into art when I began painting again.’
When she returned to Hawick in 1934 the landscape of her childhood offered much inspiration; winter light,
bare trees and swollen rivers of The Borders. In her studio she painted a few memorable figure compositions including
touching family portraits, three of which feature in this exhibition. Increasingly, tabletop still lifes became a favourite subject
and were to make her reputation, (and as James had moved to London in search of work) her livelihood. Her palette during
the 1930s was at first muted and there is both a delicacy in application and mastery of pale tones and areas of jewel-like
colour. Her landscapes, painted in the studio are a distillation of experience; her choice of what to include and exclude in
her design part of her character as a picture maker.
In the 1950s and until her death in 1965 she travelled extensively (often with her sons in tow!), which hugely
enriched the scope of her subject matter. She always brought back exotic objects for the studio and sketchbooks full of
material for her oils. Her first trip back to the continent was in 1949, and again in 1950. She travelled to Spain in the spring
of 1951 with her friend Bill Garrad. The harsh landscape and stark light of the Spanish countryside astounded her, and was
very different from the warm, gentleness of the South of France. It engendered a change which was to affect her practice
for the last years of her life;
‘If one painted nothing but still-life one would fall into the narrow range of one’s own natural selection. To go to
Spain and find dark grey skies and white villages; to Italy and find that the sky is more violet than blue; to Corsica and find
violets and scarlets on the hillsides; all this enlarges one’s range of colour and responsiveness.’
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Like most of the edinburgh School painters she divided her output between oil and working on paper, valuing each
the same. Latterly in her flowers, townscapes and church interiors her treatment of the canvas became more abstract as she
abandoned traditional spatial composition. Her technique developed also, employing the palette knife as much as the brush
and using rich and brilliant colour.
redpath was an inspirational person and formed many enduring friendships. Her flat in London Street became an
artistic salon, immortalised by robin Philipson’s affectionate group portrait now in The Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
Since her death her reputation has been further enhanced with retrospectives including an exhibition at The Scottish
National Gallery of Modern Art in 1996. She was a woman devoted to her family as well as her art. This exhibition features
early Borders landscapes, sparse and immediate, as well as later works: still lifes rich in colour and texture reminding us of
the breadth of her artistic ability. There is youthful sense of enquiry throughout her work and a delight in her subject matter
which is individual and always vivacious.
Portrait of David as a baby
pastel on paper, 29 cms diameter
11

The White Azalea
oil on canvas, 51 x 76 cms
12

Menton
gouache, 53 x 38 cms
13

Spring Trees
gouache, 35 x 48 cms
14

Borders River
gouache, 35.5 x 50.5 cms
15

Corsican Village
lithograph, 22 x 30 cms
16

Church from the Window
pen & watercolour, 50 x 40 cms
17

Jug with Fruit (blue & red)
lithograph, 28 x 45 cms
18

Flowers in a Teapot
ink & watercolour, 24.5 x 32.5 cms
19

Summer Flowers in a Green Vase
oil, 46 x 35.5 cms
20

White Geraniums, 1962
oil on board, 51 x 61 cms
21

Street in Menton – A Spanish Street
gouache, 37 x 45.5 cms
22

The Angel Gabriel from the Chapel of St Jean, Treboul
gouache, 36 x 27.5 cms
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Alastair Michie
(1921–2008) RWA, FRBS
The oldest of the Michie boys Alastair was born in St. Omer, France in 1921 attending French schools until the age of 12.
When the family moved back to the Borders he continued his schooling in Hawick. After gaining a scholarship to Edinburgh
College of Art he followed in his father’s footsteps and studied architecture. While at university he enlisted in the University
Air Squadron and at the outbreak of War he travelled to Florida to begin his training. Miraculously Alastair survived the
War having served with distinction as a night fighter pilot over German lines. When the War ended he was reluctant to
return to another three years of study and decided to apply his talent as a draughtsman to the art of illustration. He became
an extremely successful fashion illustrator and designer, eventually gaining international recognition. It was at this stage that
Alastair moved from London to Wareham in Dorset, where he would remain for the rest of his life.
In 1963 Alastair and his mother made a trip to Venice which was to dramatically change his direction as an artist.
At the Biennale he saw firsthand the abstract expressionist works brought over from New York. The sheer scale and energy of
Mark Rothko, Franz Kline and Robert Motherwell were critical in his decision to become a painter and elicited a desire to
paint in a way that the example set by his mother had not. Alastair met Mark Rothko after his friend John Plumb’s exhibition
opening at the Axiom Gallery in London a few years later. It was an encounter that confirmed his belief that abstraction was
a vehicle for universal human emotion. Although now into his 40s this experience engendered a drastic change in his artistic
direction and triggered a desire to become a painter full time (much to the surprise of his family!). Alastair always distanced
himself from his mother’s influence, proclaiming: “my mother’s work did not influence me”. However it is not farfetched to
see, Anne Redpath’s feeling for colour and texture is evident in her son’s mature work.
Alastair’s work whether painting or sculpture was always influenced by his own experience and environment.
His work in both disciplines was always closely linked to the landscape and Jurassic coastline of his beloved Dorset. Images
of land and sea viewed from above inspired him and his work Target from 2004, shows clearly the influence of his wartime
experiences. Local beaches also proved to be a rich source of inspiration. On a first trip to Studland beach he discovered
jagged pieces of metal, shrapnel and unexploded shells which were to inspire his striking series of sculptures he called
Shrapnel. Endeavour, a 15 foot bronze commissioned by British Aerospace in Bristol is a mixture of organic and mechanic
form: its dynamic shape evokes the striking silhouette of a fighter’s tailplane. A smaller version is available in this exhibition.
Since ideas of structure and design ran parallel with more evocative and poetic ideas in his work, Alastair’s decision
to sculpt seemed a natural progression. However it is for painting that Alastair is better known. His first exhibition was
put on in Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre in 1964 and featured richly coloured and textured acrylics (see Ammonite opposite)
related to the American painters he admired. He enjoyed a major solo exhibition in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1972 and the art
museums both in Sao Paulo and Rio acquired his work for their permanent collections. In 1979 there was a major exhibition
of his sculpture at the Alwin Gallery, London.
In 1982 he became a Royal West of England Academician and a fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors in
1994. He enjoyed a solo exhibition at the Mall Gallery in 1996 and another with Archeus Fine Art in 2000. In 2007 he was
awarded an honorary doctorate from Bournemouth University.
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Ammonite, c.1962
mixed media on canvas, 100 x 120 cms
25

Cool, c.2006
mixed media on canvas, 142 x 142 cms
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Endeavour, 1989
bronze, edition 4/5, 20 cms height x 17 cms width
African Head of a Girl, c.1960
cast aluminium, edition 2/5, 19 cms height
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Fathom, c.1992
acrylic on board, 56 x 102 cms
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Solo, c.2008
acrylic on board, 50 x 60 cms
29

Paper Roses, c.1987
acrylic on board, 57 x 71 cms
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Margins XXI, c.2002
acrylic on board, 90 x 70 cms
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Fishing Boats Chioggia, c. 1967
mixed media on board, 24 x 21 cms
32

Fashion Drawing I
pastel, 53 x 30 cms
Fashion Drawing II
mixed media, 53 x 40 cms
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Fashion Drawing III
mixed media, 46 x 40 cms
Fashion Drawing IV
mixed media, 49 x 40 cms
Fashion Drawing VI
mixed media, 39 x 33 cms
Fashion Drawing VII
mixed media, 54 x 39 cms
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Fashion Drawing XIII
mixed media, 66 x 44 cms
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david Michie
(b.1928) OBE, RSA, FRSA
The youngest of the Michie boys, David was born in St. Raphael in 1928. He studied at Edinburgh College of Art from
1947–53 under the painter, William Gillies. He was awarded a travelling scholarship upon graduating and travelled to Italy
in 1953 with fellow painter and friend John Houston. On returning to Edinburgh he took up a post at the College of Art,
becoming Head of Drawing and Painting from 1982–90.
David’s first years immersed in the light and sun soaked landscape of the South of France were to have a lasting effect
on him. Not only did it give him awareness of colour, but it gave him a taste for a life outside Scotland that was to inspire a
love for travel he has kept throughout his life. On returning to Hawick at the age of eight he was placed in a landscape of a
different sort, but the vistas of the Lammermuirs, fields and woods around Hawick did not fascinate him in the same way
they captured his mother. David’s gaze was more focused, enticed by the smaller aspects of the natural world; a dragon fly
skimming across a pond’s surface.
David’s lack of interest in conventional landscape painting led him to create a visual language completely unique.
Not constricted by academic drawing, his compositions of flora and fauna are simplified in form and often float in an
ambiguous space of flattened colour and pattern as in Seed Pods and Cosmos. The world that the artist describes is abundant
and diverse and appeals directly to our senses. His figure subjects, (images often inspired by foreign travel) which can feature
subjects as diverse as jazz musicians, skateboarders or fisherman, are all perfect snapshots of the bizarre natural drama of
human experience. His most recent works focus on the theme of Midnight Tango, and are made with the same wit, strong
colour and harmonious design which David Michie has become renowned for.
David followed in his mother’s footsteps choosing to live in Edinburgh and become a prominent member of the
second generation of The Edinburgh School. Along with his friends and contemporaries Elizabeth Blackadder and John
Houston, Michie’s contribution to Scottish painting is as an original image maker but also as a painter who believes in
painting; a serious pursuit but one also which can give great pleasure.
The 17 works in this exhibition offers a modest review of David’s career and includes two early Edinburgh cityscapes;
letting us wonder again at the originality of the artist and see the world though his eyes.
He is an elected member of the Royal Scottish Academy, The Royal Glasgow Institute and past President of the
Society of Scottish Artists. He was awarded an OBE in 1997. His paintings are held in the collection of H.M. The Queen,
The Scottish Arts Council, The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and other major public collections of Scottish art.
36

At the Harbour, Granton, 1953
oil on canvas, 56 x 69 cms
37

By the Bridge, Leith, 1953
oil on canvas, 69 x 56 cms
38

Rosemount Building, Gardners Crescent, 1964
oil on canvas, 86 x 112 cms
39

Skunk Cabbage Flowers – Arduaine, 1986
oil on canvas, 91.5 x 127 cms
40

Convolvulus Hawkmoth at a Flower, 1995
oil on canvas, 38 x 38 cms
41

Seed Pods and Cosmos, 2010
oil on canvas, 86 x 86 cms
42

Damsel Fly on a Leaf, 1995
oil on canvas, 38 x 38 cms
43

Trumpet Player at Cork, 1996
oil on canvas, 38 x 38 cms
44

George Melly at the Festival Theatre, 1998
oil on canvas, 38 x 38 cms
45

Bending over Backwards, 2011
oil on board, 20 x 20 cms
Brief Encounter, 2011
oil on board, 20 x 20 cms
46

Dancing in the Bar Room, 2011
oil on board, 20 x 20 cms
Kicking Out, 2011
oil on board, 20 x 20 cms
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Published by The Scottish Gallery to coincide with the exhibition
the MICHIE FAMILY
4 – 30 JUNE 2012
Exhibition can be viewed online at www.scottish-gallery.co.uk/themichiefamily
Our warm thanks to all the Michie family for making the exhibition possible.
ISBN 978-1-905146-67-3
Designed by www.kennethgray.co.uk
Photography by William Van Esland Photography
Printed by J Thomson Colour Printers
All rights reserved. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced in any form by
print, photocopy or by any other means, without the permission of the copyright
holders and of the publishers.
16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZ
Tel 0131 558 1200 Email mail@scottish-gallery.co.uk
Web www.scottish-gallery.co.uk
Back cover: Anne Redpath, Borders Landscape, gouache, 51 x 35.5 cms
48