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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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