Rosemary Beaton
Always expressionistic, improvisatory and bold in its use of colour Rosemary Beaton’s vibrant and energised work has become synonymous with colourful and highly personal figurative works which combine supreme draughtsmanship with an unusual and individual colour sense. The humour and odd juxtaposition of people and places is irresistible with the individual works displaying a celebration and a love of life.
She has exhibited widely in Britain and abroad and her work is represented in a variety of collections. She studied at the prestigious Glasgow School of Art. As one of ‘The Glasgow Girls’ she played a part in the resurgence of figurative painting that emerged at that time.
Culminating in becoming the first Scot and the youngest person to win the prestigious (John Player) National Portrait Award (1984); as part of this award she was commissioned to paint a portrait of Sir Robin Day OBE for The National Portrait Gallery in London.
Beaton lives and works in West Scotland.
“For me, the life drawings were always portraits. It was about getting the energy of the person, trying to get that on to the page… and I think that nowadays when I go out into the landscape it’s the same thing: trying to get the energy of the landscape on to the page.”
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