Donald Smith
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Overview
Born in rural Lewis in 1926, Donald Smith is an intriguing hidden figure of Scottish art. He spent much of his career teaching in schools, where one of his young pupils was Arthur Watson, Past President of the Royal Scottish Academy: 'it was Donald Smith who guided our first steps and when, decades later, I saw his paintings and was delighted that they more than measured up to the man and the impression he had made on my younger self'.
Responding to the enormous social and cultural shifts in post-war Europe and America, he was an outward looking artist with an internationalist perspective, a Gael with one foot in the culture of mainland Scotland, and one in the Outer Hebrides. During his education at Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen in the early 1950s, Ian Fleming considered him to be the outstanding student of his year.
He developed an ambitious personal creative agenda, producing large-scale compositions based on the lives of island people. In 1962, Donald Smith moved from teaching at Aberdeen Grammar School to become head of the Art Department at Summerhill Academy in Aberdeen. The family moved to Balmedie, a location that brought him close to working fishermen. During that period Donald Smith exhibited a number of works in Edinburgh at the Royal Scottish Academy and at the Society of Scottish artists.
Having moved back to Lewis in 1974, he continued to contribute to the community through education and local organisations as well as continuing on as a crofter - remaining directly in touch with his subject matter as an artist. Donald Smith passed away on the island in 2014.
A commemorative exhibition, 'Islander: the Paintings of Donald Smith' was held at the City Arts Centre in 2021. The first major exhibition of his work, this landmark display has been created in partnership with An Lanntair, Stornoway and is part of Edinburgh Art Festival 2021.
Photo Copyright: The Artist's Estate.
Haystacks, 1994
1994 : Dimensions: 26 x 34cm : Framed: 38 x 46cm Part of the Hulabhaig Collection.
Haystacks (detail)
1994 : Dimensions: 26 x 34cm : Framed: 38 x 46cm
Haystacks (mount)
1994 : Dimensions: 26 x 34cm : Framed: 38 x 46cm
Cruinneachadh Hulabhaig
Artwork included the Hulabhaig Collection of Island Contemporaray Art
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Haystacks
199426 x 34cm
38 x 46cm framed
Artworks for Sale.
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Artist Biography
‘The outstanding student of his year. He is unquestionably a man of great ability as an artist”
Ian Fleming, Principal of Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen in the late 1950s.
1924 - Smith family moved from Shawbost to Newvalley, just outside Stornoway
1926 - Donald John Smith, second youngest of nine surviving children born
1942 - Leaves school with qualifications including Art
1944 - begins National Service - Army
1945-46 - India, Singapore.
1949 - 54 - Diploma and Post-Diploma, Grays School of Art, Aberdeen
1955 - Itinerant Teacher of Art, Lewis rural schools. Exhibitions in Aberdeen and Stornoway. Portraits of Mackie family and guests including James Robertson Justice
1958 - RSA Exhibition
1959 - Aberdeen Artists; Adelphi Group
1962 - Appointed Principal Teacher of Art, Summerhill School, Aberdeen.
1962 - SSA, Edinburgh
1964 - Exhibitions include RSA, Aberdeen Artists, and the Deeside Gallery.
1967 - RSA – work purchased by Nuffield Foundation
1972-2008 - Series of exhibitions including Morven Gallery, An Lanntair, Kingussie and others.
1989 - As an Fearann – Touring Exhibition – UK & Canada
2011 - Window to the West, Edinburgh City Art Centre
2021 - CIty Art Center, Edinburgh. Na dealbhan aig Dòmhnall Mac a’ Ghobhainn / Islander: The Paintings of Donald Smith