David Thomson Muirhead NEAC (1867-1930) - 1920 Watercolour Harbourside View

Description

A watercolour the well listed artist David Thomson Muirhead depicting the mast of a docked ship by a row of warehouses. The painting is signed and dated to the lower right corner. It has been painted on textured fibrous paper and laid on card. Signed and dated.

Condition

The condition is typical for a picture of this age including some age toning.

Size

23.9 x 38.6cm (9.4" x 15.2")
Sheet: 26.1 x 40.5cm (10.3" x 15.9")

Artist Biography

Landscape and figure painter born in Edinburgh, son of an architect and master builder. Muirhead studied at the Trustees' School, Edinburgh, later known as the Royal Scottish Academy Schools and at the Westminster School of Art under Fred Brown. He was a prolific exhibitor showing at the Archer Gallery, Baillie Gallery, Cooling Galleries, Chenil Gallery, Colnaghi's, Fine Art Society, Grosvenor Gallery, Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, Goupil Gallery, International Society of Sculptors, Painters & Gravers, Walker Art Gallery, Leicester Galleries, Manchester Academy of Fine Arts, New English Art Club, Royal Society of Portrait Painters, Royal Academy of Arts, Royal Society of British Artists, Royal Hibernian Academy, Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, Royal Scottish Academy, Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour, Royal Watercolour Society, Arthur Tooth & Sons, Society of Scottish Artists and at the Walker's Gallery. He was a member of the New English Art Club and elected an Associate of the Royal Watercolour Society in 1924 and the Royal Academy of Arts in 1928. He was also a member of the lesser-known Society of Twenty-Five Painters and was a founder member of the National Portrait Society in 1911. A retrospective exhibition was held at the Chenil Gallery in 1907.

He took over teaching from Augustus John at Liverpool University’s School of Art and it is known that he was sympathetic to the progressive views of his students. As a young artist, he had struggled to establish himself in London because of his Impressionist style. Muirhead became an Honorary Member of the Sandon Studios Society showing with them on occasion and was also represented in the Venice Biennale's of 1914, 1928 and 1930. Examples of his work are held in the collections of Aberdeen Art Gallery, Ashmolean Museum, Atkinson Art Gallery, Birmingham Museums Trust, Bolton Museum and Art Gallery, Bradford Museums and Galleries, Bury Art Gallery, Colchester and Ipswich Museum Service, Dundee Art Galleries and Museums, Gallery Oldham, Glasgow Museums, Green Howards Regimental Museum, Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery, Kirklees Museums and Galleries, Laing Art Gallery, Liverpool University Art Collection, NGS, NML, National Museum of Wales, Manchester City Art Gallery, Museums Sheffield, Perth & Kinross Council, Tate Gallery and Usher Art Gallery. An article by Frank W. Gibson entitled ‘David Muirhead, Landscape and Figure Painter’ appeared in the Studio Magazine in December 1912. His elder brother was the less well-known artist John Muirhead.