Penelope Beaton ARSA 1886 -1963

The death of Miss Penelope Beaton, A.R.S.A., removes from our midst another of the many remarkable women who received their early education at George Square.

Few can have given more in the service of education and the arts than "Pene", as she was known to everyone in the College of Art where, until she retired a few years ago, she taught for many years.

First appointed to Hamilton Academy, after taking her Diploma in 1917, her talents both as teacher and artist were immediately apparent - one of her pupils was Mary Armour, R.S,A. Two years later she was appointed to the part-time staff of the College of Art and immediately won for herself a central place in the minds and affections of her students.

Frank to the point of brusqueness, Pene" stood no nonsense"; but behind

her often terrifying scrutiny there flowed affections which were deep and warm. No one understood better the needs of young artists; moone gave more in support and wise sympathy. Her gifts were many-sided; she taught with equal acceptance not only drawing and painting but also other disciplines such as embroidery.

A forceful and forth right painter, she brought to her work as an artist a versatile and resourceful imagination which imbued her work with great personal distinction and charm, Many are the proud possessors of her delightful watercolours of Iona where she spent so many Summer vacations throughout her life.  Elected an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1957, she remained, even after she retired from the College, a dynamic figure in the world of Scottish art.

She died on 12th May, 1963, and, through her death, those who knew her best have felt increasingly the soreness of personal loss, and it is no exaggeration to say that she has won an enduring place not only in the history of Scottish painting but in the annals of her old School at George Square.

RSA Obituary, transcribed from 1963 RSA Annual Report