Iain Redford McIntosh was born in Peterhead in 1945. He attended Peterhead Academy and then studied for a Fine Art diploma at Gray’s School of Art between 1962 and 1966. His student weekends were taken
up with working at the family business in Peterhead, where his cabinet-maker father and uncle had their flagship furniture store - McIntosh Brothers.
After leaving Gray’s, Iain opted for teacher training at Teacher Training College in Aberdeen and this led to a job teaching art at Mearns Academy. He remained there for seventeen years, becoming principal teacher
of art.
A promising student and graduate, Iain attained awards which encouraged him to travel and continue his art practice. In 1965, whilst still a student, he secured the Queen’s Award for Art & Design and, upon graduation in 1966, he was awarded a George Davidson Travelling Scholarship which enabled him a period of travel and research in Greece.
Iain came to the attention of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1967 where he was the recipient of the RSA Andrew Carnegie Award and, in 1968, he won
the RSA Benno Schotz Prize for Sculpture at the 142nd Annual Exhibition. In 1971, he won the RSA Latimer Award and in 1992 was a recipient of an RSA Gillies Award which enabled him a further period of travel and research.
As a sculptor, Iain produced studio items for exhibition and also took on significant commissions. Producing works in both stone and wood, his commission pieces included sculptures for St Machar’s Cathedral Iain R McIntosh RSA in Aberdeen, Kinnaird Castle in Angus and the Glenfiddich Distillery in Moray. His work is also part of the Collection of the P&O cruise liner Arcadia. Inspired by his young daughters, and with a nod to his father’s
business, Iain turned his hand to designing and making rocking horses which were sold via Harrods department store in London.
Much of Iain’s later works were inspired by his roots in the Northeast of Scotland and, in particular, the fishing industry of his native Peterhead. Examples of these can be found in private and public collections
in Scotland and beyond – most notably at Mintlaw Discovery Centre; NHS Collection at Edinburgh and Lothian Healthcare Foundation and the Wallace
Museum, St Andrews University.
Iain was a lifelong exhibitor with the Royal Scottish Academy from his student days through to his later career. In 2016 he presented Port to Port, a solo exhibition in The Academicians Gallery which took the sea and the fishing industry as its primary theme. Iain was a great supporter of young talent and served on numerous committees at the Academy with specific
interest in awards, scholarships and bursaries to assist emerging and early-career artists. He also served as Secretary of the (then separately constituted) Friends of the RSA.
Ian Redford McIntosh was elected Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1981 and was elected to Royal Scottish Academician status in 2005.
Obituary from 2022 Annual Exhibition Catalogue
