John Macdonald Aiken RSA 1880-1961

Born in 1880 in Aberdeen, John Macdonald Aiken RSA was an artist of rare abilities. His practice included oil and watercolour painting, chalk drawing, etching and stained-glass windows. He apprenticed as a draughtsman with the lithographer Robert Gibb for six years before studying at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen and then at the Royal College of Art in South Kensington. Additionally, he was head of Gray’s School of Art (1911-1914) and exhibited often throughout his career at the most prestigious institutions of the time, including the Royal Scottish Academy, Royal Academy, Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours and the Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts. Aiken also exhibited at the Paris Salon, where he was awarded the Silver Medal in 1923 for a portrait of Harry Townend. Elected ARSA in 1923, he became a RSA in 1936 with his Diploma Work, Lady in Black, with a Floral Background. He died in 1961 in Aberdeen.