James McIntosh Patrick RSA 1907-1998

Painting can colour a spectator's perception of a landscape, and thus, for example Alexander Nasmyth's depiction of the Carse of Gowrie in Dundee Art Gallery tempts us to view it as akin to the Tiber valley, as if seen through the eyes of Claude Lorraine.

But for many familiar with the rural surroundings of Dundee, on taking a detour along the by-road branching off the main arterial road between Dundee and Perth, the inevitable reaction will be 'Oh, we've entered McIntosh Patrick country'! 

Patrick's personal branch of realism, in seeking a truth to nature was one of slow evolution. Born in Dundee, the son of an architect, as a schoolboy at Morgan Academy he proved to be blessed with a precocious artistic talent. Indeed, this was so advanced, that on enrolling as a student at Glasgow School of Art he was exempted from the customary preparatory first year.

Tuition encouraged precision, and happily this was in accord with the budding artist's own temperament, his diploma composition "The Egotist" clearly exhibiting a genuine enthusiasm for the adamantine style of Mantegna. 

He graduated with distinction in 1927, when along with his close friend and contemporary, the Montrose artist Edward Baird, he was awarded a post diploma travelling scholarship. Patrick as a student had shown a particular proficiency and etching and while still an under graduate was offered a contract by the leading London dealer Colnaghi's.

It was by this art by which he primarily made a living in the years immediately after leaving the Glasgow School of Art. His work was well received, and he was elected to the Royal Society of Etchers in 1932. By 1938 however the etching market experienced a slump and in this year Patrick augmented his income by part-time teaching at Dundee College of Art.

His oil paintings of this period which was to end with the outbreak of the Second World War are marked by a formalism, typical of many artists of that time. "Winter in Angus" 1935 which was bought by the Tate Gallery and other snow scenes such as "The Ettrick Shepherd" 1937, "An Exmoor Farm" 1938 and "Winter in Perthshire" of the same year, all pay apparent tribute to "The Seasons" paintings of the 16th century Flemish realist Peter Bruegel.

Nowhere is the element of formal stylism more evident than in the Walker Art Gallery's purchase "Springtime in Eskdale" 1938, reminiscent (but only by coincidence) of the American realist Grant Wood. Some notable portraits were also painted during this period, and in one a Gerald Brockhurst like modelling of "Marion" of 1935 supplants the more Flemish and uncompromising observation of his portrait of the Rt. Rev. Monsignor Canon Turner of three years earlier. 

In 1939, Patrick with his wife Janet who he married in 1933 moved with their two children, Anne and Andrew to a new home, a lovely Georgian house in Magdalen Yard Road overlooking the river Tay. From an upper back window he painted a view of Janet accompanied by their young daughter gathering in the washing by the light of a low raking sun casting long shadows. "A City Garden", one of the most popular paintings in Dundee Art Gallery, was to be his last major oil painting before Patrick received his call up papers. 

The war years, in which he was commissioned in the Camouflage Corps (where he helped train other artists such as the late Sir William Coldstream) afforded him no opportunity to make oil paintings.

However, drawing and sketching whenever possible, watercolour became a preferred medium - with the outcome that plein air painting in situ rather than studio-based painting became his established practise in the post-war years. 

As "A City Garden" closed one chapter of his life, so then did "The Tay Bridge" open a new chapter, when in 1948 he painted the view from his studio window. Once again the sun is casting long shadows, and the scene is a faithful representation of reality, bar one incidental detail: Patrick in his imagination replaced the railings which had been removed as scrap metal during the war.

This work, like so many other works from a prolific output achieved a wide popularity via the marketing of signed colour reproductions, establishing his reputation in shaping our perception of the Perthshire and Angus countryside. 

'Jimmy' as McIntosh Patrick was known to his friends (Pat being an alternative confined to intimates) was a kenspeckle figure. Typically he would sport a houndstooth check sports jacket, and invariably wore beneath a cravat a green jade Chinese pendant.

This good luck amulet was no mere affectation, for Jimmy's enthusiasm for oriental art was very genuine, embracing Chinese porcelain and Japanese prints. A particular pride and joy was the collection of superb soap-stone carvings which he built up from his tours of the local antique shops.

He was a man of immense generosity, where enthusiasm was allied with a spirit which was both indefatigable and indomitable. It has to be said, that having a conversation with Jimmy was well nigh impossible, for this man of conviction was apt to steam roller dialogue into a monologue. 

Jimmy or 'Dr. Patrick' as he would be respectfully addressed by the pupils of his famous Saturday morning class, was not only admired but also much loved by his pupils. In his late life he was showered with honours; Doctorates from both Dundee's universities and the award of "Citizen of the Year" as well as an OBE. On his demise the Dundee Courier's billboards proclaimed 'McIntosh Patrick dead' and an editorial expressed the city's sense of loss.

Indeed his funeral was very much a civic occasion held in the central Dundee Parish Church. Here his friend Lord Macfarlane of Bearsden paid moving tribute to a local man in whom the city took justifiable pride. The Academy shares with his family a sense of privilege that he was part of our lives, his own life having been fulfilled in giving pleasure to so many.

RSA Obituary by Peter Collins RSA, transcribed from the 1998 RSA Annual Report