Elected ARSA: 19 March 1947
Elected RSA: 13 February 1952
With the passing of Anne Redpath the Royal Scottish Academy has lost an outstanding Member. She will be remembered as one of the most rewarding Scottish Artists of our time. She was always looking at the world afresh and capturing unsuspected beauties.
In her oils, paint is a live thing handled with a tortuous yet controlled vision. He visits to Paris, Brussels and Italy influenced her firstly towards the style of Botticelli and then towards the primitives of Siena, something that remained with her forever. She described herself as a contemporary but not modern painter.
Born at Galashiels, Miss Redpath was educated at Hawick High School and attended Edinburgh College of Art. She also studied at Moray House Training College for Teachers. Later, on a travelling scholarship, she visited Belgium and Italy for a year.
She married and settled in France for fifteen years, returning to Scotland in 1934. Caring for her family abroad had left her little time for painting, but she took it up again on her return to this country and, in the same year, became a Member of the Society of Scottish Artists.
In 1947 she became an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy, and four years later became the first woman painter to be elected an Academician in Scotland. In 1960 she was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy.
She was a Member of the Royal Society of British Artists and the Royal Institute of British Painters, a Past-President of the Scottish Society of Woman Artists, and served on the Board of Management of Edinburgh College of Art.
In 1955 she was awarded the O.B.E. and received an Honorary LL.D. from Edinburgh University.
During her lifetime, Anne Redpath won recognition and fame, but she will be remembered not only for her distinction as a painter but for the warmth and charm of her personality.
She died on 7th January, 1965, and is survived by three sons, one of whom, David Mitchie, was elected an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1964.
RSA Obituary, transcribed from the 1965 RSA Annual Report
