Archibald Dunbar McIntosh - Eleven Paintings

Archie Dunbar McIntosh was born in Glasgow in 1936, the son of an architectural modeller. His early passion for art was encouraged by his father who took him on frequent trips to Kelvingrove Art Gallery where they spent hours discussing the exhibits. The young Archie spent his days drawing incessantly but, growing up in the tough working class area of 1950s Maryhill, fine art was unthinkable as a career in itself.

A childhood fascination with the paddlewheel ferries that operated up and down the Clyde and the encouragement of two uncles at the nearby Rolls Royce plants might have led Archie into engineering. However he determined on teaching as a profession by which he could still be involved in art. He won a place at Glasgow School of Art and later Jordanhill Teacher Training College, an education separated by a period of National Service peace keeping in Cyprus. His military service broadened his horizons significantly and spurred a lifelong interest in travel. In his words the experience transformed a ‘hairy, bearded artist in rope sandals… with no experience of life…The army shaved my head and instilled in me a sense of discipline and self confidence that has stood me in good stead’.  On his graduation from Jordanhill, Archie embarked on what was to be a distinguished career as an academic and administrator in art education.

Throughout this time Archie painted and had work accepted and hung by all the principal exhibiting forums; although ultimately he felt frustrated by failing to devote sufficient energies to his craft. This was dramatically resolved on his early retirement when he discovered a ‘renewed persistence of vision’. He found himself painting seven days a week and his career as a professional painter took off. He has won numerous awards at the Royal Scottish Academy, the Royal Glasgow Institute of which he is a member, and the Royal Scottish Watercolour Society who he served as a vice president for many years. He is represented in many corporate collections, notably the Scottish Arts Council, Glasgow Art Gallery, The Edinburgh Academy, Royal Bank of Scotland, Christian Salveson, Rolls Royce, Cunard and in the personal collections of  Griff Rhys Jones and Pete Townsend.

In the last decade Archie has perfected a mature style, a semi-abstracted depiction of several themes closest to his heart. He has drawn on his childhood memories of the Clyde marine industry, the lochs and landscapes of his youth and the tiny fishing villages along the East Neuk of Fife near his Dunfermline home. He is perhaps best known for his paintings of the latter, carefully arranged designs of geometric shapes interspersed with recognisable motifs - creels, numbers, ropes and sections of stone wall - rendering the essence of a working quayside. The night sky is an important theme in Archie’s work that he often returns to. Musing on the immensity of the starlit heavens he sees the concept of the infinite as a useful reminder of our own immortality, and a timely perspective on life and our place within it.

In the last few years Archie has made a conscious decision to cut back on his output, ‘Instead of producing one painting after another I will be focusing on just a few works of outstanding quality. I’m painting not for an audience, but exclusively for myself. I owe my images to no one. I’ve reached the stage in my life when my painting is a lovely indulgence. I enjoy it and I hope that shows.’