Robin Philipson by Elizabeth Cumming

In the third quarter of the twentieth century Sir Robin Philipson (1916 – 92) ranked as one of the best known and most prolific artists of what became known as the Edinburgh School. He spent his working life as an art school teacher, heading the Drawing and Painting School at Edinburgh College of Art for over twenty years. He served as Secretary, then as President, of the Royal Scottish Academy.

This new study discusses his double commitment to traditional teaching practice and to the wider encouragement of art across society. Robin Philipson was always fascinated by colour, material and process, and this new study, while exploring a long, active career in painting and printing making, also sheds light on his involvement with a Border textile company and the international Dovecot Studios. Philipson was highly ambitious for his own art. He engaged with the drama of human experience in his painting, and worked on specific themes such as cockflights and war imagery with a keen, raw expressionism. Two particular series, Threnody and Humankind, were key to his painting of the 1970s. Later, his painting achieved a remarkable lyricism in a series of large, bold paintings of poppies which today have almost become his trademark.

This is a hardback publication. Signed copies available.