The Beeches was painted around 1958, when Sir William MacTaggart’s landscapes had become increasingly expressionist in colour and handling. Born in Loanhead in 1903, the grandson of the celebrated Scottish painter William McTaggart, he studied at Edinburgh College of Art alongside William Gillies and John Maxwell, forming part of what later became known as the Edinburgh School. MacTaggart and Gillies remained close friends and colleagues throughout their careers, sharing a studio in the early 1930s before both later taught at Edinburgh College of Art, where they influenced generations of younger Scottish artists.
Although the setting is not precisely identifiable, the intimate woodland subject recalls the Borders and East Lothian landscapes favoured by both artists. By the 1950s, MacTaggart’s work had absorbed the influence of European Expressionism, particularly Edvard Munch and Georges Rouault, visible here in the vigorous brushwork and heightened, almost psychological colour. Beeches have long been associated with memory and contemplation, and the trees become less a topographical record than an emotional landscape of light, atmosphere and mood.
signed lower left
EXHIBITED:
Sir William MacTaggart Centenary Exhibition, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, 2003
About Sir William MacTaggart
Born in Loanhead, near Edinburgh, Sir William MacTaggart was the grandson of the landscape painter William McTaggart (1835–1910). He studied at Edinburgh College of Art from 1918 to 1921, at the same time as William Gillies, and travelled to Paris after graduating. He was a founder member of the 1922 Group and in 1927, he joined the exclusive Society of Eight whose members included Colourists F.C.B. Cadell and S.J. Peploe and began, ahead of his contemporaries a successful exhibition career at The Scottish Gallery from 1929.
