Stanley Cursiter,
CBEThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions...
(1887 – 1976) was a
ScottishScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
artist who played an important role in introducing
Post-ImpressionismPost-Impressionism is the term coined by the British artist and art critic Roger Fry in 1910 to describe the development of French art since Manet...
and
FuturismFuturism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century. It was largely an Italian phenomenon, though there were parallel movements in Russia, England and elsewhere...
to Scotland.
Biography
Born in
KirkwallKirkwall is the largest town and capital of Orkney, off the coast of northern mainland Scotland. The town is first mentioned in Orkneyinga saga in the year 1046. It was established as the settlement of Rögnvald II, Earl of Orkney, who was killed by his successor, Thorfinn...
in the
Orkney IslandsOrkney, also known as the Orkney Islands, , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated 10 miles north of the coast of Caithness...
, Cursiter was educated at Kirkwall Grammar School before moving to
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland. It is the second largest Scottish city, after Glasgow, and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas....
, where he studied at
Edinburgh College of ArtEdinburgh College of Art is an art school in Edinburgh, Scotland, providing tertiary education in art and design disciplines for over two thousand students....
. His early paintings were influenced by
cubismCubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music and literature. The first branch of cubism, known as "Analytic Cubism", was both radical and influential as...
, futurism and
vorticismVorticism was a short lived British art movement of the early 20th century. It is considered to be the only significant British movement of the early 20th century but lasted fewer than three years.-Origins:...
. After
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
he adopted a more
realistRealism in the visual arts and literature is the depiction of subjects as they appear in everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation...
style.
Cursiter became an Associate of the
Royal Scottish AcademyThe Royal Scottish Academy is Scotland’s premier organisation promoting contemporary Scottish art. Founded in 1826, the RSA maintains a unique position in Scotland as an independently funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote and support the creation,...
in 1927, a full Academician in 1937 and served as Secretary to the Academy from 1953 to 1955. He was the first Secretary of the Royal Fine Arts Commission for Scotland and was appointed Keeper of the
National Galleries of ScotlandThe National Galleries of Scotland are the five national galleries of Scotland and two partner galleries.-List of national galleries:* The National Gallery of Scotland* The Royal Scottish Academy Building* The Scottish National Portrait Gallery...
in 1930, a post he held until 1948. That same year, he was granted the
FreedomFreedom of the City is an honour bestowed by some municipalities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe to esteemed members of its community or to organisations that have given the community heroic service; the term applies to two...
of Kirkwall and was appointed as the King's (later to be Queen's)
Painter and Limner for ScotlandThe Painter and Limner is a member of the Royal Household in Scotland. Appointments of Court Painters are recorded from 1581 onwards, and the post of Painter and Limner was created in 1702 for George Ogilvie. The duties included "drawing pictures of our [the Monarch's] person or of our successors...
, a position he held until his death.
He painted
watercolourWatercolor or Watercolour is a painting method. A watercolor is the medium or the resulting artwork, in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water soluble vehicle...
landscapesLandscape art depicts scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests. Sky is almost always included in the view, and weather usually is an element of the composition....
of
East LothianEast Lothian is one of 32 unitary council areas in Scotland, UK, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....
, Orkney and
ShetlandShetland is an archipelago in Scotland, off the northeast coast. The islands lie to the northeast of Orkney, from the Faroe Islands and form part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. The total area is approximately 1,466 km²...
, and designed Saint Rognvald Chapel in St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall. He is particularly renowned for his
portraitA portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this reason, in photography a portrait is generally not a...
s and is considered amongst the finest Scottish portraitists of the 20th Century. He painted 'Her Majesty The Queen receiving the Honours of Scotland' in the High Kirk of St Giles in 1953, this painting hangs on the Great Stair, Palace of Holyroodhouse,
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland. It is the second largest Scottish city, after Glasgow, and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas....
Cursiter was influential in the campaign to create a
Scottish National Gallery of Modern ArtThe Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, holds the national collection of modern art. When opened in 1960, the collection was held in Inverleith House, at the Royal Botanic Gardens...
. He died in
StromnessStromness /ˈstrɔmnəs/ is the second-largest town in Orkney, Scotland, and is located in the south-west of Mainland in Orkney. It is also a parish, with the town of Stromness as its capital....
in 1976.
Selected works
- Rain on Princes Street, 1913
- The Regatta, 1913
- Villefranche,circa 1920
- Geo at Yesnaby and Brough of Bigging, 1929
- Window - Burnstane House, circa 1935
- The Old Store, Stromness, 1950
- The Honours of Scotland, 1954
- Landscape in the Orkneys, 1954
- "The sensation of crossing the street, west end, Edinburgh"
External links