Sir James Lawton Wingate, RSA

1846 - 1924

Born in Kelvinhaugh near Glasgow. In 1867 he embarked upon a tour of Italy which lasted six months during which he began painting directly from nature. Wingate lived in Hamilton before moving to Edinburgh where he met W. D. Mackay. He studied under William McTaggart and George Paul Chalmers and lived for a while at Muthill Perthshire before moving to Colinton.

He mainly painted rural scenes. He went through a transition in 1910 when his landscapes increasingly became evocations of the countryside and less depictions of particular places and events. Like many other Scottish artists, visits to Arran inspired him, especially sunsets across the empty sea. Elected President RSA 1919 and in the same year received a knighthood.