John Kelso Hunter

Born in Dankeith, Ayrshire, 1802, John Kelso Hunter moved as a young man to the village of Dundonald where he became an apprentice cobbler and in his spare time taught himself painting. He later moved to Kilmarnock as a shoemaker and further developed his painting skills becoming a renowned artist specialising in portraits. In 1847 he exhibited at the Royal Academy in London before becoming a regular exhibitor at the Royal Scottish Academy for the next 25 years. He also published 2 books: 'Retrospective of an Artist's Life' (1868), his autobiography, and 'Life Studies of Character', a few years later. He died in 1873 and is buried in the Southern Necropolis in Glasgow.

John Kelso Hunter's autobiography   Retrospective of an Artist's Life is available online at  http://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/SESLL/STELLA/STARN/prose/scotnov.htm  .

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