Dumfries Museum has just installed a new display of paintings by Anne McEntegart

Anne McEntegart within Collections

Dumfries Museum has just installed a new display of paintings by Anne McEntegart (1905-1984). A selection of Anne’s oil paintings of local scenes is now on display alongside a panel about her life and works.

Anne was a talented artist and she worked across different media including oils, woodcuts, sculpture and book illustration.

Anne McEntegart’s association with Dumfries and Galloway dates back to her childhood when her family would spent time at The Brae in Crocketford. Anne’s mother, Annie Eliza Patmore, also an enthusiastic artist, later lived in Castle Douglas.

After time working in London as an advertising illustrator (she worked on campaigns for Fortnum and Mason and the London Underground), Anne married Bernard McEntegart in 1931. Bernard had a long and illustrious career in the RAF. His work took the newly married couple of Singapore where Bernard was involved with the Flying Boat Squadron.

During World War Two, Anne worked on a farm in the New Forest. Bernard McEntegart was injured during the conflict and the family settled at Lanehead, a farm near Dunscore in 1945. Following the death of her husband in 1954 and the tragic death of her son, John (aged 22) the following year, Anne poured her energy into her art. Many of the works on display in Dumfries Museum are from this period.

Anne McEntegart’s works reflect her love of Dumfries and Galloway and the natural world with images of the Solway, Galloway Cottages, Kippford and, her favourite spot, Loch Urr. Anne died in 1984 and her life and works were celebrated with a retrospective exhibition in 1986.

This new display has been supported by Anne’s family and the museum are grateful to them for their contribution. Later in 2024, the museum will be borrowing some of Anne’s sculptures from her family and friends for display.