Kirkcudbright (2)

Alick R. Sturrock studied art in Edinburgh and was primarily a landscape painter. He was a member of the radical Edinburgh Group of artists, who, through Cecile Walton and others had links with Jessie M. King and Kirkcudbright. It was probably these connections which first introduced him to Galloway, and a small 1919 watercolour of Kirkcudbright Tolbooth (on permanent display in the Tolbooth Art Centre) must be one of his first works in the south-west. He was a regular visitor to Kirkcudbright and Gatehouse of Fleet thereafter, and from 1926 to 1934, he lived permanently in Gatehouse as a professional artist. He then returned to Edinburgh, where in 1938 he became Treasurer of the Royal Scottish Academy, and was later appointed Secretary. However, he retained his links with the south-west, returning to visit regularly up until 1951.