Alexander Jamieson: A Private Collection

“He dipped his brush in light and air” – Sir John Lavery

A Private Collection of paintings by Scottish artist Alexander Jamieson are to be sold at Tennants Auctioneers. Comprising thirty-eight paintings, the collection having been put together by an enthusiastic admirer over many years. The first tranche of works will be sold in the Modern & Contemporary Art Sale on 17^th October, which includes ‘Palmas’, on offer with an estimate of £700-1,000 plus buyer’s premium. Further works will be offered in the Traditional Pictures Sale on 14th November. 

Alexander Jamieson (1873-1937) was born in Glasgow, and trained at the Haldane Academy, now part of the Glasgow School of Art. In 1898 Jamieson won a scholarship to spend a year in Paris, which proved a formative experience that would influence his work for the rest of his life and spark an abiding love for France. In Paris Jamieson was exposed to the work of the Impressionists, many of whom he met. The young artist adopted their techniques, and he evolved a style that would span his career. Jamieson’s work was characterised by this preference for painting en plein air, working wet-into-wet with bold, bravura brushstrokes to capture the transient nature of light.

By the early 1900s Jamieson had returned home and married his artist wife whom he met in Paris. Concentrating on painting landscapes and townscapes, often of Continental subjects, his reputation grew, and he exhibited at the likes of the Groupil and Carfax galleries in London.  However, his life was interrupted by the First World War; enlisting, he served until 1919 and fought in the battles at Loos, the Somme and Arras.

After the war he settled in the Vale of Aylesbury and returned to depicting his favoured subjects but now placing a greater emphasis on the effects of light and shadow. In addition to exhibiting to great acclaim, Jamieson also taught painting on trips around the towns of France and Belgium, painting light-dappled towns, gardens and harbours. Indeed, in the foreword to the catalogue for Jamieson’s memorial exhibition, Sir John Lavery wrote “He dipped his brush in light and air”.

Alexander Jamieson died at the age of 63, the aftereffects of the War having taken a toll on his health. Examples of his work are held in the collections of the Louvre and the Tate.

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