RAMSAY - David Prophet Ramsay (1888-1944)
Last updated | 23/09/2010
Perth born artist who was nearly left for dead in
World War 1
born Perth 6 July 1888
died Trochry 11 January 1944
EARLY YEARS
- David was born the sixth and youngest child of Perth China
Merchant, Alexander Ramsay and his wife Jean
Ann Prophet
- David studied at Perth Academy before a period of work in
a local carpet factory
STUDENT IN GLASGOW
- In 1909 David went to Glasgow School of Art
- There David studied under Greiffenhagen and Artot
- David won the Haldane Travel Scholarship, the top prize for a
senior student
- David used his prize to visit Belgium, Holland, France and
Italy in 1913
ACTIVE SERVICE
- David returned to Europe in 1916 having joined the 4th
Battalion The Black Watch, as a Private, the previous December
- David was seriously wounded at the Battle of Pilcken
Ridge, only weeks after his 29th birthday and less than a month
after being promoted to Lieutenant, on 31 July 1917
- David's injuries were such that he was was nearly left for
dead but for a Canadian doctor who saved him
- During his time in the army, David produced a series of
caricatures of his fellow officers
- David used the pseudonym "Sam Ray" (a corruption of his
surname, Ram-say) for these sketches, which were published in a
portfolio
ARTIST
- Back in Perth, in 1923 David married Beatrice Elizabeth
Hewat, whose father ran the Windsor Restaurant in St John
Street
- David set up studio as a portrait and figure painter
- In 1930 David was commissioned to paint the then Princess
Elizabeth (subsequently HM Queen Elizabeth II), the sittings taking
place at Glamis Castle
- David was a member of the Perthshire Art Association and the
Dundee Art Society (of which he was elected President in
1930)
- David exhibited his work at numerous exhibitions in the UK,
including the Royal Academy, Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal
Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts
- David's work is represented in several public collections
DEATH
- David died at his home, Kennacoil House, early in 1944
- David's death was probably hastened by his wartime injuries and
not aided by his heavy smoking
- David is buried close to his final home in the small
graveyard at Lagganalachie by Trochry, near Dunkeld
RECOGNITION
- David was accorded the first one-person memorial
exhibition in Perth Museum and Art Gallery in the summer of
1944
- Opening the day after what would have been David's 56th
birthday, over 169 works were shown
- They were borrowed from public and private collections
- A second exhibition of David's work, accompanied by a short
booklet illustrating his life and work, was mounted in Perth Museum
and Art Gallery in 1988 to commemorate the Centenary of his
birth
- Many of his pictures entered the Perth Museum and Art Gallery
collection in 1959 as a bequest from his widow
CHECKLIST OF WORKS BY DAVID IN PERTH MUSEUM AND ART
GALLERY
(it is not possible to have the entire collection on show at any
one time. To view material not on display please
contact the Art Section to make an appointment)
DRAWINGS
- A Strong Man, pencil on paper
- Allegory, pencil and watercolour on paper
- Catherine Brooks, domestic servant to the Ramsays, pencil on
paper
- Airman Jimmie McCash, the artist's nephew, pencil on paper
- Lord Bruce of Broomhall, pencil on paper
- Figure Study, pencil on paper
- Figure Study, pencil on paper
- Figure Study, pencil on paper
- Woman Tending a Fallen Soldier Beside a Field Gun, pencil and
watercolour on paper
- Design for a Carpet
OIL PAINTINGS
- Self-Portrait, oil on canvas
- A Venetian Canal, oil on canvas
- Elcho Castle and Cottage, oil on canvas
- Garden Craiggantaggart, oil on canvas
- Romance, oil on canvas
- A Studio Tea Party, oil on canvas
- Rosalie ("Firelight"), oil on canvas
- My Model, oil on canvas
- Beatrix, oil on canvas
- Nude, oil on canvas
- Saint Agnes, oil on canvas
- Portrait of a Lady, oil on canvas
- Portrait Study, oil on canvas
- Betty, oil on canvas
- Vera, oil on canvas
- The Artist's Wife, oil on canvas
- Portrait of the Artist's Wife, oil on canvas
- Full Length Portrait of Mrs D P Ramsay, oil on canvas
- Portrait of an Unknown Lady, oil on canvas
- Portrait of Robina Ramsay, the artist's sister, oil on
canvas
INTERESTED IN MORE ARTISTS IN THE COLLECTION?
- there are many more fascinating artists represented in Perth
Museum and Art Gallery's collection
- find out more by visiting the other pages listed in the browser
bar to the left
