James McBey

A lovely, moving, book about the early years of the most famous Aberdonian artist, and one of the most highly regarded British painters and draughtsmen of the 1920's and 1930's. This short autobiography tells his life story from the very first years in a 1880's small, poor, puritanical village a few miles north of Aberdeen, to his life in that city for eleven years, working as a bank clerk by day and (self)studying, painting and engraving in the evenings. I was lucky enough to come across this small volume the day after I visited a retrospective exhibition of his (and his wife's) works at the Aberdeen Art Gallery. Reading it with the images of his etchings and paintings still fresh on my mind was a delight. But the book stands by itself, and the lively, witty, and elegant writing style of McBey turns the reading of this tiny little book a memorable experience.… (mais)