Margaret Campbell Macpherson

The Royal Scottish Academy, where Macpherson's work was exhibited.

Margaret Campbell Macpherson (1860 - 16 May 1931) was an artist born in Canada, and well known for her work in Scotland. She was born in St John's, Newfoundland and died in Versailles, France.^[1]

Early life

Macpherson grew up in St John's, Newfoundland, and moved to Edinburgh to study painting.^[2]

Career

Between 1880 and 1884, Macpherson studied in Switzerland, under the artist Auguste-Henri Berthoud. In 1885, she returned to Edinburgh and exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy for the first time. Macpherson began to exhibit her work at the Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts from 1887 onwards.

In 1889, Macpherson moved to Paris. Once there, she trained under Gustave Courtois and Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret at the Academie Colarossi. Whilst in France, Macpherson also worked at the artists' colony of Concarneau during 1891, where she began to specialise in paintings of girls in traditional Breton costume.^[3]

Macpherson was dividing her time between France and Scotland, where she had a successful career as a portrait painter. She shared a studio in Edinburgh with another artist, Josephine Hoxie Bartlett. Macpherson and Bartlett became members of the Society of Scottish Artists in 1892.^[4] Macpherson and Bartlett had a joint exhibition in Edinburgh in 1895. They moved permanently to Paris in 1899.^[5]

Throughout her career the following art societies all accepted paintings by Macpherson

• Royal Scottish Academy
• Glasgow Institute of Fine Art
• Society of Scottish Artists
• Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts
• Royal Academy, London
• Société des Artistes Français^[6]

Awards

• Bronze medal - Exposition universelle, Paris, in 1900
• Gold medal - Exposition nationale, Reims, in 1903
• Gold medal - Exposition internationale, Nantes, in 1904^[7]

References

1. "Margaret Campbell Macpherson". www.gallery.ca. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
2. "Canadian Women Artists History Initiative : Artist Database : Artists : MACPHERSON, Margaret Campbell". cwahi.concordia.ca. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
3. Modern Scottish Women: painters and sculptors 1885-1965. National Galleries Scotland. 2015. p. 74. ISBN 9781906270896.
4. Modern Scottish Women: painters and sculptors 1885 - 1965. National Galleries Scotland. 2015. p. 74. ISBN 9781906270896.
5. "Canadian Women Artists History Initiative : Artist Database : Artists : MACPHERSON, Margaret Campbell". cwahi.concordia.ca. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
6. "Canadian Women Artists History Initiative : Artist Database : Artists : MACPHERSON, Margaret Campbell". cwahi.concordia.ca. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
7. "Canadian Women Artists History Initiative : Artist Database : Artists : MACPHERSON, Margaret Campbell". cwahi.concordia.ca. Retrieved 2016-01-23.