Arbroath artist Dennis Buchan, whose abstract paintings are held in public and private collections around the world, has died aged 86.
He studied under Alberto Morrocco, went on to have a long career at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee, and was elected to the Royal Scottish Academy in 1991.
Dennis spent study leaves painting around the world including in New York and Barcelona but took much of his inspiration from the sea and landscapes around his Arbroath home.
It was in Arbroath, or in studio space at college, that he created the vibrant, expressive canvasses, usually while listening to music, for which he was best known.
Awards
He won a string of prizes during his career including the Keith Prize from the RSA in 1962, the Latimer Award from the RSA in 1963, and the Scottish Arts Council Major Award in 1973.
Dennis was born in Arbroath in April 1937. His father, David Suttie Buchan, was a bus driver who also played sax, trumpet, piano and organ, and performed with a band called Lovats.
His mother Mary (May) Clark was a talented highland dancer in her youth and worked in a fish shop.
Dennis was educated at primary and secondary level at Arbroath High School and had a spell working with the Forestry Commission before studying art in Dundee and then at Hospitalfield House, Arbroath, between 1954 and 1959.
He did his National Service with the Royal Army Medical Corps, became a professional member of the Society of Scottish Artists in 1961 and began lecturing at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in 1965.
By 1975, Dennis had been elected an associate of the Royal Scottish Academy.
He staged many solo exhibitions including four at the New Charing Cross Gallery and Compass Gallery in Glasgow and examples of his work are held by the Vincent Price Art Museum in the USA, Leicester University, the Scottish Arts Council, and Dundee Museums and Art Gallery.
He combined his painting with his lecturing work at Dundee, a role he cherished.
His daughter, Wendy Buchan, said: “It was a job he loved and it came with some studio space in the college. I was a student for a short while and a few times he was my tutor for drawing and painting, he was in the fine art department.
“He listened to music to inspire him and was a great lover of jazz, Dave Brubeck to name one. He had an eclectic taste in music, he enjoyed classical music too and Dylan, Nat King Cole.
“My father was was a humble man of great talent and intelligence. He had a dry wit, but not a constant joker, more like humorous in the moment. He also could be quiet and contemplative; a thinker.
“In his younger days he was a Scout and he loved to go hillwalking and camping up the Angus Glens.
“When we were out and about, at the cliffs, the beach, the harbour (for a while he had a flat at on the shore in Arbroath) he would always have binoculars to hand, looking at birds and things on the sea.”
Dennis spent his entire life living in Arbroath apart from the last 10 years when he moved to Carnoustie with his long-term partner, Pam.
The Royal Scottish Academy said in a statement that Dennis will be sorely missed.
“Dennis’ work fused the Scottish colourist tradition with more modern, abstract expressionism and pop art. His work took inspiration from landscapes and seascapes, using everyday objects to create bold juxtapositions of form and colour.”
You can read the family’s announcement here.