Description
Craigie Aitchison (1926 – 2009)
Craigie Aitchison is a Scottish painter who studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London (1952–4), after attending Edinburgh University and London’s Middle Temple to study Law.
His works have been characterised by a use of intense, pure colour to portray form and shape in notably spare compositions. His paintings depict traditional subject matter, such as religion, landscape, portraits and still-life.
Aitchison travelled to Italy in 1955, having been awarded the British Council Italian Government Scholarship for painting. Here, the natural ‘Biblical’ landscapes and clear light he experienced had a substantial influence on his work. Where Aitchison has depicted religious themes, these are reminiscent of 15th-century miniatures and have a mysterious, poetic and timeless feel, as opposed to an ecclesiastical discipline.
