Kay, James, RSA
1858 – 1942
Son of a coastguard at Lamlash on the Isle of Arran. Kay studied at Glasgow School of Art and was a Member of St Mungo Art Club. He travelled a great deal on the continent particularly France and Holland. He particularly loved to paint shipping on the Clyde and West Coast of Scotland and was a Member of the Glasgow Art Club and friendly with the Glasgow Boys sharing a studio for a time with David Gauld. Although close to the Glasgow Boys, Kay's work often reveals the influence of the Hague School whose haunts he used to visit and paint on his trips to Holland. In addition to exhibiting at the RSA Annual Exhibitions from 1884 until 1942, he also exhibited on the the continent and especially in France at the Paris Salon from 1894. He became an Associate Member of the RSA 1933 and an Academician in 1938.
