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A Corner of Kirrie

Artist: Gillies, William George, Sir, CBE RA RSA PPRSW · 1898-1973Artist: Smith, William Ryle · 1862-1945

A Corner of Kirrie

Smith, an art teacher and collector of art in Broughty fery, hailed originally from Kirriemuir alongside his sister Emma Smith who was the mother of…

Smith, an art teacher and collector of art in Broughty fery, hailed originally from Kirriemuir alongside his sister Emma Smith who was the mother of Sir William George Gillies RSA. Smith early encouraged his nephew to take up the paintbrush and the present work was a collaborative venture executed by the 50 year old uncle and his 14 year old nephew on a visit to Kirriemuir.

Gillies executed this watercolour in collaboration with his maternal uncle William Ryle Smith, an art teacher in Broughty ferry. The subject is a street in the Angus town of Kirriemuir where Gillies' mother and her brother came from and to which the family would go for holidays and to visit relatives.

© Royal Scottish Academy of Art & Architecture