Background
Philipson was born in Broughton-in-Furness and moved to Scotland with his family when he was 14.
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Robin Philipson
Edit ProfileEducation
He was schooled at Dumfries Academy and then studied at Edinburgh College of Art from 1936 to 1940.
Career
On the outbreak of the Second World War he joined the King"s Own Scottish Borderers and saw action in India and Burma. After the war, he returned to Edinburgh and became a lecturer at the College of Art in 1947, later taking the post of Head of the Drawing and Painting Department from 1960 to 1982. Philipson"s early work was mainly of landscapes, still lifes and interiors.
He was strongly influenced by Gillies and Maxwell, with whom, amongst others, he shared membership of the group known as The Edinburgh School.
He is particularly renowned for his cockfight paintings, a series begun in the early 1950s. His later work in the 1960s explored more general figurative studies plus church and cathedral interiors and crucifixions.
Philipson"s 1960 painting, Cathedral was inspired by a visit to Amiens Cathedral in northern France. He explores the subject in a manner reminiscent of Monet"s earlier studies of Rouen Cathedral, creating a sense of grandeur by expressing the verticality of the gothic architecture and by showing the patterns of coloured light coming from the stained-glass windows.
He was appointed as President of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1973, a position he held until 1983.
He also received many honours during his career, including a knighthood in 1976 for his services to art in Scotland. 1973/76/83~The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
1973~Roland Browse & Delbanco, London
1977~Retrospective Exhibition, McRobert Centre, Stirling University
1976/78~Loomshop Gallery, Lower Largo
1978~Browse & Darby Gallery, London
1979~Haddington House Festival Exhibition, Stirling Gallery
1980~Macaulay Gallery, Stenton
1994~Retrospective Exhibition, Browse & Darby Gallery, London and to Billcliffe Fine Art, Glasgow
1999~Retrospective Exhibition, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
Scottish Arts Council
Royal Scottish Academy
Aberdeen. Liverpool; Walker; Manchester.
Whitworth.
Glasgow; Perth. Cardiff;
National Museum of Wales
London Contemporary Art Society
Fleming Wyfold Art Foundation, London
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle
North Carolina Art Gallery and Museum.
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Born
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Died
1992 (aged 76) -
Nationality
United Kingdom