Waiting for the ferry

Robert Burns was born in Edinburgh and studied at the Glasgow School of Art in the 1880s alongside Charles Rennie Mackintosh. After studying Japanese and Venetian art in Paris he returned to Edinburgh in 1892 and became deeply involved in the decorative arts. He exhibited symbolist pictures at the Royal Scottish Academy, the Glasgow Institute, the International Society and the Vienna Secession. He was elected President of the Society of Scottish Artists in 1901, Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1902, and appointed first head of drawing and painting at Edinburgh College of Art in 1908. However, he had fallen out with both the Academy and the School of Art by 1920. In later life he worked increasingly in watercolour. He also returned to the applied arts, decorating Crawford’s restaurant in Edinburgh. For further information see the catalogue of The Fine Art Society's exhibition Robert Burns Limner, 1976.