Robert Colquhoun was born in Kilmarnock, Scotland; he studied at Glasgow School of Art, where he met Robert MacBryde, a student in the same year. They formed an intimate and lifelong friendship of such mutual devotion it caused them to be known as the ‘Two Roberts’. From the mid 1940s to the early 1950s he was considered one of the leading artists of his generation; he was also a prolific printmaker and produced a large number of lithographs and monotypes throughout his career. He made great use of ‘transfer’ lithography and an ‘off-set’ drawing process for monotypes. For both techniques a specially prepared carbon paper is used to transfer a drawn image onto a lithographic stone or plate for printing, or onto another piece of paper for monotype. He also made use of the more traditional monotype process of printing from inked surface, usually a glass or metal plate. In 1947 he moved to Lewes, East Sussex with Robert MacBryde and worked at the Miller's Press until 1949, under the patronage of Frances Byng Stamper and her sister, Caroline Lucas. The prints made there were shown in the first exhibition of the Society of London Painter-Printers mounted at the Redfern Gallery, London in 1948. A retrospective of his work was shown at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London in 1958.

Further reading:
Robert Colquhoun catalogue of paintings, drawings and prints 1942-58, preface by Bryan Robertson, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London 1958
Colquhoun and MacBryde - A Retrospective, introduction by John Griffiths, Glasgow Print Studio 1990

Glossary

  • Drawing

    The depiction of shapes and forms on a flat surface chiefly by means of lines although colour and shading may also be included. Materials most commonly used are pencil, ink, crayon, charcoal, chalk and pastel, although other materials, including paint, can be used in combination.

  • Lithography

    Lithography means, literally, stone drawing. In addition to fine grain lithographic stones, metal plates can also be used for lithography. The method relies on the fact that grease repels water. An image is drawn in a greasy medium onto the stone or plate, which is then dampened with water. Greasy printing ink rolled onto that surface will adhere to the design but be repelled by the damp area. The inked image is transferred to the paper via a press. For large editions, the grease is chemically fixed to the stone, and gum arabic, which repels any further grease marks but does not repel water, is applied to the rest of the surface. For colour lithography the artist uses a separate stone or plate for each colour required.

  • Metal

    Metal is a medium frequently used by artists to make art works - from sculpture to printmaking. Surfaces can display an array of colours and textures, and are capable of being polished to a high gloss; metal can be melted, cast, or fused, hammered into thin sheets, or drawn into wire.

  • Monotype

    The artist may draw or paint onto a surface such as glass or metal and then press paper onto the image to take its impression. Because the ink or other medium is transferred to the paper only one good impression can be made.

See in

  • Art Project