Donald Macleod

Donald Macleod was born in Glasgow in 1956 and began his artistic training studying drawing and painting at Glasgow School of Art before leaving to serve with the Royal Highland Fusiliers. During the 1980s he travelled through Europe alongside celebrated Scottish painter Peter Howson, and after initially settling in England returned to Scotland to work as Howson's studio assistant, an experience that proved formative in shaping his distinctive figurative vision. He became a full time artist in 1992 and quickly developed a keen eye for the essential truths found in Scottish tales, poetry and myth, becoming particularly noted for portraiture that offers the viewer a penetrating insight into the character of his subjects. His work has featured in prestigious mixed exhibitions including Flowers East in London and the RGI Annual Exhibition in Glasgow, alongside a number of solo shows, and is held in private and public collections across Europe and North America.