Craigie Aitchison

Painter and printmaker. Aitchison studied law at Edinburgh and London's Middle Temple before becoming an artist. He started painting in 1950, and in 1952 went on to study at the Slade School of Art, London. Noted for his use of vibrant colour and imaginative compositions, Aitchison's subjects include religious themes, landscapes, portraits, animals and still-lifes. Elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1978, Aitchison won the Jerwood Painting Prize in 1994. Major retrospectives were held at the Serpentine Gallery (1981), Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow (1996) and the Royal Academy, London (2003). He was awarded a CBE in 1999.

Text © National Portrait Gallery, London