Margaret Oliver Brown, 1912 - 1990 (verso: Studies of Two Female Heads)

Margaret Macdonald was Advertising Manager at Arnotts department store in Glasgow from 1930 until 1936 when she married the teacher William Oliver Brown, who was a well-known Scottish nationalist. Before and after her marriage she trained at the Glasgow School of Art. Brown exhibited mainly in the 1940s and with the Scottish Colourist JD Fergusson was a founder member of the exhibiting and discussion groups the New Art Club (1940) and New Scottish Group (1942). This self-portrait reflects the fashion photography of the day. Brown is elegantly dressed and holds a paintbrush; the composition is based on curvilinear form, from the abstract background to her hairstyle and silhouette. She enjoyed only a brief career as a painter because of the early onset of rheumatoid arthritis.

Credit: Presented by Mrs Una Whetung 1994