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 J. D. 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