Memorial Works

  • Ian McKenzie Smith PPRSA, 3 August 1935 – 24 September 2025

     Ian McKenzie Smith PPRSA (1935-2025), Summer Gate at the Bu'

    Ian McKenzie Smith PPRSA

    3 August 1935 – 24 September 2025

    Born in Montrose in 1935, Ian McKenzie Smith CBE PPRSA studied at Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen, and at Hospitalfield, Arbroath – where he met his wife Mae. His work was mainly abstract painting and was in his early career influenced by the Danish, Dutch and Belgian artists of the COBRA group whom were active in the late 1940s and 1950s. In 1958, a travelling scholarship took Ian to Paris, where he met the Japanese artist Kenzo Okada and encountered Zen philosophy. An oriental sense of balance and calligraphic finesse became an ongoing feature of his work.

     

    After a period of teaching, Ian was Director of Aberdeen Art Gallery from 1968 to 1989 and Head of the city’s Arts and Recreation Department from 1989 to 1996. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Aberdeen in 1991, an OBE for services to art in 1992, and a CBE in 2009. Ian was President of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour from 1988 to 1998. He served upon the Committee for the British School at Rome; The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA) for Arts Council England; and was a Trustee of the National Galleries of Scotland.

     

    Elected as an Associate Royal Scottish Academician (ARSA) in 1973 and full RSA in 1987, Ian gave a wealth of experience to committees such as Council, Exhibitions and Events and General Purposes, later becoming a Founding Trustee of the RSA Foundation. With Office Bearer positions including Treasurer in 1990, Secretary from 1991 to 1998, and President of the RSA from 1998 to 2007, Ian steered some significant developments for the Academy.

  • In 1999, in order for the National Galleries of Scotland to refurbish the Academy building, Ian oversaw the move of...

    Ian McKenzie Smith PPRSA (1935-2025), On Canna, c. 1985-6

     In 1999, in order for the National Galleries of Scotland to refurbish the Academy building, Ian oversaw the move of the Academy to temporary premises in Waterloo Place and the move of the RSA Annual Exhibition to venues in both Glasgow and Edinburgh until our return to the RSA offices in summer 2002. During this period, a consultation paper - ‘Changing Landscapes’ - was compiled and served as the reference guide towards a rejuvenated and reinvigorated Academy as it moved into the twenty-first century. In 2006, Ian steered changes to the Academy’s Constitution through Privy Council, opening up the Academy structure and enabling the Associate Academicians to ascend to full Academician status. This constitutional revision also enabled artists working in a wider spectrum of media to be elected to the Academy and resulted in a more inclusive name change to the Royal Scottish Academy of Art and Architecture.

     

    Ian was also instrumental in the rewriting of the RSA Rule Book alongside Arthur Watson PPRSA and Colin Greenslade, Director. This publication assisted to streamline and reshape the governance structure of the Academy and its activities.

     

    Ian has paintings and prints in many public collections including the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art; the University of Glasgow; the Fleming Collection; the Government Art Collection; Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Perth Art Galleries and in private collections in the UK, Europe, North America and Japan.