John Miller Gray
John Miller Gray | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of John Miller Gray | |
| Born | July 19, 1850 |
| Died | March 22, 1894 (aged 43) Edinburgh |
| Resting place | Newington, Edinburgh |
John Miller Gray (1850–1894) was a Scottish art critic and the first curator of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
History
John Miller Gray was born on 19 July 1850 in Edinburgh, his father a shawl manufacturer who was bankrupted in 1857, his mother dying at his birth. He attended Mr. Munro's school in Newington (Archibald Munro; 1823–1898) and Munro's Clare Hall Academy in Edinburgh,[1] but was forced aged 16 to finish his education and take up work as an apprentice bank clerk at the Bank of Scotland, where he remained for 18 years.[2] Although he detested the work, in his spare time he educated himself about art and worked as a critic.[3] He was particularly influenced by the art critic and writer Walter Pater, with whom he corresponded as well as reviewing some of Pater's work including Marius the Epicurean.[4]
Gray was friendly with a number of prominent artists and public figures, including artists William Bell Scott and Phoebe Anna Traquair, and physician and writer John Brown.[3][2] In 1884 he was appointed first curator of the new Scottish National Portrait Gallery, initially at temporary premises and later in Robert Rowand Anderson's Queen Street building, which opened in 1889.[2]
He wrote regularly for periodicals including Academy and the Edinburgh Evening Courant and was chief art critic of the Scottish Leader.[4] His publications included an 1880 book on Scottish artist George Manson and several essays on the iconography of Robert Burns.[2] His two-volume Memoir and Remains was posthumously published by David Douglas in Edinburgh in 1895.
He died on 22 March 1894 of a brain haemorrhage, shortly before his 44th birthday, and was buried at Echo Bank cemetery in Newington, Edinburgh. He left most of his estate to the Gallery.[5][6][2]
A portrait of John Miller Gray by Patrick William Adam is in the collection of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (see Gallery).[7]
Gallery
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1885:
Portrait of John Miller Gray (1850–1894), art critic and first curator of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, painted in oil on canvas by Patrick William Adam (1852–1929), a member of the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA). Housed at the National Galleries of Scotland.
Bibliography
Notes
- ^ "Education", Caledonian Mercury July 31, 1865, p. 1.
- ^ a b c d e Caw, 1901, pp. 347–348.
- ^ a b Cumming, 2005.
- ^ a b Seiler, 1995, p. 120.
- ^ Crawford, 2013, p. 115.
- ^ "Deaths", The Morning Post, March 28, 1894, p. 1.
- ^ "John Miller Gray", Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
References
- Caw, James Lewis. "Gray, John Miller". In Lee, Sidney Lazarus Lee (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography: Supplement. London: Smith, Elder, & Co. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
- Vol. 2: "Chippendale–Hoste". 1901. pp. 347–348. LCCN 2001-522502.
- Vol. 22 (of 22). 1998. pp. 772–773. LCCN 00-694539.
- Crawford, Robert (2013). On Glasgow and Edinburgh. Harvard University Press. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-6740-6727-1 – via Google Books.
- Cumming, Elizabeth (née Moss) (2005) [1993, 2022]. Phoebe Anna Traquair: 1852–1936. Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland. ISBN 9-781-9032-7865-9, 1-9032-7865-1, ISBN 9-781-9016-6398-3, 1-9016-6398-1, ISBN 9-781-9110-5443-6 (paperback); OCLC 57639717 (all editions).
- Via Internet Archive. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
- "Deaths" – "Gray". The Morning Post. No. 38001. London. March 28, 1894. p. 1.
- See The Morning Post
- Via Newspapers.com. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
- "Education: Clare Hall Academy". Caledonian Mercury. No. 23741. Edinburgh. July 31, 1865. p. 1 (column 5).
- Via Newspapers.com. Retrieved March 15, 2025.
- "John Miller Gray". National Galleries of Scotland. Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
- Seiler, Robert Morris (1995). Walter Pater: The Critical Heritage. Routledge. p. 120. ISBN 978-0-4151-3394-4.