Tag: John McNairn

Born in Hawick, McNairn studied  at the Edinburgh College of Art and, on graduating,  travelled to Paris where he attended the Académie Scandinave, where he was attracted by the work  of the fauve artist, Othon Friesz.  Later, still in Paris, in 1933, he was again seriously affected by the surrealist exhibition, particularly the work of Dali and Miro, which he’d found particularly disturbing. This influence is identifiable in much of McNairn’s work through an unsettling emptiness and a slightly unnatural perspective. Following war service, McNairn returned to Scotland and became an art teacher.