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James Taylor Brown was born in
Stewarton in 1883 and lived most of his life locally. As a boy he showed
tremendous promise with his imaginative drawings, sketches and colour work
and this was the beginning of a career in art.
Until he was 28 he worked in the dry goods department of Arthur's
Warehouse in Queen Street, Glasgow. Later he opened his own shop in Main
Street, Stewarton, selling newspapers, books and confectionery.
Most of the remainder of his life — he died in 1940 at the age of 57—he
devoted to painting. He was fortunate to have the guidance and took
lessons from some distinguished Scottish artists, a group named "the
Glasgow Boys", including E.A.Walton, A.R.S.A.
His natural talent at painting country scenes brought him a measure of
fame and he had exhibitions in the Royal Scottish Academy, the Glasgow
Institute of Fine Arts and the Society of Scottish Artists in Edinburgh.
Other exhibitions were held in England.
Taylor Brown's pictures were in demand during his lifetime and sold for
reasonable sums. Down in England Leeds Art Gallery purchased one named
"Wind Tossed."
Willie Smith of Loganlea, Stewarton, is a great fan of Taylor Brown and
owns several of his works. It was he who told me that Brown travelled
about Scotland seeking suitable subjects in places such as East Neuk of
Fife, Portobello, and many parts of Ayrshire. Dunlop Kirk was one of his
favourite subjects.
The Stewarton artist's pictures varied according, it is said, to his frame
of mind at the time of painting. When he was feeling well and
light-hearted his paintings were lighter in colour but when depressed or
hitting the bottle, as he was known to do on occasion, he used darker
shades.
My maternal grandfather, also James Brown, was his cousin and Taylor acted
as best man at his wedding to my granny. For a present he gave them two
pictures, painted on cigar boxes as he couldn't afford canvas at the time.
Those two pictures eventually came into my possession wrapped in brown
paper but they disappeared at a flitting in the 1970's and were never seen
again. Very careless, and I regret not taking more care of them to this
day. My mother, who was Jean Brown before marriage, was encouraged by
Taylor as she was keen on painting and two of her pictures are still in
our family. I must have known Taylor Brown being related, but it was a
long time ago and as I was only a boey at the time, I can't remember him.
Earlier this year in February and March, some of Taylor Brown's works were
exhibited in the Dick Institute, Kilmarnock, many of them on loan from
Stewarton collectors. They included scenes of Rowallan Castle, Robertland
Estate, Ballantrae, Dunlop Kirk, Prestonpans shore and the Millhouse,
Stewarton. The exhibition created a lot of interest and was well worth a
visit.
James Taylor Brown was buried in Stewarton Cemetery, where his wife also
lies, in an unmarked grave. Surely some enterprising local organisation or
group might be willing to finance the erection of a stone to mark the
grave of one of Stewarton's illustrious sons.
Click Here to view a selection of postcards by James
Taylor Brown
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