Scottie Wilson 1888-1972

Self-taught ‘outsider’ artist Scottie Wilson (Louis Freeman) was born into a Jewish family in Glasgow, Scotland on 6 June 1888. After leaving school at the age of eight to help subsidise his family's meagre income, he later served in the army in India and South Africa, leaving in 1911 but rejoining during the First World War. Afterwards he emigrated to Ontario, Canada, where he ran a shop and discovered his passion for art via doodling. He held his first exhibition in Toronto in 1943. He became known for his highly detailed, idiosyncratic style, peopling his work with his own characters - ‘evils and greedies’ - whom he juxtaposed with naturalistic symbols of goodness and truth including fish, birds, flowers, trees, self-portraits and totem pole-like symbols. He moved to London in the 1940s, becoming a well-known character in the London arts scene. His work was admired by the Surrealists and acquired by Jean Dubuffet and Picasso. He spent his remaining years in Kilburn, North London, where he died on 26 March 1972. His work is in collections including Tate and the National Galleries of Scotland.