Sometimes referred to as ‘The Fifth Scottish Colourist’, John Maclauchlan Milne was born in Buckhaven, Fife in 1885, the son of the traditional landscape artist, Joseph Milne and nephew of William Watt Milne.
It is thought that Milne received his training from his father, before a period spent in Canada. Whilst there he described himself as an artist, but spent time working as a cowboy in order to earn a living.
Mentored initially by his father, Maclauchlan Milne went on to be greatly inspired by the French Fauvist masters and the colours and the light that he encountered during his travels in Europe.
Spending a vast majority of his time between 1919 – 1932 visiting France, Milne fell in love with Paris and immersed himself in the bohemian world of Paris café culture, much like that of his Scottish predecessors, Samuel John Peploe and John Duncan Fergusson, whose influence is evident in his work. His later paintings are famous for bringing the light of the Mediterranean back to Scottish soil, with the hills and harbours of the isle of Arran becoming a favoured subject.
During World War One, Maclauchlan Milne served with the Royal Flying Corps, including in France and Belgium. Following de-mobilisation in 1919, he served as President of Dundee Art Society before a spell living in Paris. Indeed, from this point on until 1932 he spent significant amounts of time in France, in the capital as well as the Midi, with St Tropez finding particular favour as a place to work. Other leading Scottish artists of the inter-war period were also drawn to the French Mediterranean, including Charles Rennie Mackintosh, James McIntosh Patrick, Anne Redpath and all four artists known as ‘the Scottish Colourists’, F. C. B. Cadell, J. D. Fergusson, G. L. Hunter and S. J. Peploe.
His ties with Scotland remained strong, and ultimately he was to settle on the Isle of Arran, making his home near Corrie harbour. The effect of the brilliant French light never deserted Milne, and his depictions of Arran are virtually always of idyllically bright days, featuring white-washed cottages, wind-ruffled blossom trees and turquoise bays. Milne’s form by this period is often experimentally free and unfettered; the foliage and proportions of the house almost swirling with movement and expression, alluding, perhaps, to the work of one of his greatest influences, Vincent Van Gogh.
The importance of Maclauchlan Milne’s work was recognised during his lifetime and was included in many solo and group exhibitions including in Glasgow, London, America and Canada. Acquisitions were made for public collections including The McManus, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and by the French state for the Musée du Luxembourg. In addition, his work was sought after by Scotland’s leading collectors, including William Boyd, Matthew Justice, Alexander Keiller and John Tattersall. Maclauchlan Milne was elected to the Royal Scottish Academy in 1937 and continued to show there until his death in 1957.
