Studied at Grays School of Art, Aberdeen from 1953-1958 and thereafter at Hospitalfield, Arbroath, and abroad. Director at Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums 1968-1989, and was Aberdeen City Arts and Recreation Officer 1989-1996. He was the Secretary of the Royal Scottish Academy 1990-98, before becoming President of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1998. His work is mainly abstract and based on landscape.
