Armour, Mary
Mary Nicol Neill Armour, RSA (1902 - 2000) was a landscape and still life painter, Royal Scottish Academician, and Honorary President of the Glasgow School of Art. She was married to William Armour (1903-1979) principal of the drawing and painting department at the school. Together with her husband she would help found the Milngavie Art Club in 1927, teach Still Life painting at GSA, and become vice president of The Paisley Art Institute.
Known for her vibrant, colourful depictions of flowers, as well as her dramatic seascapes, it was the coastlines of Arran which she was most drawn to, and in particular the work she made at the coast around Blackwaterfoot that she wished to be remembered.
After her eyesight began to fail in later life, Armour continued to be a tireless supporter of emerging artists, setting up a series of awards and prizes which continue to benefit young painters today. Uncompromising, she was one of the first women elected to the Royal Scottish Academy. Armour once remarked that painting for her was ''an intellectual pursuit…the thinking takes far more time than the actual manipulation of the oil paint.'
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