Amiens by William York MacGregor (1855-1923) depicts a street scene with houses and an alley making up the foreground, and the tall towers of the Cathedral of Notre Dame of Amiens taking up a portion of the background. MacGregor's focus is on the architectural details throughout the work, with intentional linework of pastel around the windows, rooftops, and the towers of the cathedral. The figures on the street are captured solely with black pastel, as silhouettes, reflective of MacGregor's true focus. MacGregor also focuses on the way light highlights parts of the work and otherwise cases the alley into shadow, with the more vibrant colours of the work disappearing into the grey of these shadows. 

MacGregor's work here is characteristic of the Glasgow Boys focus on capturing the way light interacted in the natural environment and the ability to capture shadows realistically. 

William York McGregor RSA RSW, 1855-1923

Born at Finnart, Dunbartonshire, Macgregor studied in Glasgow under Robert Greenlees and James Docherty and in Lndon at the Slade School of Art under Alphonse Legros. His forcefull, well-disciplined technique and direct approach strongly influenced the other Glasgow Boys. The informal life classes he gave during the winters of 1881-84 were attended by all the leading members of the Glasgow School except Guthrie and Melville. Asthma forced him to leave Glasgow in 1885 for Bridge of Allan and later South Africa, but he returned to Scotland in 1890.