This painting became known as Arrangement in White entirely by accident. In 1980 Donaldson was due to include a still-life painting with that title at a London exhibition of his works. The catalogue had to be printed well in advance of the show and he later decided to replace the listed Arrangement in White with this enchanting portrait of his younger daughter, Caroline, at the age of about seventeen. Caroline had agreed that her portrait be exhibited both at the Royal Glasgow Institue of the Fine Arts and the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh. Thanks to serendipity, it has since taken its place as an ‘arrangement in white’ in the Whistlerian tradition - and it must certainly be one of the most delicately painted, engaging spontaneous of such works. Interestingly, the portrait is signed ‘Her Father’ rather than his usual signature. The painting had never meant to leave her possession.

David Abercrombie Donaldson RSA RP, 1916-1996

Born in Chryston, Lanarkshire, Donaldson was brought up by his grandparents in a working-class environment in Coatbridge. From 1932 to 1938 he studied at Glasgow School of Art, where his teachers included Hugh Adam Crawford and Ian Fleming. A travelling scholarship took him to Florence and Paris in 1937. After leaving the school the following year he became a part-time teacher there, giving evening classes. In 1944 he was appointed a full-time lecturer becoming in 1967 an influential Head of Department of Drawing and Painting, a post he held until his retirement in 1981. He was appointed Her Majesty's Painter and Limner in Scotland in 1977. Donaldson is known for his witty portraits and figure paintings. His work also includes still life and landscape, particularly of Scotland and of France, where he had a house.