William Littlejohn RSA RSW RGI, born 1929

Littlejohn was born in Arbroath and studied at Gray’s School of Art. Thanks to a Royal Scottish Academy travel bursary, he was able to visit Japan, where he absorbed a style that fascinated him from the early stages of his career, applying the flattened spaces seen to rougher coastal Scottish subject matter. He has been widely exhibited in Scotland, becoming an academician in 1973. He combined his exploratory practice with duties as lecturer at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen, and finally as Head of Fine Art until his retirement in 1991.