William Nicolson (“Bill”) Smith 1936-2022

By Patrick Bourne, 31.08.2022

Bill Smith was Keeper of the Fleming Collection from 1985 - 1996.

Bill Smith was the universally liked and admired Keeper of the Fleming Collection from 1985 - 1996 and was responsible for many of the acquisitions that has made it one of the finest collections of Scottish paintings outside museums and art galleries. He assumed the position following the death of the original Keeper of Art, David Donald in 1985, having previously held various posts at Robert Fleming and Co, including running the Portfolio Management Department.

By his own admission Bill had no interest in art when he joined Robert Fleming in 1965 but his exposure to the burgeoning Collection, which was initiated in 1968 by David Donald during the chairmanship of Richard Fleming to enhance the working environment for staff and clients in the Crosby Square head office, changed that and he moved from the Corporate Finance Department in 1986 to take over what he described as ‘the best job in the bank.’

Bill was born in Buckie in the northeast of Scotland and raised in Hawick, attending the High School where his father was the music master. His first job was with the British Linen Bank in Hawick, transferring to their Kelso branch after two years of National Service. In Kelso he met Audrey who was working next door for the Commercial Bank of Scotland, and they married in 1960.

Despite coming to an appreciation of art late, Bill built up an impressive knowledge of the Scottish School, developing a particular interest in the Glasgow Boys. Some of the highlights of the Fleming Collection by members of this group were purchased during Bill’s time as Keeper, including Arthur Melville’s Orange Market, Puerto de los Pasajes, Edward Arthur Walton’s watercolour Romance and Children at Play by Edward Atkinson Hornel. Major acquisitions by important earlier artists – Allan Ramsay, Henry Raeburn and David Wilkie, for example - were also added during Bill’s decade in charge, as well as significant works by modern and contemporary Scottish artists including John Bellany, Barbara Rae and Will Maclean, so that the Collection was developing to provide a complete overview of the evolution of Scottish art.

Bill’s job was made easier and more enjoyable by his good rapport the late Robin Fleming, who was also keenly interested in Scottish art. Between them they made swift decisions on purchases without recourse to the time-consuming demands of a committee.  It was Mr Robin, with Bill’s encouragement, who made sure that in 1986 the architects of the bank’s new headquarters in Copthall Avenue paid particular attention to creating spaces and walls that displayed the paintings effectively (in the finished building, this was dramatically enhanced by the view from the glass lift that went from the ground to the 6^th floor).

Bill’s intensive study of Scottish painting led to his writing well-received biographies of David Young Cameron, E.A. Hornel, William McTaggart (with Per Kvaerne) and George Leslie Hunter (with Jill Marriner). He also wrote books about the Fleming Collection, notably A History of the Fleming Collection (with Selina Skipwith). In retirement he wrote a biography of Robert Fleming, the founder of the bank, and he was researching the life of the financier Sir Ernest Cassel when he died. He also personally built up a sensitively chosen collection of Scottish Art and his almost complete group of the etchings of D.Y. Cameron, along with a comprehensive selection of historic and contemporary Scottish prints, is on long term loan to the National Gallery of Scotland.

Bill wore his knowledge lightly and had no ego in spite of his achievements. He had an inherently kind nature and a gentle manner, and his friendship was important and life-enhancing for me as it was, I have no doubt, for others who had the good fortune to get to know him. One of the Fleming family, on hearing of his death, wrote that he was ‘such a rare person who meant so much to the Fleming family.’

Bill is survived by his wife Audrey and son Michael.