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Art of the 20th Century
Scottie Wilson
Scottie Wilson
(1888-1972)Scottie Wilson spent much of his childhood in Glasgow. He ran away from school at the age of nine, unable to write anything more than his name. At sixteen he joined the Scottish Rifles and fought on the Western Front during the first world war. In 1931 Wilson moved to Toronto where he ran a junk shop and where he first began to draw. 'One day I was listening to some music by Mendelssohn', he recalls, 'and I was looking at one of my pens looking like a bulldog, with a nib as thick as my finger - I dipped it into a bottle of ink to try it out, doodling on the surface of the table'. He did this for two days until the tabletop was completely covered in designs. His pictures are characterized by their intricacy, and are filled with strange, mythical creatures. André Breton and Picasso were great admirers, and Wilson is represented in most major museum collections around the world.
