About the Artist

Born in Scotland and came to Australia at the age of 1. Mainly a portraits painter Hugh Ramsay's keen insight into character and poetic sensitivity to colour and scale, coupled with his remarkable technical virtuosity, made him one of Australia's most important portraitists. From an early age his precocious talent held the promise of a fine career, but Ramsay had a tragically short life. He contracted tuberculosis in 1902 and died at the age of 29.