The Firth of Clyde

Born in Glasgow, Cameron trained at the Glasgow School of Art and the Royal Scottish Academy Schools in Edinburgh. He first found success with his series of etchings of Northern Italy, London and Paris. However, it was as a painter of dramatic highland views that he found his true vocation. Inspired by the beauty of the landscape he developed a distinctive style, eliminating detail to concentrate on the powerful relationship between hills, sky and lochs. He emphasised the grandeur of these views with a palette ranging from sombre browns, greys and blacks to unrestrained blues, plums, reds and golds. Sir William MacTaggart praised him as, 'one of the few artists who succeeded in capturing the drama of the Highlands' (see B. Smith, D.Y. Cameron, The Visions of the Hills, Edinburgh, 1992, p. 113).