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the hawcklymuir factory,
Kirkcaldy
Blyth was a man of firm likes and dislikes but he was prepared to take advice from
dealers he trusted. the most important figures in this respect were initially alex Reid and
Peter Mcomish Dott. Blyth bought consistently from the scottish Gallery in edinburgh,
which was run by George Proudfoot after Dott’s retirement during the first World War.
Peter Mcomish Dott was a great admirer and collector of the works of three
scottish landscape artists – James lawton Wingate, William Mctaggart and George
Paul Chalmers (1833–78) – and Blyth’s initial choices can be seen as influenced by
the advocacy of the dealer for these painters. this said, it was Dott who was the first
champion of Peploe, giving his first exhibition in 1903 and his second in 1909.
from 1906 onwards there were a number of Mctaggart exhibitions in both
Glasgow and edinburgh which Blyth would have had the opportunity to see. In 1906
there was an exhibition of pictures and drawings by the artist at la société des Beauxarts
in Glasgow, followed a year later by a show of his most recent pictures at the scottish
Gallery in edinburgh. ‘the most outstanding and memorable exhibition’, according to
sir James Caw, Mctaggart’s biographer and an influential critic, was brought together at
the scottish National exhibition in 1908.
as has been noted, Blyth’s first Mctaggart, Away to the West, was bought for £280
from Dott in edinburgh during 1910. It is possible that the first business contact between
alex Reid and Blyth is a letter written by Reid on 23rd June 1910. It reads: ‘If you care
to send me a cheque for £350 for the picture I will accept for the purpose of opening
with you.’ the transaction was not concluded and we can assume that the purchase from
the scottish Galley was made in preference.
Blyth had thus made contact with the two most influential dealers in scotland,
and was willing to spend relatively large sums on the work of William Mctaggart.
his confidence can in part be put down to the growth in the importance of the dealer as
a necessary link between the artist and the collector in scotland. the increasing wealth
of the rising mercantile classes had provided a new source of patronage for artists, but it
was a patronage of a different kind from that which had gone before. the old contractual
system between the well-educated, well-travelled and leisured man of property and the
artist was becoming less common. the new men of wealth were middle-class businessmen
like Blyth who responded to the service provided by the dealers and actively sought their
advice and expertise in the formation of their collections. the increase in the number
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