10 Facts About James McBey

James McBey was a largely self-taught artist and etcher whose prints were highly valued during the later stages of the etching revival in the early 20th century.

James McBey was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters by Aberdeen University.

James McBey was born in Newburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, educated at his village school, and at the age of 15 years became a clerk in a local bank.

James McBey printed the results on paper using a domestic mangle.

James McBey spent five days on a reconnaissance mission in the Sinai Desert with an Imperial Camel Corps patrol, consisting of rough-riders from the Australian outback, and witnessed Allenby's entry into Jerusalem in December 1917.

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James McBey made several visits thereafter to the Middle East and North Africa.

James McBey was featured by Malcolm Salaman in the second volume of the series Modern Masters of Etching and Salaman compiled a catalogue of his work, published in 1929.

James McBey had commissions to paint a number of formal portraits, including one of Sir Harry Lauder in 1921, which today is in the Glasgow Museums.

In 1929 James McBey visited America and returned in 1931 to marry Marguerite Loeb, a photographer and bookbinder from Philadelphia.

Work of James McBey is held by the National Portrait Gallery, London; the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco; the National Gallery of Art, Washington; the Huntington Library, California; and by the Aberdeen Art Gallery where the McBey Art Reference Library was established in his name in 1961, based on a bequest from McBey's wife.