Ulster artist with works hanging in world's top galleries - and admired by David Bowie - the subject of new book

Raised in Co Fermanagh in the early 20th century, William Scott first studied with an art teacher in Enniskillen before moving on to Belfast School of Art in 1928 and then on to the Royal Academy schools in London.

Having helped his father paint and repair Orange Order banners for the local lodges around Enniskillen, his abstract paintings are now on display in the Tate and the Guggenheim in New York, as well as closer to home in the Fermanagh County Museum and the Ulster Museum in Belfast.

Although Bowie purchased Scott’s 1938 ‘Girl Seated at Table’ for the bargain price of £45,000 (it sold for £337,000 following the singer’s death in 2016), the record for a Scott painting at auction is just over £1 million.

Cardwell McClure has spent ten years researching the life and works of his illustrious uncle and will launch his new book - William Scott: A Family History - this Saturday in Enniskillen.

The book also records the stories of other members of William Scott’s family, including the artist's Oscar-winning movie director son James.

William Scott was born in Greenock in Scotland in 1913 but his Fermanagh born father, William John Scott, brought the family back to his hometown of Enniskillen in 1924.

A painter and decorator, Scott snr acquired a workshop in Enniskillen where the young William helped out after school.

Cardwell said: “He painted barbers’ signs, shop signs and anything else that needed to be done in the workshop prior to them being fitted by his father.

“His father was hungry for work and took on anything including painting and touching up Orange Order banners. Young William assisted him with these”

Scott who died at his home near Bath in 1989 at the age of 76 after living with Alzheimer’s for several years,

The book launch will take place at 11am on Saturday in the Fermanagh County Museum at Enniskillen Castle.

The event will also include a screening of James Scott’s film 'Every Picture Tells a Story' - a film made for Channel 4 about his father's early life.