James McNaught was born in Glasgow . His parents worked as carpet designers at Templeton’s carpet factory. James earliest memory of a painting was one of a woman by Picasso who he firmly believed to be his mother. He enjoyed drawing and painting at school but not much else and in 1966 without any formal qualifications McNaught was accepted unconditionally at Glasgow School of Art where he stayed until 1970, where, he says he would have been happy to stay for the rest of his life.
James paints in gouache and watercolour with a delicate touch and a faultless technique. His paintings have an obsessive quality, they are witty and enigmatic and depict a surreal, brooding, slightly threatening world.
He admires many artists, in particular George Grosz, Hans Bellmer, Chaim Soutine and Paul Delvaux. James has had exhibitions in Amsterdam and Munich and his paintings hang in significant private collections in Australia, Gemany, The Netherlands, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and the U.S.A. He has twenty paintings in a private collection in Costa Rica.
McNaught has been exhibiting with Portal Painters since 1978 and exhibits with them at The London Art Fair in January, the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea in March and the British Art Fair at the Saatchi Gallery in September.
James McNaught is a member of the RGI and the RSW.
