Elizabeth MacNicol, known as Bessie, was born in Glasgow in 1869. She studied firstly at the Glasgow School of Art where she excelled at painting and portraiture. Whilst at Glasgow Bessie studied with and befriended many of the female artist’s who would later be collectively called The Glasgow Girls. With the encouragement of the School’s Director, Fra Newbery, MacNicol painted at his summer schools at Lundin Links, Fife and later she travelled to Paris to continue her training at the Academie Colarossi.
MacNicol is well represented in public collections. In her lifetime she exhibited widely in Scotland at the Royal Scottish Academy, the Glasgow Society of Lady Artists, the Royal Glasgow Institute, and the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour. In his book Scottish Painting Past and Present (London, 1908, p. 436), James Caw, Director of the National Galleries of Scotland, recognised MacNicol as ‘probably the most accomplished lady-artist that Scotland has yet produced’.
MacNicol is well represented in public collections. In her lifetime she exhibited widely in Scotland at the Royal Scottish Academy, the Glasgow Society of Lady Artists, the Royal Glasgow Institute, and the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour. In his book Scottish Painting Past and Present (London, 1908, p. 436), James Caw, Director of the National Galleries of Scotland, recognised MacNicol as ‘probably the most accomplished lady-artist that Scotland has yet produced’.