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Maxie Bain (1942-2026)
Maxie Bain, who has died at the age of 83, was a prominent artist, teacher, and lecturer.
Maxie had a love of Shetland throughout his life, and though he spent much of it away from the islands, he returned in 2015 to live in the South Mainland.
Born in Sandwick in 1942, John Maxie Bain was educated locally and gained a place at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen.
This set him on the course he would take, both in his career and in his personal life.
From the start he was recognised as a painter of exemplary skill. A portrait of fellow art student, Irene McRobbie, was met with critical acclaim when submitted to the RSA annual exhibition of 1964.
The painting attracted a great deal of attention and was reproduced in The Scotsman and The Radio Times. This helped to persuade the Zetland County Council to provide Maxie with funding for a further year of post graduate study at Gray’s School of Art.
Maxie and Irene eventually married in 1967.
His teaching career then began in Nottingham, where Irene joined him after completion of her own teacher training.
Within a few years the couple returned to Scotland, where Maxie took up an art teaching appointment at Summerhill Academy in Aberdeen.
He and Irene set up home and their three children, Alan, Derek, and Leah, were born there.
However, a move to Salisbury in 1976 saw perhaps the biggest change in his career path when he took up a post at Salisbury College of Art. He was a lecturer in graphic design there for over 30 years, teaching and influencing generations of students.
His love of drawing and painting grew significantly during these years, as did his passion for cycling around the beautiful countryside of southern England, where he found inspiration in the natural world.
However, Shetland was never far from his mind. Family holidays were spent there every summer, when they undertook the long journey north crammed into a Renault 4, sometimes accompanied by a Hoswick cat draped around Maxie’s shoulders as he drove.
When Maxie retired, he continued to teach art part time until he and Irene took the decision to move back to Shetland permanently.
Painting and drawing was at the heart of his life and work. He exhibited in many prestigious venues including the Royal Scottish Academy, Society of Scottish Artists, Aberdeen Artists Society, the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, Mall Galleries and the National Portrait Gallery.
A gifted portrait painter, his commissions included a portrait of author Neil Gunn for the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
Maxie was awarded a joint second prize for a portrait of his wife, Irene, at one of the most prestigious competitions in the world, the John Player Portrait Award (now the BP Portrait Award).
His style is instantly recognisable and demonstrates a concern for design, tonal balance and intricate detail.
His paintings hang in many homes in Shetland, as well as in some of Shetland’s public buildings – and you may have noticed one of his watercolours if you have visited one of Shetland’s swimming pools.
I had the privilege of reviewing his solo shows in the Bonhoga Gallery in 2008 and 2017 for The Shetland Times. In those I highlighted his concern with planning and process which watercolour, in particular demands, but also his spontaneity in working with that medium.
These characteristics derive from both a love of the natural world and the knowledge and skills he ultimately shared with his students and those who viewed his work. He was always modest, enthusiastic and non-judgemental.
We also had the opportunity to see in 2017 the stunning technique in his portraits which are sensitive and characterful and demonstrate exemplary technical skill.
I remember well a beautiful portrait of his daughter Leah. I hope we can see a retrospective exhibition of his work in Shetland in the future.
That creativity and enthusiasm, so prominent in his life, has been passed on to his children and grandchildren.
Maxie Bain will be remembered as a talented artist and a generous, kind and unassuming man. He will be very much missed.
Peter Davis
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