The painter and printmaker Craigie Aitchison is best known for his spare compositions and intense, luminous palette. His subject-matter is equally distinctive – landscapes, single flowers, Bedlington terriers, sheep and crucifixions. Aitchison initially studied Law at Edinburgh University before attending the Slade School of Fine Art, London, from 1952 to 1954. In 1955 he travelled to Italy on a British Council scholarship where he was strongly influenced by many of the paintings he saw there. He was elected a Royal Academician in 1988 and in 1999 he was awarded a CBE for his contribution to British Art.