Forrester Wilson, born in Glasgow in 1873, was predestined for trade but eventually opted for free painting. He studied for five years at the Glasgow School of Art (1899) and completed this training with a travel scholarship which enabled him to study in Italy, Belgium, Paris and London in 1905. Later he would return to this school as an - influential - teacher and from 1931 head of the painting and drawing department. Wilson painted portraits, landscapes and a single genre scene in a naturalistic style. He also painted a series of monumental murals in the Glasgow City Hall.