Item NMC/1537 - Study of woman

Sydney d’Horne Shepherd was born in 1909 in Dundee, Scotland. He was also referred to as Toby Shepherd. He died in 1993. He was a painter, printmaker, and teacher.

Regarding school, he attended Harris Academy in Dundee. He later attended the Dundee School of Art from 1924 to 1926, then went to the Glasgow School of Art (GSA) the following year. He studied at the GSA from 1927 to 1930. He won a travelling scholarship and various prizes for his portraiture and landscape design. He was awarded a Diploma in Drawing and Painting from the GSA on 26 Jun 1929.

In 1929, Helen Biggar and her sister, Florence (Flossie) Biggar met Sydney when he was a student-lecturer. Flossie and Sydney married on 18 Jul 1933 but divorced in 1945. They were nicknamed ‘Tobias and the Angel.’ He is also the cousin of the author Gordon Daviot who wrote the play titled “Queen of Scots.” Later on in his life, he lived in Rudgwick, Sussex in England. He had a daughter, Anna Shepherd.

Regarding his work, he seemed to move around often. He taught at the GSA from 1930 to 1932 then he went to London for various portrait commissions. From 1937 to 1947, he lectured at the Shoreditch Training College in London. He also was part of the National Fire Service during the Second World War from 1941 to 1945. After 1954, he taught at numerous schools but notably Ealing School of Art, St Martin’s School of Art, and Sir John Cass School of Art before he retired in 1974.

His art has been exhibited in numerous countries including Scotland, England, America, Italy, and South Africa. As well, he exhibited at the Royal Society of British Artists, New English Art Club, London Group, Leicester Galleries, Redfern Gallery, Royal Scottish Academy, Society of Scottish Artists, and more. His work is also in the collections of the Queens Gallery in Dundee and the V&A Museum. In 2009, there was an exhibition to mark the centenary of his birth and celebrate his art which was held at the Queens Gallery in Dundee.