David McClure

David McClure, the respected Scottish painter, has died at the age of 72. He died on Friday, his birthday, in his adopted home town of Dundee.

McClure was a distinctive figure among the group of young painters that emerged from Edinburgh College of Art in the fifties. Influenced by his teachers, Anne Redpath, William Gillies, and John Maxwell, McClure was one of a group of bright young painters, along with David Michie, John Houston, and Elizabeth Blackadder, whose artistic talent shone out in the post-war austerity years.

Born in Lochwinnoch, the son of a furniture designer, the young McClure first opted to study English and history at Glasgow University and developed a keen interest in philosophy which later led him to become a founder member of the David Hume Society.

His studies were interrupted by War service when he was sent down the coal mines as a ''Bevin Boy''.

The experience had a lasting effect on McClure and left him with an admiration for the miners and an appreciation of the lot of working people.

Throughout the period his interest in art continued to grow, and in 1947 he went to Edinburgh University to recommence his studies before moving to the College of Art in 1949 to study fine art and art history, during which he discovered his interest in painting.

He was a distinguished student and won travelling scholarships to paint in Italy, Sicily, and Spain, an experience that informed some of the Mediterranean folk-art influences in some of his paintings and also his interest in colour.

Following two years' teaching at Edinburgh, the young painter was recruited in 1957 by Alberto Morrocco to join the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee where he earned a reputation as an inspirational and caring teacher.

McClure had a strong adherence to the core values of sound drawing, the importance of tradition, art history, and learning the craft of painting. He found time to work with students who were less gifted and was appreciated for his rigorous intellect which made an impact on the college.

He is remembered at Duncan of Jordanstone for ''opening the minds of staff and students'' alike and spent the last two years of his career there as head of painting before retiring in 1985.

Throughout, he had a prodigious output of still lifes, interiors, Scottish landscapes, and nudes. Works by McClure are highly regarded and are held in many public and private collections. He exhibited widely and was a member of the Royal Scottish Water Colour Society and the Royal Glasgow Institute.

He was made a member of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1971. An intensely literate man, McClure read widely and wrote the introductions to several exhibitions as well as a book on John Maxwell.

McClure was a collector and his home, often referred to as ''like walking into one of his paintings'', was a treasure trove of pictures and ceramics.

Although in poor health in recent years, McClure continued to paint. Such was his determination and commitment to his art that he had an oxygen cylinder rigged up in his studio with a lengthy lead attached to a mask.

McClure is survived by his second wife Angela and his children, Robin, a director of the Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh, Kevin, and Paola.