The Scottish artist whose work was collected by Andy Warhol

The son of a lithographer, Wilson was born in 1873 in Glasgow and educated at a private seminary before transferring to Gorbals Public School. He went on to study at the Glasgow School of Art from 1892-3 and 1899-1906 under leading Belgian symbolist painter, Jean Delville, rising to become Head of Drawing and Painting in 1932, a post which he held until 1938 prior to his death in 1950. 

While public awareness among Scots of Wilson and his works in the present day appears to have diminished, his works appear in some of the most prestigious collections around the world.

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Fine art specialist Luke Price works at Chiswick Auctions, where Wilson’s ‘Vanity’ was sold in 2019 for just under £25,000, the most fetched for one of the Glaswegian artist’s paintings since 1998. 

Speaking to The Herald about Wilson, Mr Price said: “His quality of handling mixed with the Modernism of Glasgow during the early 20th century make his works from 1920s his most sought after, as an academic teacher I anticipate this effected his studio output, and makes this period of work rare. As such his works at auction are rare during this period but much admired and can achieve substantial money.

David Forrester Wilson's ‘The Wind’ (Image: Getty)

“David Forrester Wilson's works during the early part of 20th century are some of his most important, he was part of a wonderful melting pot of influences in Glasgow during this period. His style is based on the classical training he received at the Glasgow School of Arts from 1892-3 and 1899-1906 under the Belgian Symbolist, Jean Delville; (He become the institution's Head of Drawing and Painting in 1932).

“During this period he acquired his technique characterised by bold, vigorous, painterly handling, this together with the diverse Influences of Delville, the Glasgow Boys, James Abbott McNeill Whistler and Jules Bastien-Lepage. His work begins to echo the Modernism under James Abbott McNeill Whistler in and around the city.  

“An exhibitor at the Royal Glasgow Institute throughout his career, in 1919 and throughout the 1920s Forrester Wilson submitted works with the evocative titles of The Echo, The Song, and The Wind. It would be this period that expounded the importance of the aesthetic ideal in his work.

"David Forrester Wilson's known output is relatively small, however his works appear in some of the most prestigious collections around the world, and admired by fellow artists throughout the 20th century.”

A self-portrait by David Forrester Wilson (pic credit: Dunbartonshire Council) (Image: Getty)

Andy Warhol owned several of Wilson’s works, with ‘The Wind’ supposedly one of his favourite paintings. 

‘The Wind’ would go on to fetch a sum of $110,000 -10 times its presale estimate of $10,000 - when it was auctioned off along with a number of Warhol ‘treasures’ in a landmark sale of his estate at Sotheby’s back in May of 1988 just over a year after the Pop Art pioneer passed away. 

Reporting on the sale at the time, The Washington Post remarked that Wilson’s painting was “typical of Warhol's bewildering taste”. They wrote: “A Paul Klee watercolor snared $286,000, sharing top lot honors with a less impressive Picasso painting…In sharp contrast to Klee's avant-garde scratches but typical of Warhol's bewildering taste, David Forrester Wilson's bucolic painting "The Wind" sold for $110,000, 10 times higher than its presale estimate.”

As well as hanging on the walls of the famous hedonistic hub that was The Factory in midtown Manhattan, another of Wilson’s works, ‘Time and History’, was hung - and remains - in the more stately surroundings of the banquet hall of Glasgow City Chambers. Wilson received the commission to paint a large decorative panel in the hall back in 1911, just five years after completing his studies at Glasgow School of Art.

Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum is also home to Wilson’s ‘Faggots’, a work the Glasgow Corporation purchased for the sum £150 in 1915, the equivalent of around £17,000 in today’s money. 

Wilson was also frequent exhibitor at The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts for over fifty years,  with "The Wind" believed to have been put on public display for the first time there there in 1919, priced at £300. 

Later this month, a rare masterpiece from Andy Warhol’s celebrated Death And Disaster series is expected to fetch more than $80 million (£69 million) at auction, while Wilson’s ‘Gathering Faggots’ oil painting is currently listed for sale on eBay for less than £8,000.