Item NMC/0028 - Portrait of John Laurie

b. Lanarkshire, 1925, d. 1993. GSA student 1941-1943, GSA staff 1947-1986 (Both full-time and as a visiting staff member).
Danny Ferguson was educated at Airdrie Academy from 1936-1942. He was an athletic youngster, playing football for (amongst others) Baillieston Juniors, Bedlay Juniors, Douglas Water Thistle and Blantyre Victoria (taking over the centre-half position from Jock Stein). Later in life he was a keen snooker player, frequently championing the Glasgow Art Club, and enjoyed Curling. He began studying at GSA in 1941 but his studies were interrupted when he was called up. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1943 and served in the Far East. He rejoined GSA in 1947 and was awarded his diploma in Drawing and Painting in 1949. That same year he won a £30 prize at the Royal Scottish Academy annual competitions. From 1949-1950 he attended the Jordanhill Teacher Training College. He later combined a position as visiting lecturer at GSA with teaching in various Glasgow Schools. He returned to GSA as a full time lecturer in 1968. In 1958 Ferguson married Margaret Dunn, also a graduate of the Glasgow School of Art, in Embroidery and Weaving. They had two children, Anne and David. Although probably best known for his caricatures, Ferguson also excelled at landscapes, still lifes and self-portraits. He exhibited regularly, had numerous one-man shows, and his work still hangs in many collections, including the Royal Collection. Danny Ferguson was elected a member of the RSW in 1969, having exhibited there from 1961. He had over 88 works exhibited at the Royal Glasgow Institute, from 1957. He was a member of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour. Ferguson also served as honorary secretary of the RGI for nine years and was a president of the Glasgow Art Club.