Michael Brown

1854 - 1947

(James) Michael Brown (1854 - 1947) was an Edinburgh painter of golfing scenes and son of a Fife engraver. He is very well known for his commissioned series of golf scenes and personalities for the Life Association of Scotland calendars that was produced yearly between 1899 - 1916. Some of Browns other famous works are Open Golf Championship 1895 St Andrews, On leven Links Fifeshire and Championship on the Course at Carnoustie. The Life Association of Scotland was established in 1838 in Edinburgh, setting up the Insurance & Banking Golf Club on the Duddingston estate in 1895 (later becoming the Duddingston Golf Club) beneath the spectacular backdrop of the extinct volcano, Arthur's Seat. To mark the opening of the extended Club House, Michael Brown was commissioned to paint a scene from an exhibition golf match at the Club. The Life Association of Scotland used this as the center piece of their 1899 calendar. It was such a marketing success Brown was then commissioned to annually paint a golfing picture until 1916, prints were made of these originals and glued to the cardboard calendar that the Life Association of Scotland produced. Brown's original paintings adorned the walls of the Edinburgh head office for many years. Brown often had the famous golfers of the time sit for him whilst at competitions and he used these studies to help him latter reproduce the accurate likenesses of the players in his paintings.

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