Sandy Moffat

BIOGRAPHY

Dr Alexander Moffat, commonly referred to as Sandy Moffat, is a painter, author, teacher, and master of the fine arts. Born in Dunfermline, he studied at the Edinburgh College of Art alongside his friend, John Bellany.

Moffat emerged as one of the Scottish Realists, so-called because of their social awareness and rejection of the decorative principles that defined much Scottish art during the first half of the twentieth century. He is known for his portraits of major Scottish literary, cultural, and famous figures.

Moffat is also a Royal Scottish Academician and holder of an OBE. Sandy Moffat taught at the Glasgow of School of Art from 1979, where he encouraged a new generation of Scottish figurative painters including Peter Howson, Ken Currie, and Steven Campbell. Then, he was elected Head of Painting there from 1992 until his retirement in 2005.

Works by Sandy Moffat can be viewed in numerous galleries and public spaces including The National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh, The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Arts Council of Great Britain and in The Yale Center of British Art.