In the summer of 1938 Robert Colquhoun was awarded Glasgow School of Art’s major travelling scholarship, worth £120. That sum provided a frugal student with enough to live on for nearly a year. The Governors acknowledged that they had difficulty picking between Colquhoun and his long-term partner, Robert MacBryde. The Chairman of the Governors of the School, Sir John Richmond, guessed that Colquhoun would split the money with MacBryde and so he generously gave MacBryde the same sum from his own pocket. As a gesture of thanks, the Roberts gave him two drawings on their return from their travels: one of each of the artists - drawn by the other.