Biography

Born in Portobello, McIsaac trained at the Edinburgh College of Art between 1930 and 1934, where he was taught by Scottish Colourist Samuel Peploe, whose style had a lasting influence on McIsaac’s still-lives and interior paintings. Whilst teaching art during the 1950s, McIsaac wrote widely on Scottish art and published in the 'Scottish Art Review', 'The Studio', and the Edinburgh Evening News. He also took to stage designing, undertaking assignments for sets and costumes for some of Scotland’s leading figures in theatre. An Edinburgh phenomenon, McIsaac opened up his studio every Saturday for 20 years, and he attracted a wide circle of native and visiting artists, writers and musicians, so becoming one of the best-known names of Edinburgh's cultural scene.