Glasgow School of Art
Janet Macdonald Aitken CBE (1873–1941) was a Scottish portrait and landscape painter, described by the art historian Jude Burkhauser as “one of the leading women proponents of the Glasgow Style”.[1] She also produced art metalwork, and was a member of the Scottish Guild of Handicraft.[2]
Janet was born in Glasgow, the daughter of lithographer Robert Thomson Aitken. She studied at the Glasgow School of Art from 1887 to 1902 before continuing her studies at the Académie Colarossi in Paris. She became a member of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s circle and a leading member of the Glasgow Society of Lady Artists.[3]
Janet often painted urban scenes and views of old buildings, working in both oils and watercolours;[4] several of her black and white sketches of Glasgow street scenes were reproduced as postcards.[3]
Later in life Janet moved to Ayrshire, the principal subject of her watercolours.[2] She died in Troon in 1941, leaving an estate of £5,120 3s 10d, equivalent to about £320,300 as at 2023.[5][a]Calculated using the retail price index.[6]
