EDINBURGH.- The Royal Scottish Academy announced the death of Dr Ian McKenzie Smith CBE, former President of the Academy, who died on Wednesday 24 September 2025.

Born in Montrose in 1935, Ian McKenzie Smith studied at Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen, and at Hospitalfield, Arbroath, where he met his wife Mae. Influenced early in his career by the Danish, Dutch and Belgian artists of the COBRA group, Ian’s practice centred on abstract painting, often inspired by the landscape. In 1958 a travelling scholarship took him to Paris where encounters with the Japanese artist Kenzo Okada and Zen philosophy left a lasting impression. A sense of balance and calligraphic finesse instigated by these experiences remained central to his work throughout his life.

Alongside his career as an artist, Ian made significant contributions to the cultural life of Scotland. He served as Director of Aberdeen Art Gallery from 1968 to 1989 and Head of the city’s Arts and Recreation Department from 1989 to 1996. His service was recognised with an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Aberdeen in 1991, an OBE for services to art in 1992 and a CBE in 2009. He was President of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour from 1988 to 1998 and served on the Committee for the British School at Rome, the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (Arts Council England) and as a Trustee of the National Galleries of Scotland.

Ian was elected as an Associate Royal Scottish Academician in 1973, becoming a full Academician in 1987. He brought a wealth of experience to the Academy and sat on multiple committees. He held several key roles, serving as Treasurer in 1990, Secretary from 1991 to 1998 and President from 1998 to 2007. During his presidency he oversaw a transformative period for the RSA, guiding its temporary relocation during the refurbishment of the Academy building and steering significant constitutional reforms that broadened its membership and remit.

Ian McKenzie Smith’s paintings and prints are held in many public collections, including the National Galleries of Scotland, the University of Glasgow, the Fleming Collection, the Government Art Collection, Aberdeen Art Gallery, The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery and Museum and Perth Art Gallery. His work is also held in private collections across the UK, Europe, North America, and Japan.

The Academy extends its deepest condolences to Ian’s family. He will be remembered as an outstanding artist, leader and advocate for the arts in Scotland.