Joan Renton RSW (1935 - 2025), Scottish

“This is another painting by Joe Hendry exploring the theme of the kilted Scottish figure. The man is shown from behind, hands clasped behind his back, standing quite calmly on the canvas.

What I like about this one is its simplicity. There’s nothing complicated about it — just a figure, a kilt, and a quiet bit of attitude. Hendry manages to make something very Scottish feel fresh and contemporary at the same time.”

Joan Renton RSW SSA (1935–2025) was a Scottish painter and watercolourist associated with the Edinburgh School tradition. She was born in Edinburgh and studied at Edinburgh College of Art, where she was taught by leading Scottish painters including Sir William Gillies, John Maxwell, and William MacTaggart.

Renton became known for her sensitive watercolour paintings of still lifes, domestic interiors and landscapes, often featuring flowers, ceramics and objects arranged within quiet interior settings. Her work reflects the influence of Scottish Colourist traditions as well as the decorative still-life painting of artists such as Anne Redpath, whose work she greatly admired.

Alongside her painting career, Renton was a dedicated art educator. She taught art in Edinburgh schools for around twenty years before becoming a full-time painter in 1982.

Renton exhibited widely in Scotland, Europe and the United States, and her paintings are held in a number of important collections including those of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, the City Art Centre in Edinburgh, and the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

She was an elected member of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW) and the Society of Scottish Artists (SSA). She also served as President of the Scottish Society of Women Artists (SSWA) and played a significant role in the organisation’s development into Visual Arts Scotland (VAS), helping to broaden its membership and influence within the Scottish art world.

Joan Renton continued painting and exhibiting for many decades and is remembered as a respected figure in Scottish painting, particularly within the tradition of Edinburgh still-life and watercolour painting.