The priest

The artist and designer Joseph Simpson (1879-1939) was born in Carlisle and studied at Glasgow School of Art. He started his professional career in Edinburgh, earning a living through book illustration. His studio in Castle Street was the meeting place for a small group of artists who called themselves jokingly the 'SPO', which stood for their favourite food of sausages, potatoes and onions. Its members included the young S.J. Peploe and J.D. Fergusson, who later became famous as the Scottish Colourists.

After ten years in Edinburgh, Simpson moved to London where he pursued a career as an illustrator and poster artist. Frank Brangwyn, who occupied the studio next door to Simpson, encouraged him to take up etching, and the highly successful results are evident in the three works by him that Te Papa currently holds.  Simpson was appointed an official war artist in France during the First World War, attached to the RAF, for which he was awarded the CBE. In his paintings and prints, he excelled particularly in portraits and sporting themes.

Unfortunately <em>The Priest</em>, the subject of this etching, has not been identified. He is almost certainly a Catholic, however, denoted by his formal garb and particularly his distinctive Roman tricorne cat. Simpson had a good eye for caricature, and the priest's intelligent, slightly wary bespectacled gaze at the viewer, conveys the artist's wit - and quite likely the priest's as well.

See: National Galleries Scotland, 'George Fiddes Watt', https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/3759/joseph-w-simpson-1879-1939-artist

Dr Mark Stocker   Curator, Historical International Art    May 2018