William Gear

Who was William Gear?

William Gear was a Scottish painter.

Gear was born in Methil in the south-east of Fife, Scotland, the son of Janet Gear and Porteous Gear, a coal miner. At Buckhaven High School he won the Dux Arts Medal, and studied at Edinburgh College of Art from 1932 to 1936, where fellow students included Wilhelmina Barns-Graham and Margaret Mellis. He first exhibited in 1934 with the Royal Scottish Academy and Society of Scottish Artists, and his postgraduate scholarship included History of Art studies with Professor David Talbot Rice at Edinburgh University.

Awarded a travelling scholarship, he visited France, Italy, Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, and Turkey. This included a stay in Paris studying with Fernand Léger. At summer school in Arbroath he met Robert Colquhoun and Robert MacBryde. A brief interest in Surrealism led him to exhibit with the New Era Group in Edinburgh.

Called up for military service in 1940, and commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, in the Second World War he served with the Royal Corps of Signals.