William Geissler

Who was William Geissler?

William Hastie Geissler was a Scottish artist known for his watercolours of the natural world. He was one of the Edinburgh School, and much of his earlier work came from sketching trips undertaken with other members of this group, though he himself is sometimes described as a "neglected" member. Although his natural preference lay with watercolour, often with gouache and pen and ink, several of his works were in oil.

Prior to the First World War he was employed as an engraver with Thomas Nelson, the publishing firm and map printer in Edinburgh. At the outbreak of war he joined the Royal Scots Regiment and was posted to France in 1915, serving in the Battle of the Somme. Later in the war he was seconded to the Royal Engineers, urgently in need of skilled map draughtsmen. After demobilisation from the army in 1919, he attended Edinburgh College of Art. Geissler and William Gillies both graduated from there in 1922, having won scholarships, and exhibited for several years with colleagues as The 1922 Group. Some exhibitions included work by William MacTaggart, John Maxwell and William Crozier. In 1923 Geissler, Gillies and Crozier travelled to Paris to study with André Lhote.