Alfred Edward Emslie

Who was Alfred Edward Emslie?

Alfred Edward Emslie was an English genre and portrait painter, and photographer, living at The Studio, 34, Finchley Road, N. W.

He was the son of the engraver, John Emslie, and brother of John Phillipps Emslie, the figure painter. Married to miniature painter Rosalie M. Emslie, they had a daughter, Rosalie Emslie, who became a figure, portrait and landscape painter. Emslie turned increasingly to portraiture later in life. He had a great passion for the Orient, and spent three months exploring Japan. He was an elected an associate of the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours in 1888 and a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 1892.

Emslie exhibited in London at the Royal Academy between 1869 and 1897. Between 1897 and 1901, he painted a series of pictures illustrative of the theme "God is Love". Nine large oil paintings from this series were exhibited at Towneley Hall in Burnley, Lancashire from May 1904 until April 1905. He also exhibited at the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, Royal Institute of Oil Painters, Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours, Royal Miniature Society, Grosvenor Gallery, Dudley Gallery, New Gallery, Fine Art Society and Agnew and Sons Gallery, as well as at the Royal Society of British Artists. Also at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour, Leicester Gallery, Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool and Manchester City Art Gallery.