John Miller Gray

John Miller Gray was born on 19 July 1850 in Edinburgh, his father a shawl manufacturer who was bankrupted in 1857, his mother dying at his birth. He attended Mr. Munro's school in Newington (Archibald Munro; 1823–1898) and Munro's Clare Hall Academy in Edinburgh,{{Sfn|"Education", Caledonian Mercury July 31,|1865|p=1}} but was forced aged 16 to finish his education and take up work as an apprentice bank clerk at the Bank of Scotland, where he remained for 18 years.{{Sfn|Caw,|1901 |pp=347–348}} Although he detested the work, in his spare time he educated himself about art and worked as a critic.{{Sfn|Cumming,|2005|p=}} He was particularly influenced by the art critic and writer Walter Pater, with whom he corresponded as well as reviewing some of Pater's work including Marius the Epicurean.{{Sfn|Seiler,|1995|p=120}}

Gray was friendly with a number of prominent artists and public figures, including artists William Bell Scott and Phoebe Anna Traquair, and physician and writer John Brown.{{Sfn|Cumming,|2005|p=}}{{Sfn|Caw,|1901 |pp=347–348}} In 1884 he was appointed first curator of the new Scottish National Portrait Gallery, initially at temporary premises and later in Robert Rowand Anderson's Queen Street building, which opened in 1889.{{Sfn|Caw,|1901 |pp=347–348}}

He wrote regularly for periodicals including Academy and the Edinburgh Evening Courant and was chief art critic of the Scottish Leader.{{Sfn|Seiler,|1995|p=120}} His publications included an 1880 book on Scottish artist George Manson and several essays on the iconography of Robert Burns.{{Sfn|Caw,|1901 |pp=347–348}} His two-volume Memoir and Remains was posthumously published by David Douglas in Edinburgh in 1895.

He died on 22 March 1894 of a brain haemorrhage, shortly before his 44th birthday, and was buried at Echo Bank cemetery in Newington, Edinburgh. He left most of his estate to the Gallery.{{Sfn|Crawford,|2013|p=115}}{{Sfn|"Deaths", The Morning Post, March 28,|1894|p=1}}{{Sfn|Caw,|1901 |pp=347–348}}

A portrait of John Miller Gray by Patrick William Adam is in the collection of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (see Gallery).{{Sfn|"John Miller Gray", Scottish National Portrait Gallery}}

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|File:Patrick William Adam - John Miller Gray, 1850 - 1894. Art critic and first curator of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery - PG 1226 - National Galleries of Scotland.jpg

|1885:
Portrait of John Miller Gray (1850–1894), art critic and first curator of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, painted in oil on canvas by Patrick William Adam (1852–1929), a member of the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA). Housed at the National Galleries of Scotland.

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{{Reflist|30em}}

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• {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Caw,|1901|pp=347–348}} |last1=Caw |first1=James Lewis |author1-link=James Caw |chapter=Gray, John Miller |title=Dictionary of National Biography: Supplement |editor1-last=Lee |editor1-first=Sidney Lazarus Lee |editor1-link=Sidney Lazarus |location=London |publisher=Smith, Elder, & Co. }} Retrieved March 13, 2025.

1. {{Cite book |date=1901 |title=Vol. 2: "Chippendale–Hoste" |pages=347–348}} {{LCCN|2001522502}}.

1. {{Cite book |title=Via Internet Archive |url=https://archive.org/details/pt2dictionaryofnati01leesuoft/page/346/mode/2up?view=theater |type=Robarts Library }} {{free access}}
2. {{Cite book |title=Via Wikisource |type=Robarts Library }} {{free access}}
2. {{Cite book |date=1998 |title=Vol. 22 (of 22) |pages=772–773 }} {{LCCN|00694539}}.

1. {{Cite book |title=Via Internet Archive |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofnati0012unse_i5v5/page/772/mode/2up?view=theater |url-access=registration |type=Sauk Valley C.C. }}

• {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Crawford,|2013|p=115}} |date=2013 |last1=Crawford|first1=Robert |title=On Glasgow and Edinburgh |url={{GBurl |GjWLaGvs0qEC |pg=PA115 |dq=john+miller+gray}} |isbn=978-0-6740-6727-1 |publisher=Harvard University Press |page=115 |via=Google Books }}

• {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Cumming,|2005|p=}} |date=2005 |orig-date=1993, 2022 |last1=Cumming |first1=Elizabeth (née Moss) |title=Phoebe Anna Traquair: 1852–1936 |publisher=National Galleries of Scotland|location=Edinburgh}} {{ISBN|9-781-9032-7865-9|1-9032-7865-1}}, {{ISBN|9-781-9016-6398-3|1-9016-6398-1}}, {{ISBN|9-781-9110-5443-6}} (paperback); {{OCLC|57639717|show=all}}.

1. {{Cite book |title=Via Internet Archive |url=https://archive.org/details/phoebeannatraqua0000cumm/page/n3/mode/2up?view=theater |url-access=registration |access-date=March 13, 2025}}

• {{cite news |ref={{SfnRef|"Deaths", The Morning Post, March 28,|1894|p=1}} |date=March 28, 1894 |title=Deaths" – "Gray |work=The Morning Post |location=London |page=1 |issue=38001 }}

: See The Morning Post

1. {{Cite book |title=Via Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/409941687 |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 13, 2025}}

• {{cite news |ref={{SfnRef|"Education", Caledonian Mercury July 31,|1865|p=1}} |date=July 31, 1865 |title=Education: Clare Hall Academy |work=Caledonian Mercury |location=Edinburgh |issue=23741 |page=1 (column 5) }}

1. {{Cite book |title=Via Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/393301945 |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 15, 2025 }}

• {{cite web |ref={{SfnRef|"John Miller Gray", Scottish National Portrait Gallery}} |title=John Miller Gray |url=https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/2615/john-miller-gray-1850-1894-art-critic-and-first-curator-scottish-national-portrait-gallery |website=National Galleries of Scotland |series=Scottish National Portrait Gallery |accessdate=20 April 2015}}

• {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Seiler,|1995|p=120}} |last1=Seiler |first1=Robert Morris |title=Walter Pater: The Critical Heritage|date=1995|publisher=Routledge|page=120|url={{GBurl |zk04Ei206RIC |pg=PA120 |dq=john+miller+gray}} |isbn=978-0-4151-3394-4}}

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Category:1850 births

Category:1894 deaths

Category:Scottish art critics

Category:Writers from Edinburgh