John Bellany (1942–2013) was born in the fishing village of Port Seton, Scotland. He studied at Edinburgh College of Art from 1960 to 1965, followed by the Royal College of Art from 1965 to 1968. In 1967 he travelled to East Germany on a travel scholarship and visited the Buchenwald concentration camp. Bellany taught until 1984, holding positions at Brighton College of Art, Winchester College of Art, Goldsmiths and the RCA. His art has been exhibited internationally in both group and solo exhibitions, including a 2005 exhibition at the National Gallery of China and a 2012 retrospective at the Scottish National Gallery. Elected to the London Group in 1973, Bellany also became a Royal Academician in 1991 and was awarded a CBE in 1994 for his contribution to the arts. His work is held in numerous public collections, most notably the British Museum, the Scottish National Gallery, Tate, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.