Born in Dalry, Scotland in 1869, George Houston was educated at Saltcoats Public School and began his artistic training at the Glasgow School of Art. Most of his works depict the landscape of his native Ayrshire, where he spent the majority of his life. Houston’s studio was established in Glasgow, but the artist spent much of his time working en plein air in the Inner Hebrides and around the shores of Loch Fyne to accurately represent the majestic Scottish landscape. He became an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1909, becoming full Academician in 1925. He died in his beloved Dalry in 1947.