The Two Roberts and One Damian Barr

Submitted: 21st November 2025

The Two Roberts and One Damian Barr

The Two Roberts is a novel by Damian Barr. The Roberts in question are Robert Colquhoun and Robert MacBryde

Robert Colquhoun (1914–1962) and Robert MacBryde (1913–1966) were influential Scottish artists known for their post-cubist paintings. They met at the Glasgow School of Art and were well known on the art scene and hung out with the the bohemian crowd of the day. They knew people like Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud.

Book location map of The Two Roberts

A portrait of artists Robert Colquhoun and Bobby MacBryde in 1937, by Ian Fleming. Illustration: Iona Shepherd/Artist’s estate, Glasgow School of Art

Book location map of The Two Roberts

Their real story is not just their art however – it’s their love story. At a time where being gay or queer was not looked upon favourably, they were judged and ostracised. This book gives them both their voices and delves into their world of excess and art. Damian Barr is the perfect author to write this story – he has previously written about his own story of growing up gay at a time and place alien to who he was and how he felt.

Barr clearly evokes Scotland and its majestic scenery and art scene:

Ayrshire hills

Where the men lie “painting together, curled like commas, naked in the nest they’ve rolled in the high golden grass”

The Rennie Mackintosh art school

Glasgow’s Mackintosh building, with its large panes of glass that “bounce the north light like sails catching a wind”

Book location map of The Two Roberts

The Rennie Mackintosh statue in Glasgow

Sadly this is a sad story on so many levels – both of their careers suffered due to a combination of factors – they drank and partied hard. What also hit them was the death of their art dealer. The two Roberts both died penniless – Colquhoun dying in 1962 and MacBryde in 1966.

But the story is not their deaths but their lives – their art, their love and their fight for acceptance. Damian Barr has really got under the skin of these two men and this is a remarkable insight and ode to two such iconic figures of the art world.