Alexander Merrie Hardie (1910-1989)

Alexander Merrie Hardie (1910-1989) known as Sandy Hardy was born in Aberdeen and was self-taught as an artist. He obtained a BSc in 1934 and worked in a variety of positions in education before moving to Bristol. During this time he held a number of senior posts, becoming Principal of the College of Technology in Bristol and Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bath. The Cromarty-based landscape and portrait artist Alexander Merrie Hardie exhibited widely across the UK, showing at some of the country’s most prestigious institutions, including the Royal Scottish Academy. After spending much of his life in England, he returned to Scotland to live beside the sea on the Moray Firth, where he painted the surrounding Black Isle landscape and the streets and buildings of the town of Cromarty which he so loved.