John Byrne
(1940 - 2023)
 

John Patrick Byrne was a Scottish playwright, screenwriter, artist and designer. He wrote The Slab Boys Trilogy, plays which explore working-class life in Scotland, and the TV dramas Tutti Frutti and Your Cheatin' Heart. Byrne was also a painter, printmaker and scenic designer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Byrne_(playwright)

Self-portrait in a Flowered Jacket
1971-1973
Oil on blackboard
147 x 91 cm
National Galleries Scotland
https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/48552

John Byrne combined several careers - playwright, theatre designer and artist. In his most famous play, The Slab Boys, Byrne drew on his experience as a paint mixer in a Paisley carpet factory. During the 1980s Byrne wrote the cult television series Tutti Frutti, followed by Your Cheatin' Heart, which used country and western music as a backdrop to a comedy of Glasgow life. Byrne painted this self-portrait after returning from California and the influence of the 'Flower Power' hippy era can be seen in his appearance.