George Devlin was born in Glasgow and trained at the Glasgow School of Art, graduating in 1960. He then won a scholarship which involved travelling to Greece, Italy, North and West Africa. He eventually returned to Glasgow to teach painting at the School of Art between 1962 and 1968.  After this he went on to establish his own painting school, which he moved to France in 1988. In 1972, he presented a series on art forScottish Television and the following year he designed sets and costumes for the new ballet Embers of Glencoe performed by Scottish Ballet. 

 

The work of George Devlin is characterised by bright colour and great detail, which he attributed to the fact that he completed his works on site. His portraiture work was exclusively in oils but he was also an accomplished watercolourist. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 1999 and  won a number of national awards for painting, including the Gold Medal of the Royal Society of Oil Painters in 2004 and the Elizabeth Scott-Moore Prize in 2007. George Devlin was elected president of The Glasgow Arts Club in 1997.

 

His work can be found in public, corporate and private collections around the world.