From: Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums
Sargent may have painted this portrait at his London studio but he did visit Aberdeen as he was a good friend of local artist Joseph Farquharson. John Fyfe was born at 'Goodhope', Bucksburn in 1830. He owned granite quarries at Blackburn and Kemnay. From the Kemnay quarry came the stone for the Town House and Marischal College. He was probably the most influential granite quarrier of his generation and an immense presence in the Scottish industry. He married Barbara Stevenson in 1868, had a family of eight daughters and two sons. He had built and lived in Beechgrove House, which until recently demolished, housed the BBC. He died in 1903.
(Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums)