Painter. Born at Aros (Kintyre), the son of a crofter, McTaggart studied in Edinburgh. As a student, he was awarded several prizes and exhibited his work in the Royal Scottish Academy (1855), becoming a full member of the Academy in 1870. While his early works depicted people, often children, in his later works the landscape began to dominate and he is best remembered as a painter of Scottish land and sea-scapes. Proficient in both oil and watercolour, his better-known works include Bait Gatherers, Through Wind and Rain, The Storm, The Coming and Preaching of St. Columba. His subjects include the landscapes and seascapes of Kintyre, Midlothian and East Lothian, together with works exploring the relationships between people and landscape. McTaggart moved out of the city in 1889, settling in Bonnyrigg (Midlothian), and many of his later works included the Moorfoot Hills which could be seen from his garden. The Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery hold a significant collection of his works. He died at his home Dean Park, in Broomieknowe (Bonnyrigg), and is buried in Newington Cemetery in Edinburgh.
