Born in Port Seton, Scotland, he studied at Edinburgh College of Art 1960-5, and then visited Holland and Belgium with a travelling scholarship, his first one-man exhibition being held at the Dromidaris Gallery in Holland. Between 1965 and 1968 he studied at the RCA. In 1974 he became Head of Painting at Croydon College of Art. He is best known for figure compositions, many influenced by Francis Bacon and by Max Beckmann's allegorical style with humans, animals and hybrid creatures grouped in doom-laden compositions often with autobiographical refrences recognizable. He has also painted many portraits, and immediately before and after major surgery in hospital (1988), painted and drew remarkable scenes relating to his illness, operation and convalescence. His colour is usually sharp and acidic, roughly applied in flat and scumbled passages, and his drawing is often self-consciously naïve; his work includes some very large drawings and etchings.Other artists using the human figure who clearly had a lasting influence on Bellany were James Cowie, Joan Eardley and Robin Philipson. However, "Bellany's humanism springs from a passionate belief that art should be about life and that it should communicate universally recognizable truths. His real mentors have been those Northern European masters, past and modern, who have worked within the great humanist tradition. His theme is fallen, suffering humanity, racked by religious doubt, guilt of conscience, the seven deadly sins, mortal dread, weaknesses of the flesh and spirit; but also redeemed by fortitude, integrity and love" ('Scottish Painting - 1837 to the Present', William Hardie, Studio Vista 1990). Lit:'John Bellany, Paintings, Watercolours and Drawings, 1964-86, exhibition catalogue, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, 1986.