John Kay Enter a
feeling, not
a gallery.
Choose a mood and the room itself answers — the light cools or warms, the air changes pace, and only the works that carry that feeling step forward from the dark. Everything else recedes into shadow.
John Kay
The Life and Art of John Kay Born in Dalkeith, United Kingdom, John Kay was a Scottish caricaturist, engraver, miniaturist, and printmaker. His early life was marked by significant transitions, moving from Dalkeith to Leith, and later returning to Dalkeith to serve a six-year apprenticeship under a barber named George Heriot. By 1761, he had moved to Edinburgh, where he eventually purchased his freedom to trade as a barber from the Soc
iety of Surgeon-Barbers in 1771. After establishing a business on the High Street, he began to focus more heavily on his artistic pursuits. In 1784, he published his first caricature, and by 1785, he had opened a small print shop in Parliament Close, having abandoned his barbering business to concentrate on drawing. Artistic Legacy and Subjects Kay’s work provides a unique record of the social life and habits of Edinburgh during a s…