Tattoo History - Sutherland MacDonald

It is unknown when the british tattoo artist Sutherland MacDonald was born but he died in 1926. Besides Tom Riley, MacDonald who learned tattooing in the british army was one of the most popular artists in Great Britain at the end of the 19th century. He also pushed his career forward by flattering journalists who cleverly featured him in magazines and newspapers. But MacDonald seemed to convince the public more with his artistic abilities. In April of 1897 The Strand reported "MacDonalds work is the best tattoo the world has ever seen". His tattoos, so The Strand, haven't just caught up with the japanese but even overtook them. In the same year Le Temps in Paris writes MacDonald raised tattooing to a form of art and L'Illustration certified him in 1900 as the "Michaelangelo of Tattooing".

MacDonald had adopted the japanese niceties, which worked with up to 20 colors, overworked them and used them on european motives. His bright green tattoo color wasn't achieved anywhere else in the world. His strength was the gradation of impressionistic designs of animals (dragons, birds, tigers, snakes, lizards and others) by using colored japanese woodcarvings as templates. He was the fist one to convert paintings from famous occidental masters, i.e the head of Christ by Guido Reni, into large back piece tattoos. His shop on the Piccadilly Circus was more of an artists smithy and members of the higher nobility were rather common guests. His customers included Edward VIII., Czar Nikolaus and the Sultan of Johore. MacDonald tattooed in London until his death in 1926.

back to tattoo history