James Muir Auld was a painter, illustrator and commercial artist born in Sydney in 1879, following his parents’ migration from Scotland in 1873. After early studies at Ashfield Technical School, James Muir Auld dedicated to become a professional artist, studying with John Samuel Watkins and later joining the Sydney Art School under Julian Ashton. He established a reputation as an illustrator for the Sydney Mail and the Bulletin and regularly exhibited at the annual Royal Art Society of New South Wales and later with the Society of Artists, Sydney. His subjects were mostly landscapes in both oils and watercolour, although he also painted portraits and narrative scenes. In 1935 he was awarded the Wynne Prize with a work which displayed his use of palette knife to create atmospheric landscapes. He was a frequent finalist in the Archibald between 1922 and 1935 and his self-portrait of 1929 was acquired that year by the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Auld held solo exhibitions at Macquarie Galleries, Sydney in 1928, 1936 and 1938 and was a foundation member of the Australian Academy of Art.