Painter in gouache and of pastel portraits, pen and ink draughtsman. Born in Dundee, Allan studied art at the College of Art there under the landscape painter James McIntosh Patrick. Allan later taught part-time there. He also studied at Reimann School, in London, and at Westminster School of Art under Mark Gertler. Work in the collections of the Scottish Arts Council, Nuffield Foundation and Dundee Corporation. Lived at Newport-on-Tay, Fifeshire.