
Wood engraver, etcher and painter, brother of the artist Chica Macnab. Born at Iloilo in the Philippines, Macnab was educated in Edinburgh and studied art at Glasgow School of Art and Heatherley’s School of Fine Art. From 1919–25 he was principal of Heatherley’s, a position he then held until 1940 at the Grosvenor School of Modern Art (it was subsequently occupied by the Warwick Arts Trust), which he founded. He thus influenced a generation of printmakers with his spare, boldly designed engravings. After World War II Macnab returned to Heatherley’s as director of art studies, until 1953. His influence was further extended in his books Figure Drawing and The Student’s Book of Wood Engraving. He exhibited widely, including RA, ROI – of which he was president, RE, RSA and Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts.
Text source: 'Artists in Britain Since 1945' by David Buckman (Art Dictionaries Ltd, part of Sansom & Company)