Artist and playwright John Byrne was a cultural icon who appeared effortlessly stylish – Scotsman comment

Despite John Byrne’s huge talent as a playwright and painter, he retained an appealing, self-effacing manner

Artist and playwright John Byrne talks to the press to preview the Curtain Up: 40 Years Of Scottish Theatre exhibition at the National Library of Scotland in 2009 (Picture: John Cheskin/PA)

John Byrne, who has died at the age of 83, was “the most stylish man I’ve ever met”, according to fellow artist Alison Watt. We suspect the same was true for most of those who met him.

His paintings, his plays, his dress and his humour – pretty much everything he did – at least appeared to be effortlessly stylish in a most appealling way. He was a dandy but with none of the pretentiousness or arrogance that this word can suggest.

Byrne’s acclaimed Slab Boys Trilogy and the BBC drama Tutti Frutti showed off his wit and talent for writing; his art, which ranged from the wonderful cover of the Beatles Ballads compilation album to a massive mural of his friend Billy Connolly, rightly saw him praised as “one of the most inventive and versatile of all Scotland’s modern artists” by the Fine Art Society.

Following news of his death, Humza Yousaf said Scotland has “lost a cultural icon”. But as an icon, he was a casually great one, with a self-effacing manner that could make those who met him feel instantly at ease.