Douglas Abercrombie obituary

Douglas Abercrombie was an abstract artist who spent periods working in a circus and as a set painter Photograph: None

My father, Douglas Abercrombie, who has died aged 87, was an abstract expressionist artist who exhibited at various shows throughout the 1970s, 80s and 90s, including at the Fruitmarket gallery in Edinburgh and the André Emmerich gallery in New York.

Although a Scot, he lived for much of his life in London, where he ran a weekend stall selling T-shirts to tourists in Piccadilly that generated enough income to allow him to concentrate on his painting during the week.

Born in Glasgow, he was the son of George Abercrombie, a policeman, and his wife, Mary (nee Innes), a shoe shop owner. He and his brother, Alan, were evacuated during the second world war and spent the time on a farm in Kircudbrightshire, enjoying it so much that they returned every summer as boys.

Untitled painting by Douglas Abercrombie, 2012 Photograph: none

After leaving Queen’s Park secondary school he graduated from the Glasgow School of Art in 1957, staging his first solo show in Edinburgh that year and then spending a year as a tent erector with the Bertram Mills travelling circus, making sketches of the clowns and characters of the troupe and creating his first semi-abstract painting during his time there.

In 1958 he won an RSA Carnegie travelling scholarship that allowed him to study and practise art in Italy and France, then for three years he worked at the Citizens theatre in Glasgow, where he designed and created scenery and props for various shows. When he moved to London in the early 60s (living in north Kensington for the rest of his life) he worked at the Royal Opera House as a set painter.

In 1984 Douglas travelled to the US to participate in the Triangle Artists’ Workshop, an intensive residency programme that brings international artists together in the countryside of New York state. He had a solo show at the Deli Art gallery in London in 2003, and his last major exhibition was a retrospective at the Poussin Gallery in London in 2008.

A man of integrity, Douglas had a great sense of humour and fun, and enjoyed socialising both at his stall and at his regular sessions at Perivale Park golf club with friends.

He is survived by me and his stepson, Alex, both of us from his relationship with Maggie Turpie, who was his partner until she died in 1992, and by Alan.