Artist and tutor. Born in Kelso in the Scottish Borders, Ballantyne trained at the Trustees' Academy in Edinburgh under Sir William Allan (1782 - 1850) and Thomas Duncan (1807 - 1845), before moving to London, and then studying in Paris and Rome. Returning to Edinburgh in 1839, he established himself as a portrait and history painter. In 1845, he became a teacher at the Trustees' Academy, working with Robert Scott Lauder (1803-69). Ballantyne returned to London in 1863. He is best known for his seventeen canvases showing contemporary artists at work in their studios, painted in the early 1860s, which are held between the National Galleries of Scotland, the National Portrait Gallery in London and Aberdeen Art Gallery. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1841 and a full member in 1860. Ballantyne died in Seend in Wiltshire.
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