Painter, described as the Angus Rembrandt. Born in Montrose, where he was educated, Chalmers began as a ship's chandler but soon left for Edinburgh where he entered the Trustees' Academy, training under Robert Scott Lauder (1803-69) and alongside William McTaggart (1835 - 1910). Noted for his use of colour, his earlier work comprised mostly portraits, showing a sensitive treatment of children and old people. However, he is best remembered for his later landscapes, including The End of the Harvest (1873), Running Water (1875) and The Legend, which now hangs in the National Gallery of Scotland.
Chalmers was elected Associate of the Scottish Academy in 1867 and gained full membership in 1871.
On the 16th February 1878, he was violently mugged just off Charlotte Square in Edinburgh and taken to the Royal Infirmary, mortally wounded, where he died.