Hugh Ramsay (1877-1906), painter, was born in Scotland but arrived in Australia as a baby. He grew up in a mansion in what is now Essendon and studied at the NGV school from 1894 to 1899, when he was named runner-up for the National Gallery Travelling Scholarship. He sailed to Europe on the same ship as George Lambert. For fifteen months he painted and partied in a cold, grimy Paris studio, achieving some critical success while depending on the Lamberts for an occasional hot meal. In 1902 four of his paintings were chosen for exhibition at the New Salon, Paris; he wrote at the time 'it's rather an extraordinary thing . . . they seldom accept more than two, even from experienced and recognised men.' Ramsay's exhibited works brought him to the attention of Dame Nellie Melba, who subsequently became his patron in London. When he fell ill, she funded his return to Victoria, where Ramsay was to produce more than 20 full-length portraits before he died of consumption at the age of 28. His contemporaries admitted that he had the most brilliant potential of the artists of his generation. 'Had he lived longer', said Lambert, 'he would have beaten the lot of us.
