Born in Newburgh near Aberdeen, at the age of 15 James McBey attended evening classes at Gray's School of Art and taught himself etching, building his own press. At an early age he moved to London to prepare for a one man show at Goupil's which was a great success. It was right after his show at Groupil's that McBey traveled to Morocco with James Kerr Lawson, beginning a long association with North Africa.

In 1916 McBey enlisted in the military and his pictures of Somme led to his appointment as an Official War Artist. In 1917 he was sent to Egypt and during an intensely active two years he produced some 300 watercolors of the campaign in Egypt and Palestine.

In 1929 he visited America, returning in 1930 when he married Margue...