Duncan was born in the
Hilltown area of
Dundee on 19 July 1866, the son of a butcher and cattleman. He, however, had no interest in the family business and preferred the visual arts. By the age of 15 he was submitting cartoons to the local magazine
The Wizard of the North and was later taken on as an assistant in the art department of the
Dundee Advertiser. At the same time he was also a student at the
Dundee School of Art, then based at the
High School of Dundee. In 1887–1888 he worked in
London as a commercial illustrator, then travelled to the continent to study at
Antwerp Academy under
Charles Verlat and the
Düsseldorf Art Academy. '', 1897 In 1889 Duncan returned to Dundee and exhibited in the new Victoria Art Galleries extension of the
Albert Institute. The following year he became one of the founder members of the Dundee Graphic Arts Association (now
Dundee Art Society). Most of his income at this time was derived from portrait commissions, including the jute merchant John L. Luke and Mrs Hunter of Hilton. Among other subjects, Duncan depicted
Bacchus and Silenus in a mythical scene. Duncan also acted as director of Geddes's short-lived Old Edinburgh School of Art, and was commissioned by him to design the
Witches' Well in Edinburgh in 1894. In 1897 Duncan returned to Dundee and exhibited Celtic and
Symbolist paintings at the Graphic Arts Association as well as the
Royal Scottish Academy and the
Royal Glasgow Institute among others. It was at this time that he painted
The Glaive of Light now in the
University of Dundee's collection. He continued to teach art and design, at the Dundee
YMCA, the University and the art school at
Dundee Technical Institute. He also created Dundee's first design collective by gathering together a group of young talents who created and exhibited decorative art and design pieces for the Graphic Arts Association, including Nell Baxter, Rosa Baxter, Elizabeth Burt and Duncan's sister Jessie Westbrook. His last major work was entitled
Mary Queen of Scots at Fotheringhay (dated 1929). The work was commissioned and is now held by the
University of St Andrews. The painting was completed in spite of the critical antagonisms Duncan was facing at the time. A smaller scale replica is held in the
Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery,
Carlisle. ==Gallery==