No doubt of 82-year-old Ritchie's talent at Doubtfire Gallery

HE was hailed 'one of the outstanding students of his time,' by William MacTaggart and by gallery director Richard Demarco, as 'one of the most zealous and committed art students' he had known.

Now, at the age of 82, and showing no signs of slowing down, Eric Ritchie has returned to the Doubtfire Gallery on South East Circus Place, for a second major solo exhibition blending archive material with exciting new work.

Just as his many admirers have welcomed the return of artist Ritchie into the limelight with his last solo exhibition in 2015, so the energy and vitality of his work has caught the imagination of a new generation.

With a vigorously eclectic approach to style and content, ranging through surrealist abstraction, sweeping land and seascapes, realistic still life and book illustration, Ritchie has been something of a maverick on the Scottish art scene, ever since his early days as a product of Edinburgh College of Art in the mid 1950s.

Over the decades he has not only fulfilled that early promise noted by his teacher and mentor William MacTaggart but, now in his ninth decade, retains that zeal and commitment.

Ritchie exhibited frequently in the capital, initially at Richard Demarco’s Melville Crescent gallery and later with highly praised solo shows in other venues, such as The Scottish Gallery throughout the 70s and early 80s.

Now, more than 60 years after his very first solo show in Edinburgh, he returns with the second episode of his re-establishment, confirming an already formidable reputation.

Eric Ritchie - A Second Look, Doubtfire Gallery, South East Circus Place, until 8 April, Monday-Friday 10am-5pm, Saturday noon-5pm, www.doubtfiregallery.com