| Born | 1874, Leith, Edinburgh |
| Education | |
| circa 1891 | Trains as a naval surgeon |
| 1894 | Decides to pursue art full-time and spends a short time at the Trustees Academy, Edinburgh |
| circa 1898 | Studies at Academie Colorossi |
| Selected Exhibitions | |
| 1905 | The Baillie Galleries, London |
| 1907 | Salon d'Automne, Paris |
| 1913 | Dore Galleries, London |
| 1926 | Whitney Studio, New York |
| 1928 | Kraushaar Galleries, New York |
| 1931 | Galeries George Petit, Paris |
| 1948 | McLellan Galleries, Glasgow -touring Scotland, Ireland and Wales |
| Selected Collections | The J D Fergusson Gallery, Perth The Tate Gallery, London The City of Edinburgh Collection City of Glasgow Collection Aberdeen Art Gallery Dundee Art Gallery Ayr Art Gallery Greenock Art Gallery Paisley Art Gallery Kirkcaldy Art Gallery Belfast Art Gallery Leeds Art Gallery Manchester Art Gallery Sydney Art Gallery |
| Personal Milestones | |
| 1903 | Elected member of the Royal Society of British Artists |
| 1906 | Settles in Paris Spends summer with fellow Scottish colourist, Samuel Peploe touring Normandy Meets the American artist Anne Estelle Rice with whom he shares a close relationship over the next 8 years. She is his model in "Le Manteau Chinois" |
| 1907 | Teaches part time at the Academie de la Palette |
| 1909 | Elected a Societaire of the Salon d'Automne |
| 1911 | Elected member of Salon des Independants Launch of Rhythm magazine. Fergusson is art editor |
| 1913 | Meets Margaret Morris, the dancer who becomes his partner for the rest of his life |
| 1914 | Returns to London |
| 1915 | Becomes close friend of Charles Rennie Mackintosh |
| 1918 | Joined the navy, undertaking a series of war paintings of Portsmouth dockyards |
| 1923 | First solo shows in Glasgow and Edinburgh |
| 1929 | Resettles in Paris |
| 1930 | Elected President of the Groupe d'Artistes Anglo-Americains, Paris |
| 1931 | The French Government purchase his "La Deesse de la Riviere" |
| 1939 | Returns to Scotland and settles in Glasgow |
| 1940 | Founds the New Art Club |
| 1942 | Founds the New Scottish Group of which he is president |
| 1943 | First book published, "Modern Scottish Painting" |
| 1950 | Awarded LLD by Glasgow University |
| 1961 | Dies |