William Crozier won the Guthrie prize for the most promising young artist when he exhibited Edinburgh in Snow at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1928. The view shows Princes street gardens looking to the west from the Mound towards the instantlyidentiiable castle, silhouetted in the background.
In contrast to Crozier’s cubist-inspired painting, Edinburgh from Salisbury Crags, which also depicts Edinburgh Castle silhouetted in the background, here he looks more to the northern Netherlandish tradition. On initial inspection the scene appears still and quiet. However, it slowly comes to life with the lively lines of the bare trees against the snow and the footprints leading the eye down into the composition.