The artist EA Hornel, known for his strangeness, was most instrumental in drawing his contemporaries down to the small town of Kirkcudbright to visit or stay. In many respects the Kirkcudbright School was the Glasgow Boys country home and as the influence of Kirkcudbright developed other artists gathered round. Jessie M King bought a house there in 1908 and Charles Oppenheimer was neighbour to EA Hornel’s ‘Broughton House’.

The growth of the town as an artists' colony was probably most influenced by the effect of the light on a hilly land, facing south, which produces both soft colours and the whole spectrum of grey. It was this light and colour that drew some of Scotland’s greatest artists to the area and still attracts artists today