The collection is being offered to benefit Dr Shaw’s alma mater, the University of Glasgow.
From Sir Henry Raeburn and Allan Ramsay through to Stephen Conroy and John Cunningham, the collection reflects Dr Shaw’s love of portraiture, landscapes, marine scenes, and depictions of Scottish life.
Raeburn’s Double Portrait of Mrs Graham Young and Her Child, which has an estimate of between £10,000 and £15,000, is one of the highlights of the sale.
Dr Shaw, who was born in Glasgow, went to Glasgow High School before completing an MA (Hons) degree in History and Political Economy at the University of Glasgow in 1970.
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He joined Coats Paton Ltd of Paisley as a management trainee and went on to have a 30-year career with the company, working and travelling across the world.
While based in Bangalore, Shaw met Kiran Mazumdar, the founder of India’s largest biopharmaceutical company, Biocon Limited. They married in Scotland in 1998 and became business partners, building Biocon from its beginnings in Kiran’s garage to a globally renowned company finding new and affordable ways to treat a range of diseases.
Over 30 years of collecting, Dr Shaw acquired a wide range of works, including paintings by artists Sir Thomas Lawrence, Sir John Lavery, E.A. Walton, William McTaggart, James Guthrie and John McIntosh Patrick.
The Lyon & Turnbull sale follows significant gifts to the holdings of The Hunterian and Paisley Museum by his widow, Dr Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw in 2025.
Wherever Dr Shaw’s career took him, he carried his love and link to Scotland and to Glasgow by way of his collection.
The Apprentice by William McTaggart (1835-1910) may have reminded Shaw of the start of his career at Coats. Images of fellow businessmen Sir Ernest Lever (1893-1964) and the Scottish Colourist F. C. B Cadell’s homage to his great patron, the Glasgow ship-owner George W. Service (1864-1940), also had a connection to Shaw’s professional success. This saw him become chairman and managing director of Coats Paton Ltd’s Indian subsidiary, Madura Coats, in the 1990s.
Paintings by John Cunningham (1926-98) and Stephen Conroy (b.1964) bring the representation of portraiture to the present day in images characterised by expressive brushwork and the use of colour highlights by the former and by a psychologically penetrating realism by the latter. Indeed, Shaw believed in the importance of supporting Scottish contemporary art and would purchase works directly from artists, often during studio visits.
John Shaw’s success as a businessman was coupled with landmark worldwide philanthropic investments with his wife, supporting education, research innovation and the arts. Not least amongst these acts of philanthropy was the couple’s support of the Mazumdar-Shaw Advanced Research Centre at the University of Glasgow in 2019, one of the largest gifts ever received by the institution.
This allowed for the development of cutting-edge facilities and research, as well as supporting a professorial chair in Molecular Pathology. Both Dr Mazumdar-Shaw and Dr Shaw were honoured with DSc Honorary Degrees by the University, in 2008 and 2017 respectively, for their lifetime achievements and pioneering work in biotechnology.
Iain Clark, who assisted John in sourcing and acquiring works for his collection, explained: “I first met John in 1994 at an exhibition in my gallery, and a lasting friendship began. With his commanding voice, sharp wit and unfailing courtesy, he was impossible to overlook and unforgettable to all who met him.
“Though his career took him far from Scotland, he returned often to Glasgow, his birthplace and remained deeply attached to his homeland. Together, we followed auctions, selected works and ensured their presentation to the highest standards before they entered John and Kiran’s homes and offices.
“John’s collecting began modestly but grew into a passionate pursuit. Finding in it both respite from the demands of business and a vital link to his heritage.
“Arguably the work of most significance in the John Shaw Collection is the modest The Interior of Kelvingrove Art Gallery by the little-known John Burns Robertson, who was most active between 1920 and 1944.
“Growing up in Glasgow, Shaw visited the city’s magnificent art gallery from childhood to adulthood. It is possible that within its hallowed walls, adorned with one of the country’s most important civic collections of fine art, the seed of one day becoming a collector himself – and eventual patron of the city’s endeavours – was planted.”
Nick Curnow, Head of Fine Art and joint Vice Chairman of Lyon & Turnbull, said: “This is a rich and expansive collection of Scottish fine art and we are delighted to present it to the market. It provides a survey of some 250 years of Scottish art history, beautifully presented and ready to hang in their new future homes.”
The auction, A Glasgow Legacy: Selected Paintings from the John Shaw Collection, takes place live online and in Edinburgh by Lyon & Turnbull, on Wednesday, October 1.
