The Visionary Lines of Esther Blaikie MacKinnon In the vibrant, shifting landscape of the early twentieth-century British art scene, few artists possessed the delicate precision and atmospheric sensitivity of Esther Blaikie MacKinnon. Born in Aberdeen in 1885, MacKinnon emerged from a family defined by intellectual rigor and artistic passion. The daughter of Lachlan MacKinnon, a barrister, and Theodora Thompson, her upbringing was steeped in the pursuit of excellence; she grew up alongside sisters who would find their own fame in the realms of zoology and music. This environment of keen obse…