(1724 - 1772)
Cosmo Alexander, portrait painter, was probably born at Aberdeen in 1724, the son of painter and engraver John Alexander. Cosmo fled to Rome following the Jacobite rebellion of 1745, when he was declared a wanted man. He returned to London in 1754, when he was left a London house in the will of his friend James Gibbs, an Aberdeenshire architect. In 1766 he left for the American colonies, staying in Philadelphia, New York and Newport, Rhode Island, and painting portraits of the Scottish communities. At Newport he met 14 year old Gilbert Stuart, who became his assistant and travelled to Edinburgh with him in 1771. Alexander died in Edinburgh the following year.
