[1] Born in Ferniegair, Hamilton, McLaren grew up in Cardenden, Fife, Scotland with a crippling handicap that affected his feet.
After graduation and with a bursary from the Andrew Grant Fund he left Scotland and visited Italy and France.
He earned a living as a commercial illustrator working for The Radio Times, The Listener and The Sphere.
He is noted for illustrating and designing dust jackets for the popular gardening books by Beverley Nichols.
The exhibition included works by William McLaren, Anne Redpath and Sir Joseph Noel Paton.