The Tarbert gallery of well-known artist and photographer Stuart Herd has confirmed news reports that the painter was found dead at a campsite in France, where he was following Scotland in the Rugby World Cup.
Mr Herd, 52, known for his paintings of Scottish rugby scenes and for Scottish landscapes, was discovered in a caravan at the Navarre Campsite in the commune of Langres.
It is unclear how he died.
The artist also has galleries in Inveraray and Ullapool.
The Harbour Gallery in Tarbert posted a message on its website that read: “Due to tragic and unforeseen circumstance the Harbour Gallery website and The Harbour Galleries Tarbert, Ullapool and Inveraray will be stopping orders from this point onwards and until further notice.
“Any orders that have already been placed by customers either online or in our galleries will be contacted in due course.
“We will be able to give more information in time.”
Xavier Maillot, manager of the campsite, told STV News: “(Mr Herd) was following the Rugby World Cup, it’s a good location to do it from.
“It was surprising because he was fine on Sunday evening.
“He was sat outside his caravan speaking with his Swiss neighbours.
“In the morning his wife called the campsite because she hadn’t heard from him.”
According to his website, Mr Herd was born in Scotland in 1971 and grew up in England, briefly attending Amersham College of Art.
He started a career in photography in the South East of England but regularly travelled north to Scotland to explore and capture the landscapes.
Mr Herd worked as a photographer on cruise ships and embarked on “character making” independent solo trips around the world.
In the mid 1990s he returned to Scotland, living in Edinburgh, but his longing for adventure then saw him move to Jamaica, which involved a stint working as an art auctioneer in holiday resort.
He stayed in Jamaica for two years, earning a living picture framing, painting and drawing.
In 2002 he returned to Scotland determined to make painting his priority, while supplementing his income by working as a picture framer, and he started exhibiting in Argyll galleries.
Within a few years his reputation had grown and he was working full time on his paintings.
In 2007, he opened The Art Studio in Tarbert to the public.
In 2011, Mr Herd had a major accident that resulted in him losing an eye.
However, he went straight back into the studio after recovering from the accident.
During his hospital stays, Stuart said he realised he needed a Plan B.
So he decided to open a gallery in Tarbert, where he and his young family now lived.
The Harbour Gallery in Tarbert opened in March 2012. He opened his second gallery in 2015 – The Harbour Gallery in Ullapool. Six years later he opened another gallery in Inveraray.
His latest venture, opened in 2022, is a new shop run by his son Robbie called The Picture Framer. The shop is next door to The Harbour Gallery in Tarbert.
On his process, Mr Herd once said: “I’ll sit and sketch if I have the time but the majority of my work is done from photographs in the studio, but for me that’s part of the process.
“You look for an angle, and you work from that. You use the camera to capture that angle.”