An assistant to society portraitist Allan Ramsay, Nasmyth established his own studio in his native Edinburgh in 1778 but after a lengthy visit to Italy, turned his attention increasingly to the landscape paintings which made his reputation. He opened his own art school in 1798 with a philosophy underlining the need to draw directly from nature rather than be studio-bound. He influenced many younger artists and his teachings provided the groundwork for the Scottish landscape tradition of the later 19th century. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful and influential Scottish landscape painters.