Alexander Jamieson was born in Glasgow and trained at the Haldane Academy (Glasgow School of Art) in the 1890s. In 1898 Jamieson won a scholarship for further artistic training in Paris where his style came under the influence of the Impressionists. In Paris, he met the painter Gertrude Macdonald and they married in 1907 and first settled in a studio in South Kensington. Jamieson became a regular exhibitor at the New England Art Club, the Royal Academy, the Royal Institute, and the Royal Scottish Academy. A one-man show was held for him at the Carfax Gallery in London in 1912 and his work was also shown by the Goupil Gallery and the International Society.