 During his lifetime, Giles was among the first to be mentioned as one of the most vital of the Aberdeen artists - his patrons included the landed aristocracy of Aberdeenshire and Queen Victoria - but he has been little remembered in subsequent surveys in Scottish art.This is due in part to the fact that he spent most of his working life in Aberdeen – unlike his contemporaries who left the north-east to find fame in London.Giles was a versatile artist.