gail sibley

Visit the gallery!

Menu

Gail Sibley

BACK TO BLOG

Gail Sibley

HOME
ABOUT
Shop
CONTACT
BACK TO BLOG
SIGN UP
SUBSCRIBE

A slew of Scottish artists (well, a few anyway)

Share
Share

I’m a bit behind schedule owing to a wonderful weekend on Salt Spring where I ate, socialized,  danced and led dances at the Salt Spring Island Scottish Country Dance Club‘s 20th annual Robbie Burn‘s evening.

 

Thinking about Robbie Burns got me wondering about Scottish artists. I could only come up with two off the top of my head (Jack Vettriano and Charles Rennie Mackintosh) and so thought, hmmmm, this is an excuse to do a quick bit of research.

 

So here are a few Scottish artists. Do you know them all??

 

HENRY RAEBURN(1756 – 1823), “Miss Eleanor Urquhart,” c.1793, oil on canvas, 29 1/2 x 24 1/2 in, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. I am stunned by the simple beauty of this portrait. Look at the broad strokes that define the dress and the background. I mean look at those trees – a few swishes of the brush and voila, trees! And that face, it’s exquisitely painted – not overly detailed but with enough for us to know this person.

 

HENRY RAEBURN, “William Fraser of Reelig”, 1801, oil on canvas, 29 1/2 x 24 1/2 in, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Done eight years after the portrait above, Raeburn has magnificently captured the face of this young man. You could reach out and touch his youthful skin and feel the texture of his shirt both of which show up so beautifully against the roughly painted dark background.

 

HENRY RAEBURN, “William Fraser of Reelig”, 1801, oil on canvas, 29 1/2 x 24 1/2 in, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Detail. I couldn’t resist! Click here for more of Raeburn’s work.

 

CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH (1868-1928), “Japonica”, 1910, pencil and watercolour on paper, 25.8 x 20 in, The Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow. I have always thought his botanical drawings exquisite. To see more, click here.

 

CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH, ‘Stylized tulips’ textile design, 1915. Mackintosh was an artist during the Arts and Crafts movement. He is probably best known for his overall designs for the Glasgow School of Art, The Willow Tea Rooms, and The House for An Art Lover. Click here to see a short video about his style.

 

JACK VETTRIANO (b. 1951), The Singing Butler, 1992, oil on canvas, 28 x 36 in, Private Collection. I have always loved this painting – that gorgeous red dress, the warm light contrasting with the grey and breezy weather, the couple accompanied by maid and butler. But I have been confused by the dance hold as it is usually the other way around. To read more about this painting, check out wikipedia.

 

SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE (1871-1935), “Man Laughing (Portrait of Tom Morris)”, c. 1902, oil on canvas, 71.80 x 51.10 cm, National Galleries Scotland. I’d never heard of this artist before and love his bold brushstroke and thick paint! Apparently this is a picture of an Edinburgh vagabond. You can certainly see the influence of Franz Hals, an artist Peploe admired.

 

SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE, “Boats at Royan,” 1910, oil on board, 27 x 34.90 cm, National Galleries Scotland. Painted on site, the bright palette in this painting shows evidence for Peploe’s title as one of the group of four know as the Scottish Colourists.

 

FRANCIS CADELL (1883-1937), “Portrait of a Lady in a Black Hat,” c. 1921, National Gallery of Scotland. I love the flat coloured areas and overall design of this painting. Click here for a video about his life.

 

ALBERTO MORROCCO, “Peter Boyce, CBE, LLB, Clerk and Chief Executive of the County Council “, 1979, Oil on canvas, 95 x 75 cm, Hertfordshire County Council

 

ALBERTO MORROCCO (1917-1998), “Bathing Tent and Boat”, 1976, oil on canvas, 34.2 x 25.4 cm, Manchester City Galleries. Thick impasto paint! So different from the painting above! To see more of his work, click here.

 

This is just a taste of the Scottish Artists I came across in my research. I’d love to know if you have any favourite Scottish artists. It’s always a thrill to discover new work and new artists!

 

Until next time,

 

~ Gail

 

 

PS. Here’s what I was up to on Saturday!

 

Burns Night dancers!!

 

Caught leading the dances at Burn’s Night on the 26th of January

 

 

2 thoughts on “A slew of Scottish artists (well, a few anyway)”

  1. joanne Sibley

    How very very interesting. Looking forward to clicking on some of the fine paintings to see more of the artist’s work. Loved the profile of you, a portrait in the making

    Reply

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts
Tags
Archives

For Collectors

Gail Sibley

Send a Message

Social

How to pastel website logo

Sign Up

Hi! Thanks for your interest in my work. Please join my mailing list! You’ll receive my blog, HowToPastel and lots of other goodies that I share with my communities! 

Your email is precious and will not be exchanged, lent, rented, sold, or become viewable by any third party.