The Wilkie Tradition: EDINBURGH

Scottish pastoral life became a literary focus at the close of the 18th century in the poetry of Burns, Ramsay and Fergusson. This, combined with an emerging availability of engravings after the Dutch and Fleming masters, encouraged artists in Scotland to look closer to home for their subject matter and away from antiquity and the classical tradition. David Allan can be largely credited with leading Scottish artistic taste toward genre painting, guiding Wilkie and his successors toward a new tradition. Allan was followed by Alexander Carse whose paintings were to exert a strong influence over the early work of Sir David Wilkie. Carse’s painting of Oldhamstock Fair (1796, National Galleries of Scotland) proved inspirational to the young Wilkie who produced a counterpart to this picture with his Pitlessie Fair (1804, National Galleries of Scotland). This painting, with its numerous groups of figures, painted with carefully studied expressions, contains all the elements which were to become important in the context of Scottish genre painting.

Wilkie gained public and official recognition early, enjoying great success both in his native Scotland and in London where he settled in 1805. At the relatively young age of 24, Wilkie was elected into the Royal Academy, becoming a full member in 1811, and two years later was commissioned to paint Blind Man’s Buff (1811, Royal Collection) for the Prince Regent. The Prince’s favour was important to Wilkie and on his accession George IV continued to reward him. At Sir Henry Raeburn’s death in 1823 Wilkie was appointed King’s Limner in Scotland, and when Sir Thomas Lawrence died in 1830 he was further appointed Royal Painter in Ordinary, an office confirmed by William IV and, later, Queen Victoria. He was awarded a knighthood in 1836.

Wilkie’s work was of huge importance to Scottish genre painting both during his life and throughout the nineteenth century. Although the passage of time has slightly diminished his fame and reputation, in his lifetime, he was regarded as the equal of his great contemporaries Turner and Constable. With his rapidly growing popularity it is not surprising that he soon had many followers, in both choice and treatment of subject. Indeed, his example was so potent that there were few Scottish genre painters of his generation who did not work more or less in his manner. While following his lead in subject matter and learning from his prodigious technical skills, they were nonetheless an individualistic and disparate group of painters.

SIR DAVID WILKIE ra hrsa (1785 - 1841)

FARMYARD SCENE, 1815

signed and dated 1815 on panel verso

oil on panel

12.7 x 22.2 cm    5 x 8 3/4 inches

Provenance: Purchased from the artist by General Sir James Willoughby Gordon; his son Sir Henry Percy Gordon; his daughter Julia Gordon; her grandson The Hon John Disney Leith; his wife Mrs Jock Leith; sold by her executors in Edinburgh in 1980, where purchased by Anthony Reed, London; Bourne Fine Art 1993; Private collection, Scotland

The composition of this little panel is highly informal and suggests that, like a number of other similar small panels by Wilkie from these years, it was painted out of doors, perhaps on the spot. His interest in painting en plein air is confirmed by a reference that he made to it in a letter he wrote in 1812 to his landlady, and again four years later in 1816 writing to his friend Perry Nursey. In that year he also exhibited Sheepwashing, the only full sized landscape painting that he ever exhibited. He said of this picture 'I certainly wish to gain some proficiency in this way; but my ambition is no more than that of enabling myself to paint an outdoor scene with facility and in no respect to depart from my own line.'

Wilkie had first embarked on this kind of painting as early as 1809 when staying with Sir George Beaumont. Beaumont was himself an amateur landscape painter and Wilkie shared his patronage with his own close friend John Constable. Despite the accomplishment and charm of his landscape studies, Wilkie was true to his word in not developing the art for its own sake.  Even as a subsidiary element landscape is rare. 

SIR DAVID WILKIE ra hrsa (1785 - 1841)

a sketch for 'THE CHELSEA PENSIONERS READING THE WATERLOO DISPATCH'

ink on paper

12.1 x 11.4 cm    4 3/4 x 4 1/2 inches

Provenance: The collection of Thomas Esmond Lowinsky, no.1649

The oil, for which this is a preparatory study, was commissioned by the Duke of Wellington in 1816 and currently hangs in the collection of Apsley House, London. The painting's focus on ordinary people made a significant impression on Théodore Géricault (1791-1824) when he viewed the unfinished work in Wilkie's studio in the spring of 1821. Completed in 1822, it was exhibited in the Royal Academy that year where it was so popular that a rail was installed to protect it from the crowds.

The first painted sketch for The Chelsea Pensioners was made in 1818 so this sketch could be dated as early as between 1816 and 1818. This ink sketch shows various studies of the central group in the final oil, in particular the man leaning back in his chair. The Chelsea Pensioners are reading the ‘Waterloo Dispatch’, sent by the Duke of Wellington to the Waterloo Gazette on 19 June 1815, announcing the victory of the British and Prussians against Napoleon Bonaparte in the Battle of Waterloo which ended the Napoleonic Wars.

SIR DAVID WILKIE ra hrsa (1785 - 1841)

THE MISSES MARY AND ELIZABETH CLERK, SISTERS OF LORD ELDIN

oil on panel

15.9 x 17.8 cm    6 1/4 x 7 inches

Provenance: J.T. Gibson Craig; his sale at Dowell's, Edinburgh, 1887; A.B. Yuille, Bridge of Allan; his sale, Christie's, 1909;

Brown & Brown, Liverpool, 1951; Private collection, Edinburgh

Mary and Elizabeth Clerk were daughters of the artist John Clerk of Eldin, and their brother John Clerk, Lord Eldin, was a great patron of the arts in Edinburgh. Lord Eldin struck up a friendship with several Edinburgh artists: from Wilkie he commissioned a sketch of The Chelsea Pensioners, and a copy of The Blind Fiddler. Rather than a typical commission, this informal study may well have been an affirmation of Wilkie's acquaintance with the Clerk family, whom he visited when in Edinburgh in July 1817, and August 1822. This study probably emanates from the latter date.

DAVID ALLAN (1744 - 1796)

MEMORANDUM OF CHEESE MARKET

inscribed 'memorandum of cheese market' and further inscribed throughout

pen and ink

11.4 x 18.4 cm    4 1/2 x 7 1/4 inches

Provenance: Abbot and Holder Gallery, London, 1991; collection of Dr Edward Brett

After studying at the then new Foulis Academy, Glasgow, Allan left for Rome in the late 1760s and spent the next ten years there, studying under Gavin Hamilton, sketching life around him and painting historical scenes.

An outcome of Allan’s training was his extensive use of record-keeping and preparatory studies for his works, often executed in situ and annotated with more complex elements for future paintings. Quick descriptions of colours could later be worked up in studio paintings, and Allan’s combined use of sketches and verbal descriptions acted as an efficient means of recalling scenes. In this study, the leftmost figure has been depicted from two angles with aspects of her costume noted in place of pigment; her yellow bustle and dark tartan shawl recorded and retained for incorporation into a larger composition.

Allan was arguably the first of the Scottish genre painters; his watercolours of such scenes as The Penny Wedding and The Origin of Painting influencing future exponents Carse, Geikie and Wilkie. These latter artists were influenced not only by the broader subject of his works, but equally specific depictions, techniques, and use of humour.

ALEXANDER CARSE (1770 - 1843)

THE TRAVELLING CLOTHIER, 1812

initialled and dated 'A. C. 1812'

oil on canvas

58.4 x 76.2 cm    23 x 30 inches

Carse is often referred to as a ‘follower of Wilkie’, though he had earlier anticipated and influenced him. Fifteen years senior to Wilkie, Alexander Carse was a fellow student at the Trustees’ Academy from 1801, having previously studied under David Allan. The two shared a keen sociological interest, grounding their work in depictions of the everyday and social occasions. Carse was never interested in major historical events or the great figures of history but rather in the customs and changes of ordinary social life. The late 18th and early 19th centuries were a period of great change in rural living standards. Even so, Carse was painting life as it was and not with nostalgia.

This work was painted in 1812, the year that Carse travelled to London in the hopes of attaining the success enjoyed by Wilkie. He captures the excitement of a visit from a travelling pedlar to a village on the south east of  Edinburgh. The main event sees a young woman inspecting the quality of the cloth whilst an older lady remonstrates with him. Smaller gatherings draw the scene out: two men talk with a basket of potatoes at their feet; a group of women are deep in conversation; and on the main street, a man on a mule looks to be paying the innkeeper. Beside the pedlar is small stone outbuilding that might house a cooperage and in the far distance is Edinburgh Castle.

WALTER GEIKIE rsa (1795 - 1837)

EDINBURGH AND LOCHEND LOCH

signed 'Wr. Geikie'

oil on canvas

63.5 x 88.3 cm    25 x 34 3/4 inches

Provenance: Richard J Simpson, Hermitage, Corstorphine; The Hon. Lord Hunter, Little Ruchlaw, Stenton

While Geikie excelled in his depictions of characters and the animation of urban life, he occasionally turned his attention to more tranquil scenes outside Edinburgh’s Old Town. Contemporaneous accounts suggest that Geikie’s work in pigments may have been affected by colour-blindness, and, as such, some of his oil landscapes have been judged for their palette. The subtleties of his palette, however, convey the limpid kind of day that are familiar on the east coast of Scotland. He was given some tutorage by Andrew Wilson (1780-1848) whose painting style and palette are not dissimilar.

Here, Geikie has taken Lochend Loch on the north east side of Edinburgh. Lochend House sits to the left above the loch and on the right is a 16th century doocot. Beyond is the city of Edinburgh and its instantly recognisable skyline of Arthur’s Seat and Salisbury Crags; the Palace of Holyroodhouse is visible in the centre. The scene may well be a companion to Edinburgh from the South in the collection of the City Art Centre (1832, Edinburgh), which is similar in composition, and focuses on the same landmarks from the other side of the city.

Reference: Helen Scott, 'The Art and Life of Walter Geikie', Aspects of the Life and Works of Archibald Geikie, Geological Society, London, Special Publications, vol.480 (2019)

THOMAS DUNCAN ara rsa (1807 - 1845)

THE MILKMAID, 1835

dated 1835 on label verso

oil on panel

61 x 43.8 cm    24 x 17 1/4 inches

The majority of Duncan's exhibited work consisted of portraiture. From an early date, however, he tackled scenes from modern history that had been made popular by Wilkie, and was especially successful with subjects from the ’45 Rebellion. It is this kind of historical narrative picture for which he is best remembered. These are principally of subjects taken from the novels of Sir Walter Scott and, in the spirit of Scott, of scenes from Scottish history of the kind that William Allan had begun to paint a few years earlier. The milkmaid bridges several of these areas of interest: it is possible this is a scene from life albeit romanticised. The model’s delicate physiognomy is Wilkie-esque and so too the fineness with which she is painted. 

In 1838, Duncan was appointed professor of colour at the Trustees' Academy. The links between the London Scots and Edinburgh were close. His application for this post was supported by testimonials not only from his Edinburgh friends, but also from the two leading Scottish artists in London, Wilkie and David Roberts.