#national gallery of scotland

[caedmonofwhitby]

William Hogarth

Sarah Malcolm (died 1733)

Portrait of Sarah Malcolm, who was executed two days after Hogarth sketched her for murder.

Sarah Malcolm was executed in 1733 at the age of 25 for the murder of her mistress Lydia Duncomb and two fellow servants. Malcolm denied having any part in the killing but was found guilty and sentenced to hang. Hogarth sketched her in Newgate Prison in London two days before her execution on 7 March at Fleet Street. Hogarth then went on to make this painting and an engraving, that was popular due to her notoriety.

Scottish National Gallery

[hanssloane]

A boy and his dog

Sir Henry Raeburn

John Stuart Hepburn Forbes, later 8th Baronet of Monymusk, and of Fettercairn and Pitsligo, 1804 - 186

National Galleries of Scotland

c 1812

[downthetubes]

The extraordinary, ethereal art of Remedios Varo

A brief, image-led look at the work of Remedios Varo, a Spanish painter famed for her surrealist artworks

[azvolrien]

These photos are actually from a couple of weeks ago, but I never got around to uploading them. The national gallery here recently finished a big renovation, opening up some new spaces downstairs to have a section dedicated to Scottish art. I especially liked the various cityscapes on Edinburgh on display; they feel like period pieces now, but were pretty contemporary when they were painted and make for an interesting little time capsule of how much the city has changed (and how much it hasn't).

[artsandculture]

Lady Agnew of Lochnaw (1892) 🎨 John Singer Sargent 🏛️ National Galleries Scotland 📍 Edinburgh, Scotland

Sargent’s dazzling and unforgettable image of Lady Agnew is one of the most famous of his many portraits of fashionable London society. For both the artist and his sitter, the painting was an instant success, establishing Sargent’s reputation as the portrait painter of choice for the London elite and immediately transforming the newly elevated Lady Agnew into a society celebrity.

Sargent was born in Florence and spent his childhood travelling across Europe with his wealthy American parents who restlessly followed the changing social seasons. In 1874 he entered the Paris studio of the stylish French portraitist, Carolus-Duran. The young Sargent combined the flamboyant style of his teacher with his study of old masters such as Rembrandt and Velázquez but was also influenced by Monet and Impressionism. His provocative and unconventional Portrait of Madame X caused a scandal at the Paris Salon exhibition in 1884; and, when Sargent settled in London in 1886, he initially found it difficult to find clients as his bravura, continental style of painting attracted suspicion. However, his dashing technical mastery and confident manner were ideally suited for aristocratic patronage and he soon won over his critics with his elegant, flattering portraits. When his portrait of Lady Agnew was shown at the Royal Academy in 1893, one contemporary observed: ‘London is at his feet … he has had a cracking success.’

The sitter was born Gertrude Vernon and married Andrew Noel Agnew in 1889. Her husband, fifteen years her senior, was a barrister and later an MP and deputy-Lieutenant in Wigtownshire; he succeeded his father as 9th Baronet of Lochnaw in 1892, shortly before Sargent embarked on this portrait. The exact circumstances behind the commission are not known, but the Agnews may have met the artist through mutual American friends. According to notes in her husband’s diary, work on the portrait progressed swiftly, and Sargent later recalled that it was painted in just six sittings.

Lady Agnew is shown seated in a Louis XVI chair against the backdrop of a Chinese silk hanging, both of which were standard props in Sargent’s studio. She is reported to have been of frail health; she recovered slowly from a severe bout of influenza in 1890 and was apparently still convalescing and suffering from exhaustion when she sat to Sargent, which may account for her slightly ghostly pallor in the painting. Lady Agnew fixes the spectator with an intelligent, faintly amused gaze but it is her elegant white silk dress and lilac sash that threaten to steal all our attention. There are brilliant passages of painting in the highlights, reflections and coloured shadows that show Sargent at his best as a painter of surfaces and textures, the ideal artist for a gilded, polished yet ultimately superficial society.

Sargent’s image of Lady Agnew helped her to become a leading light in fashionable circles, holding lavish salons in her London home. Ironically, the high costs of this hospitality meant that she was eventually forced to sell some family pictures including this portrait which was purchased by the Scottish National Gallery in 1925.

[galleryofart]

Hindoo Architecture - A Composition

Artist: David Roberts (Scottish, 1796-1864)

Date: 1829

Medium: Oil on panel

Collection: National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland

[galleryofart20thcentury]

Japanisches Theater (Japanese Theatre)

Artist: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (German, 1880-1938)

Date: 1909

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland

Description

This is one of Kirchner's first paintings to depict a stage scene. It shows actors from a Japanese theatre company performing at Dresden's Albert Theatre. Theatre and cabaret scenes were extremely popular among the Brücke expressionist group. The artist's unusual viewpoint, looking down on the actors from a side angle, suggests that he may have seen the play from a theatre box. Kirchner saw an exhibition of Matisse paintings in December 1908, and this painting shows the influence of Matisse's flat areas of anti-naturalistic colour.

[baebeylik]

The White Drake. Joseph Crawhall. Scottish. 1895.

National Galleries of Scotland.

[scotianostra]

Very spring-like day in Edinburgh.🌞

[peoplematchingartworks]

[mythological-art]

Mars Venus and Cupid

Artist: Paolo Veronese (Caliari) (Italian, 1528-1588)

Date: About 1580

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Collection: National Galleries Scotland, Edinburg, United Kingdom

Description

Venus gently comforts her son Cupid, who is startled by a lively little spaniel. This incidental detail enhances the immediate appeal of the mythological characters. The sensuous goddess of love, swathed in luxurious fabric, rests on Mars' knee. It is thought that the god of war may have been included late on in the design (possibly by an assistant) because only the figures of Venus and Cupid appear in related preparatory drawings (British Museum, London). The very sketchy treatment of Cupid's wings suggests that the painting may have been left unfinished.

[artemlegere]

Sir Walter Scott, 1771 - 1832. Novelist and Poet

Artist: Sir Henry Raeburn (Scottish, 1756-1823)

Date: 1822-1823

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland

Description

Scott's historical novels were read and admired throughout Europe. Those which dealt with Scottish themes, like Heart of Midlothian and Waverley, have had a major influence on how Scots see their own past and on how Scotland is viewed from outside. This portrait was one of the last Raeburn ever worked on, the artist dying only days after its completion. Scott, however, is shown at the peak of his career. Within four years he was bankrupt, and his health was destroyed from the need to write his way out of debt.

[art-portraits]

John Reith, 1st Baron Reith of Stonehaven, 1889 - 1971. Director-General of the British Broadcasting Corporation

Artist: Sir Oswald Birley (New Zealander-British, 1880-1952)

Date: 1933

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland

Description

n 1922 Reith became the first general manager of the British Broadcasting Corporation and from 1927 he was its Director-General. He had real vision about the role of the BBC in the life of the nation and was largely responsible for establishing the public service ethos of broadcasting and his standards (often imposed dictatorially) are still just evident. This painting is a copy of one commissioned by the BBC. Reith selected the artist who has successfully conveyed his sitter's determined nature. A large scar, received during the First World War, is just visible on his left cheek.

[fotos-art]

Reflection of Kilchurn Castle in Loch Awe, Argyll and Bute, Scotland

© Tom Mackie

plainpicture

Scotland's National Day is celebrated today in honour of St. Andrew, patron saint of the country and other nations such as Greece, Romania and Ukraine. Although the apostle never arrived in Scotland, his figure is fundamental in the Scottish identity and is present in the iconic flag of Saltire, which represents the cross on which he was martyred.

[crystalclaire]

details from Flower Still Life with Bird's Nest, Jan van Huysum (1682 - 1749) c. 1718, Oil on copper

[digitalfashionmuseum]

Oil Painting, 1763-1764, Scottish.

By Johann Zoffany.

Portraying Mary Oswald, the wife of entrepreneur Richard Oswald, in a blue silk dress.

The National Gallery