Cattle grazing in a highland landscape

Born in Glasgow, MacCulloch studied under John Knox with Macnee and W.L. Leitch. Stylistically his work can be aligned with that of mid-century Scottish figurative painters, with a certain hardness and an acute attention to detail. From 1860, MacCulloch focused principally on Highland landscapes and a contemporary critic observed 'He can make you feel through his art the loneliness of mountain sides and great glens, and inspire you, if you will but open your mind to receive the impression, with the feeling of religion and wonder, which, growing out of the sense of that loneliness, has imbued his own spirit.' (Iconoclast, 'Scottish Art and Artists in 1860', 1860, p. 25.)