Fast Castle with the Bass Rock and the Isle of May in the distance
细节
The Rev. John Thomson of Duddingston
Fast Castle with the Bass Rock and the Isle of May in the distance
oil on canvas
59 x 94in. (148.8 x 238.8cm.)
Fast Castle with the Bass Rock and the Isle of May in the distance
oil on canvas
59 x 94in. (148.8 x 238.8cm.)
出版
W Baird, John Thomson of Duddingston, Pastor and Painter
Andrew Elliot, Edinburgh 1895.
Andrew Elliot, Edinburgh 1895.
展览
Possibly exhibited at the Institution for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts in Scotland, Edinburgh, 1824, no. 26
更多详情
John Thomson of Duddingston was without question, one of the foremost exponents of the Romantic vision in Scottish landscape painting during the nineteenth century. A contemporary, and personal friend of many renowned British artists and literary figures including Sir Walter Scott, Joseph Turner and William Williams, it was Sir Henry Raeburn who said of him "I am at present painting an admiral, and had some thought of asking my friend, the minister of Duddingston, to paint me a sea; but on second thoughts I am afraid Mr Thomson's sea might put my part of the picture to the blush."
John Thomson was the fourth son of the Reverend Thomas Thomson of Dailly in Ayrshire, and studied theology at Edinburgh, where he occasionally received instruction from Alexander Nasmyth. In 1805, he moved to the manse at Duddingston and thereafter firmly established himself as a painter of great atmospheric effect.
RAlthough his time as a minister can be generously considered as fairly indifferent, his contribution to 19th century Scottish landscape painting was considerable. He developed a personal understanding of the sublime qualities of Claude, Turner and Wilson, synthesising this into a powerful interpretation of the raw beauty of the Scottish coastal scenery and landscape. In William Baird's monograph on Thomson he refers to a similar view of Fast Castle, "This favourite subject of Thomsons is treated in this specimen with great dash and vigour. The wild overhanging cliffs frown upon an angry sea full of life and motion. In the distance the dark surface of the water is lit up with a gleam of light from the opening rift in the wild rolling thunder clouds" (op.cit.p.215)
Unfortunately we cannot identity the title of this painting in the above reference , though the topography of the distant castle perched high on the steep cliffs, together with the small island beyond suggests the Firth of Forth, north of St. Abbi Head. A similar prospect of this view from a less distant vantage is illustrated in William Baird's monograph on the artist opposite page 54.
John Thomson was the fourth son of the Reverend Thomas Thomson of Dailly in Ayrshire, and studied theology at Edinburgh, where he occasionally received instruction from Alexander Nasmyth. In 1805, he moved to the manse at Duddingston and thereafter firmly established himself as a painter of great atmospheric effect.
RAlthough his time as a minister can be generously considered as fairly indifferent, his contribution to 19th century Scottish landscape painting was considerable. He developed a personal understanding of the sublime qualities of Claude, Turner and Wilson, synthesising this into a powerful interpretation of the raw beauty of the Scottish coastal scenery and landscape. In William Baird's monograph on Thomson he refers to a similar view of Fast Castle, "This favourite subject of Thomsons is treated in this specimen with great dash and vigour. The wild overhanging cliffs frown upon an angry sea full of life and motion. In the distance the dark surface of the water is lit up with a gleam of light from the opening rift in the wild rolling thunder clouds" (op.cit.p.215)
Unfortunately we cannot identity the title of this painting in the above reference , though the topography of the distant castle perched high on the steep cliffs, together with the small island beyond suggests the Firth of Forth, north of St. Abbi Head. A similar prospect of this view from a less distant vantage is illustrated in William Baird's monograph on the artist opposite page 54.