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Lot Essay
This is an archetypal work by Joseph Farquharson, the Edinburgh-born painter whose depictions of the Deeside landscape in various weathers are central to the tradition of Scottish Art.
Farquharson trained under landscape artist Peter Graham and then at the Board of Manufacture School in Edinburgh and Life School at the Royal Scottish Academy. He exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy from 1859 and at the Royal Academy from 1873. Throughout his long career he remained loyal to his subject matter. Winter is the season we associate with Farquharson; though he painted woodlands in spring, he derived most inspiration from snow-weighted landscapes. The effect of light on snow, and the vulnerability of figures and animals rendered both literally and symbolically subsidiary to the elements, are consistent in his work.
Sickert famously praised Farquharson's adherence to one tradition, writing in his essay 'Snow Piece and Palette-Knife' (Daily Telegraph, 7 April 1926) that the artist 'painted subjects that interest him in the familiar traditional style that a succession of good painters have taught the world to read currently. There is no jolt. The painter immerses his audience in the subject, partly because he does not distract their attention by archaisms or neologisms of technique'. He goes on to praise Farquharson's observant rendition of ordinary objects, and his 'sureness of execution'. He summarises: 'Farquharson's extraordinary virtuosity has been developed by experience, but it arises certainly from the fact that he is thinking of telling his story...The subject is the very raison d'être of the picture'.
The subject of the current piece remains a matter of debate. It is undated, and bears no inscription. Farquharson's titles are commonly poetic quotes or ambiguous in their simplicity. A possible candidate is Babes in the Wood which Farquharson exhibited at the Academy in 1880. The Art Journal describes 'a rich, low-toned picture full of weird-like suggestions and mystery, and therefore in thorough harmony with the spirit of the story'.
It is true that the present painting captures the low light of evening. Farquharson frequently uses the device of trees framing a chink of sunset that draws the eye to the distance. The figures are unmistakably children, which is why the title Babes in the Wood seems possible, although the iconographic tradition is to depict the children sleeping under a tree. Farquharson did develop a series of pictures showing figures forging their way across the snow, frequently bearing titles such as Homeward Bound or Through the mist and rain. He often duplicated a figure, for example the slight girl, who, viewed from behind, is central to Blizzard (Christie's, London, 28 October 1999, lot 43) and reappears in Cauld blows the wind frae East to West (London, Royal Academy, 1888, no. 994). The present composition seems to be one of a kind, though the elder figure is a reverse version of the lone wanderer in When the Mist with Evening Glows (London, Royal Academy, 1900, no. 256). In an understated and tender way, the positioning of the figures, smaller child following her elder, hand linked to hand, is very expressive and demonstrates how Farquharson's narrative subject remains the raison d'être of the work - even within the scale of its non-figurative context.
Farquharson trained under landscape artist Peter Graham and then at the Board of Manufacture School in Edinburgh and Life School at the Royal Scottish Academy. He exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy from 1859 and at the Royal Academy from 1873. Throughout his long career he remained loyal to his subject matter. Winter is the season we associate with Farquharson; though he painted woodlands in spring, he derived most inspiration from snow-weighted landscapes. The effect of light on snow, and the vulnerability of figures and animals rendered both literally and symbolically subsidiary to the elements, are consistent in his work.
Sickert famously praised Farquharson's adherence to one tradition, writing in his essay 'Snow Piece and Palette-Knife' (Daily Telegraph, 7 April 1926) that the artist 'painted subjects that interest him in the familiar traditional style that a succession of good painters have taught the world to read currently. There is no jolt. The painter immerses his audience in the subject, partly because he does not distract their attention by archaisms or neologisms of technique'. He goes on to praise Farquharson's observant rendition of ordinary objects, and his 'sureness of execution'. He summarises: 'Farquharson's extraordinary virtuosity has been developed by experience, but it arises certainly from the fact that he is thinking of telling his story...The subject is the very raison d'être of the picture'.
The subject of the current piece remains a matter of debate. It is undated, and bears no inscription. Farquharson's titles are commonly poetic quotes or ambiguous in their simplicity. A possible candidate is Babes in the Wood which Farquharson exhibited at the Academy in 1880. The Art Journal describes 'a rich, low-toned picture full of weird-like suggestions and mystery, and therefore in thorough harmony with the spirit of the story'.
It is true that the present painting captures the low light of evening. Farquharson frequently uses the device of trees framing a chink of sunset that draws the eye to the distance. The figures are unmistakably children, which is why the title Babes in the Wood seems possible, although the iconographic tradition is to depict the children sleeping under a tree. Farquharson did develop a series of pictures showing figures forging their way across the snow, frequently bearing titles such as Homeward Bound or Through the mist and rain. He often duplicated a figure, for example the slight girl, who, viewed from behind, is central to Blizzard (Christie's, London, 28 October 1999, lot 43) and reappears in Cauld blows the wind frae East to West (London, Royal Academy, 1888, no. 994). The present composition seems to be one of a kind, though the elder figure is a reverse version of the lone wanderer in When the Mist with Evening Glows (London, Royal Academy, 1900, no. 256). In an understated and tender way, the positioning of the figures, smaller child following her elder, hand linked to hand, is very expressive and demonstrates how Farquharson's narrative subject remains the raison d'être of the work - even within the scale of its non-figurative context.