"Study of a Girl in the Highlands" by Thomas Faed is on exhibit at William King Museum of Art, Abingdon, Virginia.
William King Museum of Art presents a new exhibit of Scottish art, “The House, The Highlands and the Great Big Sea” from March 5 through Aug. 30.
Scotland in the 19th century was a place of conflicting emotions. With the many territorial disputes and historical conflicts between the Highland clans and the English crown came political and economic turmoil, inspiring authors like Sir Walter Scott and artists like the Faed brothers to create a romantic and at times nostalgic vision of green pastures and simple living.
While Scottish cultural life was being re-evaluated as worthy of portrayal, Scottish men, sometimes out of desire and sometimes out of economic necessity, emigrated from the Highlands, leaving behind wives, children and their elderly mothers and fathers.
The hardship and the romance came together in a sentimental strain of art which emerged from Scottish and non-Scottish artists alike. Scotland became not just a territory, but a cultural entity and a point of pride. It was now a homeland and a memory.
This exhibition, made up of a selection of works by Scottish artists, portrays scenes of life within and without the country of Scotland — men and women, children and grandparents, working, playing, traveling or reposing. Scenes of domestic life are flanked by scenes of the countryside, both of which are contrasted with images portraying the vast ocean and the overseas destinations visited by the artists.
Whether they are images of childhood mischief like John Burr’s “Domestic Trouble” or realistic scenes of the new world of work like Tomson Laing’s “Gathering Seaweed,” the pieces are evidence of not only the popularity of Scottish subjects among 19th century art-lovers but of the technical and thematic breadth of Scottish artists.
This exhibition is part of the museum’s McGlothlin Exhibition Series. It is also sponsored by Dunburn Farms, with special support from the Annual Sponsors: Ballad Health Johnston Memorial Hospital and BurWil Construction Company.
