Description
Signed with a monogram and dated 1865, old label to stretcher verso with title and inscription, oil on canvas, arched top
Dimensions
73cm x 137cm (29in x 54in)
Footnote
Provenance:John Mood, Rosehall for £100 c. 1865
Exhibited:Royal Scottish Academy 1865, no.437
Literature:Waller H. Paton, Pen and Pencil memoranda of Exhibited works by me in Oils and Watercolour, Vol 1 1848-1865, unpublished m.s
Note: The Pre-Raphaelite movement had a profound influence on 19th century Scottish painting and this is none more evident than in the vivid sunsets and naturalism of Waller Hugh Paton's idealistic landscapes. The younger sibling of artist Sir Joseph Noel Paton and sculptor Amelia Robertson Hill, Waller Hugh Paton was almost entirely self-taught, except for a few lessons in watercolour by John Adam Houston.
Working mainly in both watercolour and oil, Paton's success grew rapidly, with his landscapes enjoying enormous popularity with the public. His reputation earned him a royal commission from Queen Victoria in 1862 and he became a member of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1865, where he exhibited extensively.
His remarkable skill for depicting the natural beauty of Scotland can be seen clearly in Dreamthorp. Named after a group of essays by renowned Scottish poet, Alexander Smith, Paton clearly draws influence from the work. Based on the town of Linlithgow, Dreamthorp is a fictional place created by Smith. He uses vivid descriptions reminiscent of the West Lothian town such as 'a castle, a chapel, a lake, a straggling strip of grey houses, with a blue film of smoke over all, lying embossed in emerald.' These descriptions captured the imagination of Paton, who developed his painting from sketches of Linlithgow completed the previous year. The sunset bathes the palace and loch in a warm, inviting light, with the figure in the boat contributing to a sense of peaceful solitude, framed on either side by greenery and nature.
In perhaps a playful reaction to Smith's lines 'I make a frame of my fingers, and look at my picture. On the walls of the next academy's exhibition will hang nothing half so beautiful,' Paton's picture perfectly complements Smith's vivid and atmospheric descriptions. Painted during the peak of Paton's career, the work is an excellent example by one of the most prominent Scottish landscape painters working in the Pre-Raphaelite style.