Lot 71
SIR JAMES GUTHRIE P.R.S.A., H.R.A., R.S.W., L.L.D (SCOTTISH 1859-1930)
CATTLE IN ORCHARD
£26,154
Scottish Paintings & Sculpture
Auction: 7 June 2018 at 19:00 BST
Description
C.1886, oil on canvas laid on board
Dimensions
65cm x 89cm (25.5in x 35in)
Footnote
Note: Bearing letter from Guthrie's son verso 'This unsigned oil picture (a landscape with cattle) was executed by my father the late Sir James Guthrie, RSA. It was painted about the year 1886 but not finished; and later, some two or three years before his death, he had it relined, with the intention of completing it, but he did little further work upon it. The picture was in his studio at the time of his death. It is included in the catalogue compiled Sir James L. Caw for his biography of my father, under the title 'Cattle in Orchard'. Signed J. W. B. Guthrie and dated 27th June 1932.
When this painting was begun in 1886, James Guthrie was struggling with the use of larger canvases, often leaving them unfinished in his studio. One such picture of fieldworkers pitting potatoes was subject to his frustration due to the light and the shadows refusing to come together in the way he envisioned. It was destroyed in a turn of anger. He wrote to his cousin, James Gardiner, requesting a university calendar in order to give up his art and go back to studying law. Gardiner convinced him to keep painting, giving him a commission to paint a portrait of his father, and to return to Glasgow to escape the isolation of winters in Cockburnspath.
Luckily, there were other similarly challenging canvases which did not meet the same fate. One of Guthrie's most well known works, In the Orchard, was painted during this troublesome period, also in Cockburnspath. Now belonging to the National Galleries of Scotland, the painting was critically acclaimed throughout Europe and the UK and widely acknowledged as one of the greatest paintings to come out of the Glasgow Boys' movement.
Mentioned in the catalogue in Caw's monumental biography of Guthrie under the title of Cattle in Orchard this painting is stated as belonging to Sir F.C. Gardiner. This refers to the shipbuilder and well-regarded benefactor of Glasgow University, Frederick Gardiner, who was Guthrie's cousin and the subject of a portrait by Guthrie which belongs to Glasgow Museums.
Cattle in Orchard lay unfinished for many years, however, three years before Guthrie's death it was brought back into his studio with the intent to complete it, indicating that he had not given up on the idea of finishing the painting. It is very similar in style to In the Orchard, depicting the light coming through the fruit-bearing trees onto a woman and cattle standing in the orchard.
When this painting was begun in 1886, James Guthrie was struggling with the use of larger canvases, often leaving them unfinished in his studio. One such picture of fieldworkers pitting potatoes was subject to his frustration due to the light and the shadows refusing to come together in the way he envisioned. It was destroyed in a turn of anger. He wrote to his cousin, James Gardiner, requesting a university calendar in order to give up his art and go back to studying law. Gardiner convinced him to keep painting, giving him a commission to paint a portrait of his father, and to return to Glasgow to escape the isolation of winters in Cockburnspath.
Luckily, there were other similarly challenging canvases which did not meet the same fate. One of Guthrie's most well known works, In the Orchard, was painted during this troublesome period, also in Cockburnspath. Now belonging to the National Galleries of Scotland, the painting was critically acclaimed throughout Europe and the UK and widely acknowledged as one of the greatest paintings to come out of the Glasgow Boys' movement.
Mentioned in the catalogue in Caw's monumental biography of Guthrie under the title of Cattle in Orchard this painting is stated as belonging to Sir F.C. Gardiner. This refers to the shipbuilder and well-regarded benefactor of Glasgow University, Frederick Gardiner, who was Guthrie's cousin and the subject of a portrait by Guthrie which belongs to Glasgow Museums.
Cattle in Orchard lay unfinished for many years, however, three years before Guthrie's death it was brought back into his studio with the intent to complete it, indicating that he had not given up on the idea of finishing the painting. It is very similar in style to In the Orchard, depicting the light coming through the fruit-bearing trees onto a woman and cattle standing in the orchard.
