Pitlessie Fair | |
---|---|
Artist | David Wilkie |
Year | 1804 |
Type | Oil on canvas, genre painting |
Dimensions | 61.5 cm× 110.5 cm(24.2 in× 43.5 in) |
Location | Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh |
Pitlessie Fair is an 1804 genre painting by the Scottish artist David Wilkie. [1] [2] It depicts the annual mayfair being held in his native village of Pitlessie in Fife.
Painted when he was nineteen. One of his earliest works, it came two years before his major breakthrough at the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition in 1806 with The Village Politicians. Both paintings show the strong influence that seventeenth century old masters had on Wilkie's work. The success of Pitlessie Fair enabled Wilkie to move to London where he based himself for the rest of his career. [3] Having seen the painting Earl of Mansfield then commissioned Willkie to produce The Village Politicians. [4]
Today it is in the collection of the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh, having been purchased in 1921. [5]
Sir David Wilkie was a Scottish painter, especially known for his genre scenes. He painted successfully in a wide variety of genres, including historical scenes, portraits, including formal royal ones, and scenes from his travels to Europe and the Middle East. His main base was in London, but he died and was buried at sea, off Gibraltar, returning from his first trip to the Middle East. He was sometimes known as the "people's painter".
Sir Henry Raeburn was a Scottish portrait painter. He served as Portrait Painter to King George IV in Scotland.
John Frederick Lewis (1804–1876) was an English Orientalist painter. He specialized in Oriental and Mediterranean scenes in detailed watercolour or oils, very often repeating the same composition in a version in each medium. He lived for several years in a traditional mansion in Cairo, and after his return to England in 1851 he specialized in highly detailed works showing both realistic genre scenes of Middle Eastern life and more idealized scenes in upper-class Egyptian interiors with little apparent Western influence.
Scottish art is the body of visual art made in what is now Scotland, or about Scottish subjects, since prehistoric times. It forms a distinctive tradition within European art, but the political union with England has led its partial subsumation in British art.
Alexander George Fraser (1786–1865) was a Scottish genre and domestic painter who exhibited his paintings at the Royal Academy in London for many years. His son, Alexander Fraser (1827-1899), was also a prominent artist with whom he is sometimes confused.
Cults is a small parish and hamlet close to the centre of the Kingdom of Fife, Scotland. It lies mainly in the Howe of Fife, and about 4+1⁄2 miles (7.2 km) south-west of the nearest town - Cupar. The parish is about 2+1⁄3 miles (3.8 km) long and 1+1⁄3 miles (2.1 km) wide.
Scottish art in the nineteenth century is the body of visual art made in Scotland, by Scots, or about Scottish subjects. This period saw the increasing professionalisation and organisation of art in Scotland. Major institutions founded in this period included the Institution for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts in Scotland, the Royal Scottish Academy of Art, the National Gallery of Scotland, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and the Glasgow Institute. Art education in Edinburgh focused on the Trustees Drawing Academy of Edinburgh. Glasgow School of Art was founded in 1845 and Grays School of Art in Aberdeen in 1885.
Alexander Carse was a Scottish painter known for his scenes of Scottish life. His works include a large canvas of George IV's visit to Leith and three early paintings of football matches.
Events from the year 1804 in Scotland.
Pitlessie is a small village in Cults, Fife, Scotland. It is roughly 4+1⁄2 miles (7 km) southwest of the nearest large town, Cupar, and 23 miles north of Edinburgh. It had an estimated population of 325 in 2010.
Scottish genre art is the depiction of everyday life in Scotland, or by Scottish artists, emulating the genre art of Netherlands painters of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Common themes included markets, domestic settings, interiors, parties, inn scenes, and street scenes.
The First Council of Queen Victoria is an 1838 history painting by the Scottish artist David Wilkie. It depicts the first meeting of the Privy Council following the succession of Queen Victoria to the throne following the death of her uncle William IV. It represents the actual meeting that took place in the Red Saloon at Kensington Palace on 20 June 1837, when the eighteen year-old queen met with senior politicians from both the governing Whig Party and the opposition Tories.
The Defence of Saragossa is an 1828 history painting by the British artist David Wilkie. It depicts a scene during the 1808 Siege of Zaragoza at the time of the Peninsular War. Wilkie, A London-based Scottish painter had recently travelled through Spain. This was one of a series of four works he produced featuring scenes of Spanish resistance to the French occupiers in the Peninsular War.
Sir David Baird Discovering the Body of Sultan Tipoo Sahib is an 1839 history painting by the Scottish artist David Wilkie. It presents a scene during the Siege of Seringapatam in 1799. General Baird, a senior British officer and accompanying troops encounter the body of the Tipu Sultan. The ruler of Mysore and an ally of France he was killed when Anglo-Indian forces stormed his capital Seringapatam.
Newsmongers is an 1821 genre painting by the Scottish artist David Wilkie. It portrays a group gathered around a man and woman holding up a newspaper. The group includes a baker carrying a pie and roast joint. The news being read is not specified, but its been speculated that might be news of the Napoleonic Wars or the more recent Trial of Queen Caroline.
The Penny Wedding is an 1818 genre painting by the British artist David Wilkie. It depicts a traditional penny wedding in which the guests each paid a penny towards the cost.
The Parish Beadle is an 1823 genre painting by the Scottish artist David Wilkie. It depicts a comically overzealous parish beadle taking a troupe of travelling Savoyard entertainers into custody for vagrancy. They have evidently been performing at the fair seen in the distance which has some echoes of William Hogarth's Southwark Fair.
The Village of Waterloo is an 1821 history painting by the English artist George Jones. It has the longer subtitle With Travellers Purchasing the Relics That Were Found in the Field of Battle, 1815
Washington Irving in the Archives of Seville is a painting of 1828 by the British artist David Wilkie. It depicts a visit by the American writer Washington Irving to a library in Seville.
Blind-Man's Buff is an 1812 genre painting by the Scottish artist David Wilkie. It shows a game of Blind man's buff. While depictions of the game had appeared in art before, Willkie chose to portray a humbler settling than earlier versions generally set in drawing rooms.