WILLIAM MCTAGGART, R.S.A., R.S.W. (SCOTTISH 1835-1910)
THE YOUNG TRAWLERS
Oil on board
23cm x 30.5cm (9in x 12in)
Christie's, 23 March 1962, Lot 180, where purchased, and then by family descent;The Estate of Sir John and Lady Clare Keswick, Portrack House, Dumfriesshire
The Christie's cataloguing states that the painting was exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1869, but this would appear to be inaccurate. Sir James Caw, McTaggart's biographer, states that the painting exhibited in 1869 was the larger signed and dated version of the present Lot. William McTaggart’s artistic innovations represent the inception of modern art in Scotland. This distinction is particularly remarkable given that the artist had little contact with European art movementsand remained in his home country for the great majority of his life. Over the course of his career he nurtured a visual language that explored the atmosphere of the natural world in all its gaiety and fragility, an idea that was increasingly expressed through breezy coastal scenes peopled by tumbling, carefree children. Exhibitions of work by Pre-Raphaelites Holman Hunt and Millais were held in Edinburgh in the 1850s and ‘60s, and their influence can be detected in the jewel-like colouring and allegorical nature of The Young Trawlers. Pushing out a boat to catch fish, the more boisterous children lean over into the water, with one already brandishing a prize catch, while the younger and more tentative children hesitate in the shallows. McTaggart, who had many children himself, evidently delighted in portraying their innocent spontaneity, and his paintings of youthful activity feel tender and well-observed.