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A Hind's Daughter, James
Guthrie,1883
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Quebec has tried twice and failed to secede from Canada. The
referendum of 1995 was considered a foregone conclusion by pollsters;
commentators breathlessly discussed whether the Maritime Provinces—separated from
the rest of Canada—would ask to join the United States. However, the polls were
wrong and although the Parti Québécois remains a political force, the idea of
Quebec separatism is spent.
Yesterday Scotland also ignored the polls and voted to stay
in the United Kingdom. Hopefully, the Scottish separatist movement will go the
way of the Parti Québécois. In honor
of that, let me give you a tiny bit of Scottish painting.
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The head of the Holy Loch,
George Henry
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The Glasgow Boys are called the Scottish Impressionists, but
they’re more similar to the Australian Heidelberg School painters in their
sentimental attachment to their history. Their painting was done en plein air with free brush work and an
emphasis on the play of light. But they were not interested in modern life—as were
the French Impressionists—but in the romance of Scotland’s rural past.
Considering the blanket of pollution over 19th century Glasgow, the
workers packed into its tenements, and the befouling of the River Clyde, that
made sense. What rich industrialist wanted a painting of the environmental and
social mess his new-found wealth had helped create?
Message me if you
want information about next year’s classes and workshops.
