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The Glasgow Boys

The Glasgow 'Boys' or School was formed when a group of young Glasgow-based artists came together to challenge the pre-eminence of Edinburgh and the Royal Scottish Academy in the 1880s. Many had trained in Paris and were influenced by the new ideas of social realism in art as expressed by French artist Jean Bastien-Lepage; they also admired the work of James McNeil Whistler. The school evolved out of three groups: one consisting of James Paterson and W Y Macgregor, another with William Walton and James Guthrie and the third of John Lavery, Kennedy, Millie Dow and Roche. The Glasgow School was loosely constituted with no official membership or annual exhibition, and there are even discrepancies as to who was actually a member. By the early 1900s the great period of the School had pasted, but their influence helped to shape the face of art in Scotland for many years to come.

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Edward Arthur WALTON

1860 -1922

 The Horse Pool, New Abbey

Title: The Horse Pool, New Abbey
Media: Oil on Canvas
Size: 57x60.5cm
Catalogue no.: 321D
Accession Date: 1953
Owner: Dumfriesshire Educational Trust

 

 

Biography:

Born at Glanderston House, Renfrewshire into an exceptionally talented family, Walton spent two winters studying art in Dusseldorf and then attended classes at Glasgow School of Art where he met James Guthrie.

 

In the summer of 1879 Walton, Guthrie and Joseph Crawhall worked together at Rosneath on the Clyde. Walton’s brother had married Judith Crawhall in 1878 and a nucleus of the Glasgow School came together in 1879. In the following year Walton painted in Surrey while in 881 he joined Guthrie, Crawhall and George Henry at Brig o’Turk in the Trossachs where they painted village life, rather than the spectacular landscape. 1882 saw Walton in Lincolnshire at Crowland painting the picturesque village in the flat countryside and its people. In the following year, Walton joined Guthrie who had taken a house in the Berwickshire village of Cockburnspath.

 

Walton made great progress at Cockburnspath, painting in the open air in both oil and watercolour. He also made a remarkable series of watercolours in Helensburgh in 1883 depicting the prosperous suburb and its well-dressed people. These watercolours are amongst the finest of the Glasgow School with their clarity of image and colour and strong decorative sense. In 1885 Walton began work on A Daydream in the open air at Cockburnspath. This is Walton’s last large Realist picture, for he was turning towards Whistler’s more subjective approach. In 1889 he received official recognition, being elected ARSA and from 1894 to 1904 he lived in Chelsea, a neighbour of Whistler and Lavery, living at 73 Cheyne Walk in a house designed by Ashbee. D

 

uring his period in London, Walton often painted in Suffolk, where he spent many summers at the Old Vicarage, Wenhaston. The Suffolk landscape was important to Walton and he painted pastoral scenes in oil and watercolour, the latter often on buff paper with marvellously inventive use of bodycolour and watercolour. Walton was also a master of oil technique using extensive underpainting to create subtle effects.

 

In 1904 the Waltons returned to Scotland settling in Edinburgh and in 1905 he was elected Royal Scottish Academy. He continued to travel painting regularly in Suffolk and abroad. In 1907 he visited Algiers and Spain with Guthrie and in 1913 worked in Belgium. During the war he discovered the Galloway landscape and became a regular visitor to the area. In 1914 he was elected President of the RSW. He died in Edinburgh aged 62.