Scotland in Art: Landscape - Esther

Scotland is a small country. It’s relative of course but in the past, many artists have tried to depict Scotland as huge. To make it more than it is. Bombast in films. Vast swathes of land in art. Anthems in music. It’s all part of the invention of a “Scotland” that never existed. How much of it is myth though? As I say, it’s relative.

I can assure you well into year two of lockdowns & limits, the thought of Scotland feels vast. The idea of travelling to other places, any places - even the beach – anywhere beyond work & home, anywhere you can see the sky is thrilling & will feel downright illicit when restrictions are lifted. 

But what is Scotland anyway? In song, it’s banks, braes, lochs & lochans. According to scottishgeology.com however it consists of “volcanic systems,” “diverse rock sequences,” “glaciated landscapes” & “geomorphology.” Scotland’s geology is unusually variable considering the dimensions of the land. It’s nice to know what your country’s made of. Of course, there are towns, cities, people & coasts but for today’s blog, we’re focusing on the mighty landscape. All that erratic rock, fossil & glacial activity makes for some stunning beauty. That being the case, artists through time have been unable to resist it. Pre-18th Century, artists tended towards a more realistic approach, recording what was there for decorative purposes. Heavy romanticism & a move towards a different identity of Scotland followed. By the end of the 19th Century however, artists were developing more interest in French & Dutch modes, purposes & styles. Modernism via Surrealism & Abstraction was approaching…

Glencoe (1864), Horatio McCulloch (1805-1867)

Here we meet what many think of as “Scottish scenery,” the volcanic valley of Glen Coe. Glaciers laid the foundation of this view during the ice age & McCulloch depicted it for posterity. With all the drama & sense of scale he can muster, he achieves his goal of portraying “the silence of the Highland wilderness where the wild deer roam.” With actual deer.

Edinburgh (from Salisbury Crags) (1927), William Crozier (1893-1930)

Whereas Crozier’s Edinburgh is more townscape than landscape, the sweep of the composition deftly shows the impact all that ancient geological activity has had on the planning, building & development of Scotland’s capital city. We can see the rural areas in the distance, not to mention the fortress castle overlooking the city centre. Crozier’s Cubist treatment of the scene is a fabulously rickety & sooty vision, warm but dark.

From the Castle to the Calton Hill (1929), James Paterson (1854-1932)

One of the Glasgow Boys group of artists, James Paterson keeps us in Edinburgh for his more impressionistic view in the opposite direction. He follows the group’s preference for working outdoors in order to paint in a real & natural fashion, depicting believable light, shadow & texture. These techniques were considered to be pioneering in their time.

The Descent of Night (1894), Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928)

Scotland isn’t Scotland without the darkness. Mackintosh depicts a generic landscape imbued with his magical graphic symbolism & distinctive Art Nouveau style. A central figure splays atop the dying sunlight & spreads their arms across the land, almost literally blanketing it in the night gloom.

Cottage, near Largo (c.1920), G.L. Hunter (1877-1931)

One of the Scottish Colourists, Leslie Hunter depicts a frequently employed topic in Scottish landscape painting – the cottage. A step up from a croft, this is clearly less of a working home but recalls the misplaced romanticism later associated with a crofting existence. Nestled within the Kingdom of Fife, Hunter’s rural idyll dispenses with the murky, muddy browns & greens of the past & brings fresh colours & a typically impressionistic style to the theme.

Rent Day in the Wilderness (1868), Edwin Landseer (1802-1873)

Landseer was an Englishman that understood the power of the majestic & epic, an artist that conjured the drama & struggle of life in poor, rural Scotland. Probably his best-known work is the less complex Monarch of the Glen (the one with the enormous, beautifully painted stag). In the politically-charged narrative of Rent Day in the Wilderness we see a rent collector picking up the monies for the exiled Jacobite landowner. There are lookouts & the family tries to hide. As well as the stunning scenery & Landseer’s skilled technique, you can pick out the rent collector’s armour under his jacket – in the top left of the painting, the redcoats are coming from the other side of the loch & he may well need it…

Take a closer look at this epic here: https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/5070/rent-day-wilderness 

Summer Selkirk (1927), William Johnstone (1897-1981)

Johnstone steers away altogether from a realistic representation of the landscape & instead merges his ideas, memories & reflections of the land & nature to create this abstract/Surrealist piece. It was named after Selkirk simply because that’s where it was completed. Although it is dated 1927, Johnstone reworked it up until around 1951 when he added the drawn lines.

The Frozen North (2020), Lachlan Goudie (1976)

Recalling art history’s love of the traditional Scottish Highland painting, Lachlan Goudie gives the conventional a 21st Century spin. In an unspecified location, this nevertheless recognisably Highland scene seems to have very violent colours. Is it purely a modernist development from past efforts? Visit Scotland & take a look at the sky at specific times of the day & year & you may find that these colours are actually quite conservative. The startling setting is unified by the impact of the sunset colours on the hills, coupled with the reflection on the loch. The struggling rowers provide scale & an added narrative.

Landform (2001), Charles Jencks (1939-2019)

It seems the natural development to all this is to fabricate our own landscapes. An American landscape designer among many other things, Jencks created “landform architecture” mainly in Scotland. His principles in creating Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres, focused on the idea that beautiful surroundings could foster positive feelings & calm in those affected by cancer. A stunning achievement of pattern & rhythm as well as a three-dimensional structure, Landform is situated at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh. It echoes the hills, glens & lochs of the natural Scottish landscape that have also brought peace & solace to humans throughout history.