Home Through The Woods
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Research by Marjorie Gregson and Anne Matthews
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ARTIST
Joseph Farquharson, born 4 May 1846, was the son of Francis Farquharson (1802-1876), a doctor and laird of Finzean, and Alison Mary, nee Ainslie (1802-1863). He combined a long and prolific career as a painter with his role as a Scottish laird, a title he inherited in 1918 following the death of his elder brother Robert, a doctor and MP for West Aberdeenshire. Painting in both oils and watercolours, he is most famous for his snowy winter landscapes, often featuring sheep and often depicting dawn or dusk, becoming an expert
at capturing the warmth and light of sun rises and twilight.
His early days were spent at his father's house in Northumberland Street below Queen Street Gardens, later residing at Eaton Terrace beyond the Dean Bridge, Edinburgh, and at Finzean, the family estate in the highlands. He was educated in Edinburgh and permitted by his father to paint only on Saturdays using his father's paint box. When Joseph reached the age of 12, Francis Farquharson bought his son his first paints and only a year later he exhibited his first painting at the Scottish Academy.
During the 1860s he trained at the Trustees' Academy in Edinburgh, studying first under Peter Graham RA and then at the Life School at the Royal Scottish Academy. Graham, a popular Scottish landscape painter, whose work can also be seen in the Collection, remained a close friend and his influence on Farquharson is unmistakable. Although not yet a laird, Farquharson was often referred to as 'The Painting Laird'.
His first exhibit at the Royal Academy, Day's Dying Glow, was in 1873. Much like other leading Aberdeen artists, John Philip and William Dyce, he bypassed Edinburgh and Glasgow in favour of London in order to win a wider audience and patrons. His first major portrait, Miss Alice Farquhar, was exhibited in 1884. Although Farquharson is most famous for his works portraying sheep, some of his finest works include a human figure - men and women of Scotland going about their everyday labours depicted in dramatic landscapes.
The watershed in his career was marked by three or four winters, spent from 1880 onwards, in Paris. There he studied under Carolus-Duran, an admirer of Velazquez, who taught his students to use the brush straight away and to think in terms of form and colour. As a result Farquharson's work was always characterised by richly handled paint. Influenced by the Barbizon School and the Impressionists famed for their work 'en plein air', Farquharson adopted their methods to the harsher northern climate by building a number of heated painting huts throughout Finzean; many of his paintings were completed here. Safe in their relative warmth he could observe the effect of the dying day's light on snow and trees, sometimes waiting weeks to capture the atmosphere on canvas. Likewise, to achieve as realistic a result as possible he used a flock of 'imitation' sheep which could be placed as required in the landscape of his choice. Farquharson painted so many scenes of cattle and sheep in snow he acquired the nickname, 'Frozen Mutton Farquharson'.
Often forgotten today are some excellent paintings carried out in the years following his visit to North Africa in 1885. Among the works created during subsequent years were The Egyptian and On the Banks of the Nile outside Cairo.
He was elected Associate of the Royal Academy in 1900, Royal Academician in 1915 and Senior Royal Academician in 1922. In addition to exhibiting over 200 works of art at the Royal Academy, he showed 173 at the Royal Society of Arts and 181 at the Fine Art Society. He also exhibited at the Royal College of Art and the Tate Gallery. The renowned artist-critic, Sickert, made Farquharson the subject of an essay comparing him favourably with Courbet and praising his realism.
In 1914 Farquharson married Violet Evelyn Hay (1887-1971), daughter of James Toner Hay of Blackhall Castle, Kincardineshire, Scotland. He died in April 1935 at Finzean, without issue.
DONOR
Alice Parkinson, born in 1883, came from a well-known Kirkham family. Her grandfather, John Woods, 1833-1911, was a cotton manufacturer who founded Carrington, Wood and Company, Freckleton Street Mills, Kirkham. He and his wife, Alice, nee Holden, born 1827, had two daughters, Elizabeth Ann, born 1856, and Sarah, born 1859. Alice died in 1872 and John was left to bring up his two daughters.
Sarah married Thomas Parkinson in 1882 and our donor, Alice, was their daughter. The 1911 census shows the family as living at Ivy Villa, 58 Ribby Road, Kirkham. A nurse was living with them at that time, possibly to attend to John who died that same year leaving over £43,000. Her sister, Elizabeth Ann, married James Ogden, a cotton mill secretary, in 1912 and they lived at Woodley, 11 St Paul’s Avenue, Lytham St Annes. James sadly died in 1916.
In the 1939 register Alice Parkinson was living on her own means with her aunt, Elizabeth Ogden, and a companion, Emily Pearsall, in St Paul’s Avenue. When Elizabeth died in 1942 her address was Woodville, 15 Osborne Road, St Annes. Alice, then at 20 Kingsway, Ansdell, died in Brentwood Nursing Home in 1962. Emily Pearsall was granted probate.
REFERENCES Note:Miss Parkinson also donated engraving Moorland and Mist ramshornstudio.com by Peter Graham (after), engraved by Joseph Bishop Pratt,
tate.org.uk acc number unknown, donated 27 May 1940
artuk.org unlocated at this time, presumed missin
invaluable.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Farquharson
thepeerage.com/p40411
finzean.com
bonhams.com
videos - YouTube
Joseph Farquharson, born 4 May 1846, was the son of Francis Farquharson (1802-1876), a doctor and laird of Finzean, and Alison Mary, nee Ainslie (1802-1863). He combined a long and prolific career as a painter with his role as a Scottish laird, a title he inherited in 1918 following the death of his elder brother Robert, a doctor and MP for West Aberdeenshire. Painting in both oils and watercolours, he is most famous for his snowy winter landscapes, often featuring sheep and often depicting dawn or dusk, becoming an expert
at capturing the warmth and light of sun rises and twilight.
His early days were spent at his father's house in Northumberland Street below Queen Street Gardens, later residing at Eaton Terrace beyond the Dean Bridge, Edinburgh, and at Finzean, the family estate in the highlands. He was educated in Edinburgh and permitted by his father to paint only on Saturdays using his father's paint box. When Joseph reached the age of 12, Francis Farquharson bought his son his first paints and only a year later he exhibited his first painting at the Scottish Academy.
During the 1860s he trained at the Trustees' Academy in Edinburgh, studying first under Peter Graham RA and then at the Life School at the Royal Scottish Academy. Graham, a popular Scottish landscape painter, whose work can also be seen in the Collection, remained a close friend and his influence on Farquharson is unmistakable. Although not yet a laird, Farquharson was often referred to as 'The Painting Laird'.
His first exhibit at the Royal Academy, Day's Dying Glow, was in 1873. Much like other leading Aberdeen artists, John Philip and William Dyce, he bypassed Edinburgh and Glasgow in favour of London in order to win a wider audience and patrons. His first major portrait, Miss Alice Farquhar, was exhibited in 1884. Although Farquharson is most famous for his works portraying sheep, some of his finest works include a human figure - men and women of Scotland going about their everyday labours depicted in dramatic landscapes.
The watershed in his career was marked by three or four winters, spent from 1880 onwards, in Paris. There he studied under Carolus-Duran, an admirer of Velazquez, who taught his students to use the brush straight away and to think in terms of form and colour. As a result Farquharson's work was always characterised by richly handled paint. Influenced by the Barbizon School and the Impressionists famed for their work 'en plein air', Farquharson adopted their methods to the harsher northern climate by building a number of heated painting huts throughout Finzean; many of his paintings were completed here. Safe in their relative warmth he could observe the effect of the dying day's light on snow and trees, sometimes waiting weeks to capture the atmosphere on canvas. Likewise, to achieve as realistic a result as possible he used a flock of 'imitation' sheep which could be placed as required in the landscape of his choice. Farquharson painted so many scenes of cattle and sheep in snow he acquired the nickname, 'Frozen Mutton Farquharson'.
Often forgotten today are some excellent paintings carried out in the years following his visit to North Africa in 1885. Among the works created during subsequent years were The Egyptian and On the Banks of the Nile outside Cairo.
He was elected Associate of the Royal Academy in 1900, Royal Academician in 1915 and Senior Royal Academician in 1922. In addition to exhibiting over 200 works of art at the Royal Academy, he showed 173 at the Royal Society of Arts and 181 at the Fine Art Society. He also exhibited at the Royal College of Art and the Tate Gallery. The renowned artist-critic, Sickert, made Farquharson the subject of an essay comparing him favourably with Courbet and praising his realism.
In 1914 Farquharson married Violet Evelyn Hay (1887-1971), daughter of James Toner Hay of Blackhall Castle, Kincardineshire, Scotland. He died in April 1935 at Finzean, without issue.
DONOR
Alice Parkinson, born in 1883, came from a well-known Kirkham family. Her grandfather, John Woods, 1833-1911, was a cotton manufacturer who founded Carrington, Wood and Company, Freckleton Street Mills, Kirkham. He and his wife, Alice, nee Holden, born 1827, had two daughters, Elizabeth Ann, born 1856, and Sarah, born 1859. Alice died in 1872 and John was left to bring up his two daughters.
Sarah married Thomas Parkinson in 1882 and our donor, Alice, was their daughter. The 1911 census shows the family as living at Ivy Villa, 58 Ribby Road, Kirkham. A nurse was living with them at that time, possibly to attend to John who died that same year leaving over £43,000. Her sister, Elizabeth Ann, married James Ogden, a cotton mill secretary, in 1912 and they lived at Woodley, 11 St Paul’s Avenue, Lytham St Annes. James sadly died in 1916.
In the 1939 register Alice Parkinson was living on her own means with her aunt, Elizabeth Ogden, and a companion, Emily Pearsall, in St Paul’s Avenue. When Elizabeth died in 1942 her address was Woodville, 15 Osborne Road, St Annes. Alice, then at 20 Kingsway, Ansdell, died in Brentwood Nursing Home in 1962. Emily Pearsall was granted probate.
REFERENCES Note:Miss Parkinson also donated engraving Moorland and Mist ramshornstudio.com by Peter Graham (after), engraved by Joseph Bishop Pratt,
tate.org.uk acc number unknown, donated 27 May 1940
artuk.org unlocated at this time, presumed missin
invaluable.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Farquharson
thepeerage.com/p40411
finzean.com
bonhams.com
videos - YouTube