William Stewart MacGeorge, RSA (British, 1861-1931). Summer on the shore. Oil on panel. 12 x 16 inches (30.5 x 40.6 cm)...

Description

William Stewart MacGeorge, RSA (British, 1861-1931)
Summer on the shore
Oil on panel
12 x 16 inches (30.5 x 40.6 cm)
Signed lower right: W. S. MacGeorge

PROVENANCE:
Sotheby's Gleneagles, August 30, 1994, lot 1005 (as Idle moments);
Private collection, Eugene, Oregon.

In the current auction, we are pleased to present a fine selection of paintings by three of Scotland's most distinguished Impressionists: William Stewart MacGeorge, Robert Gemmell Hutchison (see lot 69108), and William McTaggart (see lots 69104 and 69106).

Born in Castle Douglas, MacGeorge trained initially in Edinburgh before furthering his education on the continent at the Antwerp Academy in 1884. There he met Edward A. Hornel, a painter associated with the Scottish artists' colony known as the "Kirkcudbright School," a connection which forever changed the direction of his art. Under the influence of Hornel, who was also one of the "Glasgow Boys" committed to depicting Glaswegian subjects specifically with the new avant-garde tools of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, MacGeorge abandoned the low-tone academic palette and embraced higher-keyed colors and a much freer style of brushwork.

The "Kirkcudbright style" that characterized MacGeorge's work from the late 1880s on can be felt in a more decorative approach to form, a greater use of impasto, sometimes laid on heavily with a palette knife, and a more lighthearted, uniquely Scottish subject matter. His paintings often feature children playing outdoors in lush woodlands, gardens, or beaches, and workers associated with Scottish country life-farmers and fishermen-going about their daily chores. While far from being heavy handed about it, MacGeorge's art contains an undercurrent of proud nationalism in its celebration of the beauties of Scotland.


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