A Tartar Horseman - Study for Polish Exiles on their way to Siberia

Artist Sir William Allan (Edinburgh, Scotland, 1782 - 1850)

Date1806-1808 or 1830

Mediumred, black and white chalk on paper

ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings

DimensionsOverall: Height: 22.5 cm, Width: 19 cm
Frame: Height: 55.6 cm, Width: 39.2 cm

AcquisitionPurchased in 1960.

CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG003379

Keywords

About MeThis chalk drawing is a preparatory study for the oil painting "Polish Exiles on their way to Siberia" (1834). Allan spent four of his "most happy years" in what was then Partitioned Poland, remaining close to the plight of Poles long after his return to Scotland in 1814. In the years immediately before this work was painted many thousands of Poles were forced to flee their homeland because of a failed uprising against Tsarist rule. Allan remained an ardent supporter of the émigrés that reached Edinburgh, one of whom - Krystyn Lach-Szyrma - published an English translation of Adam Mickiewicz's "Books of the Polish nation and the Polish Pilgrimage" in 1833. The elegiac character of Allan's painting seems to be influenced by the sentiments of this book, as well as by his own memories and preparatory studies of Poles. In particular, the Jesus-like figure at the centre of the picture reflects Mickiewicz's notion of Poland as the "Christ of nations".

Sketches such as this were to Allan what digital photography is to the traveller of today. Chalk and paper were the ideal means to capture a moment spontaneously; versatile and easily transportable, it is unlikely that Allan went anywhere without them. The carefully observed ethnic features of this horseman date him to Allan's 1830 trip to Turkey or the years 1806-1808 when he visited what was then Tartary (present-day Siberia, Turkestan and Mongolia). Away from home Allan dispensed with many of the classical tenets instilled in him by his Scottish teacher, John Graham, turning his attention to so-called "low life" subjects and demonstrating a precocious awareness of Cossack folk art - even experimenting with a somewhat more "primitive" treatment of figures, as he does here.