Jedburgh Abbey

Artist Sir George Reid (Aberdeen, Scotland, 1841 - 1913)

Date1876

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings

DimensionsOverall: Height: 58.7 cm, Width: 91.8 cm
Frame: Height: 85.1 cm, Width: 117.1 cm

AcquisitionAlexander Macdonald Bequest, 1901.

CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG003944

Keywords

About MeGeorge Reid was a friend of Aberdeen Art Gallery's principal benefactor, Alexander Macdonald and this painting was in Macdonald's collection in Kepplestone House. Reid lived across the road from Macdonald in St. Luke's - now home to the Gordon Highlanders Museum, where a display of Reid's work can be seen.

Reid was primarily a portrait painter and he painted both Macdonald and his wife and many artists' portraits. However, he preferred landscape painting and this wintery scene shows the artist at the height of his artistic powers. After studying painting in the Netherlands in 1866, Reid's style changed greatly and he adopted many Dutch traits in his work. For example, the absence of colour - instead a subtle harmony of greys, whites and browns - is typically Dutch. So too is the realist depiction of a working peasant collecting sticks who can be seen amongst the trees on the left of the composition.

Jedburgh Abbey lies on the Tweed and later Reid painted a set of views of the river which were then engraved.

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Can you spot the peasant gathering winter fuel?