A Musician's Reverie

Artist John Pettie (Edinburgh, Scotland, 1839 - 1893)

Date1850-1874

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings

DimensionsOverall: Height: 163.2 cm, Width: 110.2 cm
Frame: Height: 205.1 cm, Width: 152 cm

AcquisitionPresented in 1899 by the Trustees of the late J C Chalmers of Banchory.

CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG004097

Keywords

About MeBorn in Edinburgh, John Pettie was one of a group of very gifted young artists trained there during the early 1850s by Robert Scott Lauder. Like Orchardson and other members of the group, Pettie went on to pursue an extremely successful career in London.

The model for this enigmatic painting may have been the young romantic composer Hamish MacCunn who married Pettie's daughter, Alison in 1888. Pettie was an enthusiastic amateur musician and helped promote MacCunn's career by organising concerts at his own studio.

Pettie depicts the young man fallen into a reverie over a music manuscript; it seems that in his imagination he is playing through the musical arrangement in a half dream state. The painting was first exhibited in 1886 with an accompanying quotation from Oliver Wendell Holmes "Alas for those that never sing, But die with all their music still in them".

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The musician dreams of future scores; but will he remember any of it after he snores?