Sunset in Morocco

Artist Arthur Melville (Guthrie, Angus, Scotland, 1855 - 1904)

Date1895

Mediumwatercolour on paper

ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings

DimensionsSight Size: Height: 24.9 cm, Width: 30 cm
Frame Size: 42 × 46.1 × 2.3cm

AcquisitionBequeathed in 1985 by William Guthrie Milne.

CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG007432

Keywords

About MeAlthough Arthur Melville came from the east coast of Scotland, he is often associated with the 'Glasgow Boys'. Sometimes called 'impressionist' by British critics of the time, his style was unique.

In his early career, Melville travelled in the Middle East, making a remarkable two year long journey overland from Baghdad to Constantinople. From then on, he held a clear interest in the Orient, continuing to travel mostly in Spain and the Maghreb. This painting was made while in Morocco. The delicate treatment of light and colour, with contrasting blue shadows, describes the sunset on the Atlas Mountains. Melville's masterful watercolour technique is extremely fluid, a method that heightens the overall vivid impression of this landscape.
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Is anyone else waiting for the figure in the painting to be trampled by horses or a stagecoach? The landscape is reminiscent of an old Wild West film.