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John Miller Gray, 1850 - 1894. Art critic and first curator of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery
Patrick William Adam
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Scottish Art
Patrick William Adam
John Miller Gray, 1850 - 1894. Art critic and first curator of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery1885From the age of sixteen Gray worked in a bank as an apprentice clerk, but found the work ‘utterly repugnant’ and studied literature and art in his spare time. After ten years as a freelance art critic he was appointed the first curator of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 1884. His main task was the systematic cataloguing of the national collection of portraits, something for which he received great praise. His numerous publications include a book on George Manson, a Scottish artist whose self-portrait is thought to be the right-most painting in the background, the other two depicting Burns and Scott. Friendly but somewhat reserved in character, Gray lived in Edinburgh all his life and never married. After his premature death he left nearly all he owned to the Portrait Gallery.
Details
- Accession no. PG 1226
- Medium Oil on canvas board
- Size 30.30 x 25.10 cm (framed: 44.50 x 39.40 x 5.70 cm)
- Credit Bequeathed by the sitter 1894
Patrick William Adam (Scottish, 1854 - 1929)
Patrick William Adam was born in Edinburgh, the son of a well-known lawyer. Choosing a career in the arts instead of the law, Adam studied at the Royal Scottish Academy under George Paul Chalmers and William McTaggart. He first exhibited at the RSA at the age of 18, eventually showing a total of 164 paintings there. His travels abroad took him to Rome, Venice and Russia. Although Adam’s varied output includes portraits, landscapes, and still life, he is now best remembered for his genre paintings and interiors, which he painted in his North Berwick studio from 1908 onwards.
Glossary Open
Genres
A French term that denotes different types of paintings, such as landscape, portrait or still life. The phrase ‘genre painting’ is used specifically to describe works depicting everyday scenes.
Royal Scottish Academy
The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) was formed in Edinburgh in 1826 by Scottish artists who felt alienated by what they perceived as the elitism of the Royal Institution and its management of contemporary art exhibitions. In 1835, the RSA secured exhibition rights in the Royal Institution building, which had been erected on The Mound by the Board of Manufactures in 1826. The RSA and the Board frequently argued over responsibilities for advanced art education. From 1859, the RSA shared the premises of the new National Gallery of Scotland under the Board’s custody. In 1910, after transferring most of its art collections to the Gallery, the RSA gained exclusive tenancy of the former Royal Institution building, where it continues to hold large-scale annual exhibitions.