This portrait depicts Niel Gow (1727–1807), a popular Scottish composer of reels, jigs, hornpipes and strathspeys. The musician poses in a seated position holding his violin as if about to begin playing. Gow is dressed in traditional tartan trews, a navy coat and waistcoat, and stockings decorated with a green diagonal criss-cross design. A glimpse of bare skin is visible on Gow’s left leg and his face is flushed. The background is predominantly dark with the space behind the sitter’s head and shoulders illuminated.
This oil on canvas has been painted on ‘S’ twill weave canvas, a material Sir Henry Raeburn often used. Raeburn would have noted the use of twill, a canvas woven with distinctive diagonal ridges, by the Old Masters when in Rome. As art historian John Dick suggests, the artist may have used it for the decorative quality of the weave of the canvas showing through the paint (Dick 1997, p.42). Raeburn almost certainly obtained his pigments from commercial suppliers, as materials in the nineteenth century were increasingly mass-produced, though he may have specified certain characteristics and paid for them accordingly (Dick 1997, p.43). A wet-in-wet technique has been used, where wet paint is applied to existing layers of undried paint, enabling the painter to blend the slate colours of the sitter’s jacket and waistcoat into the pink of the trousers. Raeburn has used vermilion with organic crimson, blues and greens mixed from Prussian blue and yellow, the same yellow used to paint the buttons on the trousers. It is also suggested that the tartan has been underpainted with dull red (Dick 1997, p.43).
The artist has created a sense of intimacy in the portrait with dark, warm tones enveloping the space behind Gow where the brushwork is distinctly more visible than on the figure itself. The sitter almost dissolves into these shadows which dominate the lower half of the painting, particularly where the sitter’s right elbow merges with the rich brown background. As art historian Duncan Thomson has indicated, Raeburn’s later works often feature silhouette figures and reflect an interest in creating contrast in his painting, most famously evident in the painting of the Reverend Robert Walker, c.1795 (Thomson 1997, p.88). In contrast to this, the painting of Gow differs greatly from this style.
While the painting was originally dated to 1787, Thomson states that this date is accepted to be incorrect, perhaps chosen as a tribute to the year during which Gow met poet Robert Burns (Thomson 1997, p.106). Other evidence indicates a later date for the painting. Similarities can be identified between this work and Raeburn’s portrait of Dr Nathaniel Spens in the Royal Collection, notably in the delicate treatment of the face, suggesting the work was painted closer to 1793. Thomson has speculated that the portrait of Gow might date to as late as 1796, portraying the musician as a man of seventy. The flushed, youthful complexion in the painting appears to contest this. However, Raeburn may have been attempting to portray the figure in a complimentary fashion as Thomson has suggested (Thomson 1997, p.106).
Gow was the son of a weaver from Inver, Perthshire, and had begun an apprenticeship as a plaid weaver before his talent as a fiddler was recognised. He is celebrated for elevating the native tradition to a new, professional level and was the first fiddler to succeed in being solely a folk musician. He was famous for his energetic performances, known for his powerful bow strokes and adding sudden shouts to his quick tunes to startle dancers, as Robert Chambers records in his 1875 Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen (Chambers 1875, p.138–41). Gow’s patronage included the principal nobility and gentry throughout Scotland. While his permanent residence remained Inver, he was in constant demand to perform at balls and parties across the country, and was considered unmatched by any of his contemporaries. Robert Burns described Gow as ‘a short, stout-built, honest highland figure, with his grayish hair shed on his honest brow – an interesting face, marking strong sense, kind open heartedness mixed with unmistrusting simplicity’ (quoted in Thomson 1997, p.107).
The painting was acquired from Robert Salmond who obtained the portrait directly from Raeburn’s son, Henry Raeburn Esq, who had taken it from the home gallery of his late father. A letter from Salmond describes how the portrait was conceived. Upon his return from Italy, Raeburn believed that completing a portrait of the popular musician would advance him in the world of art. Salmond’s account claims that Raeburn introduced himself to Gow on the street and that Gow was so pleased that he agreed immediately. During the sittings, the Duke of Atholl came to the studio to observe progress and ordered three copies to be made. One of these copies remains at Blair castle. Henry Raeburn Esq acknowledges that his father copied the painting a number of times but that the one in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery is the original and was in Raeburn’s possession (Minutes of the Board of Trustees, National Galleries of Scotland, 11 May 1871).
As Thomson has observed, the bare skin adds to the sense of informality to the work as the viewer witnesses a musician ready to perform (Thomson 1997, p.106). The painting also conveys a sense of national pride and is a quiet celebration of cultural identity, themes which would become more evident in Raeburn’s later work as art historian Stana Nenadic has argued (Nenadic 2012, p.169). This is perhaps best exemplified in Raeburn’s portrait of Colonel Alastair Ranaldson Macdonell of Glengarry, 1812, also in the National Galleries of Scotland collection. This portrait displays the colonel dressed entirely in tartan in a confident, proud stance. While more understated, Scottish national identity remains a theme in the portrait of Neil Gow in its tribute to a national cultural figure.
Further reading
Robert Chambers, Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsman, Half Volume 3, Glasgow 1875. Digital version created by National Library of Scotland.
Duncan Thomson, The Art of Sir Henry Raeburn 1756-1823, exhibition catalogue, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh 1997.
John Dick, ‘Raeburn’s Methods and Materials’ in Duncan Thomson, The Art of Sir Henry Raeburn 1756-1823, exhibition catalogue, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh 1997.
Stana Nenadic, ‘Raeburn and the Print Culture of Edinburgh’ in Viccy Coltman and Stephen Lloyd (eds.), Henry Raeburn Context Reception and Reputation, Edinburgh 2012, pp.153–75.
Kate O’Donoghue
The University of Edinburgh
October 2016