About this artwork

During the 1870s Cameron produced a number of paintings depicting Scottish country people engaged in hard farm tasks, or collecting and dragging firewood. Several of these compositions suggest the influence of Jean François Millet's scenes of peasant life. First exhibited in 1873, this picture was painted for Cameron's friend, John McGavin of Glasgow. McGavin was also a patron of Cameron's contemporaries Orchardson and Pettie and a discerning collector of Corot, Diaz, Millet and the two Hague School painters, Israels and Maris.

Updated before 2020

  • artist:
    Hugh Cameron (1835 - 1918) Scottish
  • title:
    A Lonely Life
  • date created:
    Exhibited 1873 (RSA)
  • materials:
    Oil on canvas
  • measurements:
    86.00 x 65.00 cm; Framed: 117.50 x 97.00 x 13.00 cm
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Purchased 1928
  • accession number:
    NG 1717
  • gallery:
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Hugh Cameron

Hugh Cameron