About this artwork

Painted as a speculation rather than to commission, this idyllic landscape was Fraser’s most important exhibit at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1863 and was considered by the artist to be one of his best pictures. The setting is the River Avon in Lanarkshire, Fraser having leased a house there in 1862 within easy reach of Cadzow Forest. Although he was one of the first Scottish landscapists to work directly from nature, this ambitious composition was probably worked up in his Barncluith studio. Rural pursuits such as gleaning or haymaking were themes favoured by John Linnell, a distinguished English landscape painter much admired by Fraser, and also by his younger contemporaries Hugh Cameron and John MacWhirter.

Updated before 2020

  • artist:
  • title:
    On the Avon: Haymaking Time
  • date created:
    About 1862 - 1863
  • materials:
    Oil on canvas
  • measurements:
    Image: 89.80 x 119.40 cm; Framed: 128.60 x 158.70 x 11.10 cm
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Purchased 1942
  • accession number:
    NG 1980
  • gallery:
  • artwork photographed by:
    Antonia Reeve
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Alexander Fraser, the younger

Alexander Fraser, the younger