About this artwork
The Horse Fair is one of Miller Parker’s most ambitious paintings. It shows the hum of activity at one of the largest events in the country calendar. Human and animal participants are simplified, wryly observed and expertly arranged in a work which used to belong to Miller Parker’s friend, the writer Naomi Mitchison. Miller Parker met fellow artist William McCance when they were at the Glasgow School of Art, and they married in 1918. In 1920 they moved to London where they were among the few Scottish artists to engage with modernism; the Vorticist artist William Roberts rented a room in their flat and by 1925 they were being described by Hugh MacDiarmid as ‘that clever couple from Scotland who believe in cubist methods’.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Agnes Miller Parker (1895 - 1980) Scottish
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title:The Horse Fair
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date created:1928
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materials:Tempera on canvas
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measurements:109.30 x 81.30 cm; Framed: 92.40 x 120.00 x 7.00 cm / 19.00 kg
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object type:
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credit line:Long loan in 2016
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accession number:GML 2038
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gallery:
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subject:
Agnes Miller Parker
Agnes Miller Parker
Agnes Miller Parker was born in Irvine, Ayrshire and studied at Glasgow School of Art. She later taught at the School before marrying fellow student William McCance. The couple moved to London in 1920. Parker’s work of the 1920s is influenced by the Cubist and Vorticist movements. In the early...
