About this artwork
Herdman's detailed description of the riverbank, with a glimpse of a distant mountain slope, captures the varied colours and textures of the vegetation, rocky terrain and the sparkling reflections of the water. He seems aware of the influential critic and artist John Ruskin's work and his insistence on the importance of close observation and truth to nature. His friend Joseph Noel Paton, a close associate of the pre-Raphaelite painter Millais, may have encouraged this. The island of Arran with its magnificent scenery and fascinating geology inspired many artists and Corrie was a favourite base for Herdman's family holidays.
Updated before 2020
-
artist:Robert Herdman (1829 - 1888) Scottish
-
title:A Riverbank at Corrie, Arran
-
date created:1866
-
materials:Watercolour and bodycolour on paper
-
measurements:34.20 x 50.40 cm
-
object type:
-
credit line:Purchased 1978
-
accession number:D 5049
-
gallery:
-
subject:
Robert Herdman
Robert Herdman
Herdman specialised in painting portraits and Scottish historical subjects, but also produced some notable landscapes in watercolour. He was a student of Robert Scott Lauder at the Trustees' Academy in Edinburgh and was encouraged to draw from nature. He was also strongly influenced by Lauder's...