Painting The Nation

This study describes one of the most vibrant periods of Scotland’s art and casts new light on the evolution of its identity and culture.Painting in Scotland was a barometer of the country’s idea of itself and of the Scots’ aspirations and values. John Morrison explores the whole range of Scottish painting from the crowded everyday life of the city to the wilderness of highland lochs and moorland. He examines the appeal of the representations of great historical moments, showing how in the same painting an artist could celebrate Scotland’s difference while reinforcing its position within the union. He gives fresh life to national icons such as the paintings of Bruce and Glencoe and the runic carvings of the Picts, and provides a new appreciation of the work of artists such as Sir David Wilkie, Horatio McCulloch, Sir George Harvey, George Paul Chalmers and Sir James Guthrie. He also seeks out and reappraises less well-known paintings such as G.P. Chalmers’s “End of Harvest” and W.D. McKay’s “Winter Morning.”