Joseph Farquharson facts for kids
Joseph Farquharson (born May 4, 1846 – died April 15, 1935) was a famous Scottish painter. He was best known for his beautiful landscape paintings of Scotland, especially those showing snowy winter scenes. Many of his paintings feature sheep and show the early morning or late evening light.
Joseph Farquharson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He passed away at Finzean in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. People sometimes called him "'Frozen Mutton' Farquharson" or "The Painting Laird" because of his art and his family background.
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Early Life and Becoming a Painter
Joseph Farquharson had a long and successful career as an artist. He also inherited the role of a Scottish laird, which is like a landowner or lord. He used both oil paints and watercolors for his artworks.
Joseph grew up in Edinburgh and at Finzean, his family's estate in the Highlands. His father, Francis, was a doctor and the laird of Finzean. At first, Joseph's father only let him paint on Saturdays using his own paint box.
When Joseph was 12, his father bought him his very first set of paints. Just one year later, at age 13, Joseph showed his first painting at the Royal Scottish Academy. This was a big achievement for such a young artist!
Developing His Artistic Skills
Joseph Farquharson trained at the Trustees' Academy in Edinburgh in the 1860s. He studied under Peter Graham, a well-known Scottish landscape painter. Graham became a close friend and greatly influenced Joseph's art.
In 1873, Joseph showed his first painting, Day's Dying Glow, at the Royal Academy in London. Like other artists from Aberdeen, he chose to show his work in London. This helped him reach more people and find more buyers for his art.
He became famous for his paintings of sheep, often in dramatic landscapes. He also frequently showed Scottish people doing their everyday jobs in these scenes. Many of his early works were inspired by the countryside around him. He soon became known for his amazing snow scenes. He also enjoyed painting streams and people fly fishing.
Travels and Unique Painting Style
Farquharson was very skilled at capturing the warm glow of sunrises and sunsets. A turning point in his career came when he spent several winters in Paris starting in 1880. There, he studied with Carolus-Duran, an artist who admired Velázquez. Carolus-Duran taught his students to paint directly with the brush, focusing on shapes and colors. This made Farquharson's paintings rich and full of texture.
Many of his artworks were created in the north-east of Scotland, especially at his beloved Finzean estate. In 1885, he traveled to North Africa. During the next eight years, he painted works like The Egyptian and On the Banks of the Nile outside Cairo. These paintings are excellent, but they are not as well-known today.
Joseph Farquharson often gave his paintings unusual and sometimes long titles. Many of these titles came from poems by famous writers like Burns, Milton, Shakespeare, and Gray. He was very proud of his Scottish heritage and knew a lot about Scottish literature.
Recognition and Painting Techniques
Joseph Farquharson was recognized for his talent throughout his life. He became an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1900 and a full Royal Academician in 1915. He showed over 200 paintings at the Royal Academy and many more at other art societies.
A famous art critic named Sickert praised Farquharson's work. He admired the tension and realism in Joseph's paintings. Farquharson's art looked so real because he liked to paint en plein air, which means painting outdoors.
To paint in the cold Scottish weather, he had a special painting hut on wheels. It had a stove to keep warm and a large glass window to see the landscape. To make his sheep snowscapes look as real as possible, he even used a flock of "fake" sheep! He could place these imitation sheep exactly where he wanted them in the scene. Because he painted so many scenes with animals in the snow, he earned the nickname 'Frozen Mutton Farquharson'.
In 1918, Joseph inherited the title of Laird after his older brother, Robert, passed away.
A Famous Painting Rediscovered
In 2008, a woman found an original painting by Joseph Farquharson called Beneath the Snow Encumbered Branches (1901) in her house. She had bought it in the 1960s for £1,450. The painting was expected to sell for up to £70,000 at auction. However, it sold for much more, reaching £147,600 to another collector in Scotland!
Images for kids
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Beneath the Snow Encumbered Branches (1901), oil on canvas
