John MacWhirter

John MacWhirter, (27 March 1837 Slateford, Water of Leith - 28 January 1911 London)^[1] was a Scottish landscape painter.

Biography

John was the third of four children.^[2] One of his sisters, Agnes McWhirter was also a noted artist of still lives.^[3] He attended a school in Colinton, and after his father's death was apprenticed to Oliver & Boyd, booksellers in Edinburgh. He stayed there for only a few months and then in 1851 enrolled at the Trustees Academy under Robert Scott Lauder and John Ballantyne (1815–97). He spent long periods sketching and studying nature outdoors. His first painting to be exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy at age 14, was 'Old Cottage at Braid'. In 1880, he was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Scottish Academy. Exploring and painting abroad he visited Italy, Sicily, Switzerland, Austria, Turkey, Norway and the U.S.A. - the Alps being a great inspiration. He moved to London in 1867 and on 4 May 1893 was elected a Royal Academician.

MacWhirter specialised in romantic landscapes with a great fondness for trees, spending much time in the hilly countryside of Perthshire. Initially, under the influence of John Everett Millais, he experimented with the detailed images of the Pre-Raphaelites, but later adopted a more sweeping style. With John Pettie he illustrated The Postman's Bag (Strahan, 1862), and Wordsworth's Poetry for the Young (Strahan, 1863).

He married 'Katie' Catherine Cowan Menzies (1843-) in 1872, her brother-in-law Rev James McFarlan officiating. The couple lived at 1 Abbey Road, St. John's Wood in the 1870s, and had two daughters and two sons:

1. Agnes Helen ('Nan') *1873 x Charles Sims
2. Helen Agnes *1875 x Sydney Malcolm Baird
3. Ulric George *1878
4. Alan Gordon *1882 x Doris May Cook

MacWhirter has paintings in several British Collections including Royal Holloway University of London, Cheltenham and Derby Art Gallery.^[4]

Bibliography

• MacWhirter, John Landscape Painting in Watercolours (London Cassell), 1900
• Sinclair, W. M. John MacWhirter, R.A. : his life and work (The Art Annual), 1903
• MacWhirter, John The Macwhirter sketch book (London Cassell), 1908

References

See also

• Western Cattle in Storm

Media related to John MacWhirter at Wikimedia Commons