The Monarch of the Glen (painting)

The Monarch of the Glen
Artist	Sir Edwin Landseer
Year	1851
Medium	Oil-on-canvas
Location	Scottish National Gallery, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh)

The Monarch of the Glen is an oil-on-canvas painting of a red deer stag completed in 1851 by the English painter Sir Edwin Landseer, which was commissioned as part of a series of three panels to hang in the Palace of Westminster in London. It was one of the most popular paintings throughout the 19th century, and reproductions in steel engraving sold very widely, and the painting itself was finally bought by companies to use in advertising. The painting had become something of a cliché by the mid-20th century, as "the ultimate biscuit tin image of Scotland: a bulky stag set against the violet hills and watery skies of an isolated wilderness", according to the Sunday Herald.^[1]

The stag has twelve points on his antlers, which in deer terminology makes him a "royal stag" but not a "monarch stag", for which sixteen points are needed.^[2]

In 2017 the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh launched a successful campaign to buy the painting for £4 million finally achieving the acquisition. The painting is now part of the collection and is on display at the Scottish National Gallery in Room 12.

History

Landseer was a member of the Royal Academy, a favourite of Queen Victoria, and had become famous for his paintings and drawings of animals. His later works include the sculptures of the lions at the foot of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square. From the 1840s, he produced a series of intricately observed studies of stags based on those he had seen on the trips he had been making to the Scottish Highlands since 1824. In 1850, Landseer received a national commission to paint three subjects connected with the chase for the Refreshment Rooms of the House of Lords, for which he produced Monarch of the Glen and two other paintings. Once they were completed the House of Commons refused to grant the £150 promised for the commission, and, as a result, the paintings were sold to private collectors. It has been claimed that the landscape setting shows Glen Affric.^[3]

It was exhibited in London in 1851, 1874 and 1890.^[4] From the collection of William Denison, 1st Earl of Londesborough it passed in 1884 to Henry Eaton, 1st Baron Cheylesmore after whose death in 1891 it realized £7,245 at his sale at Christie's in May 1892, where it was bought by Agnew's, who resold it to T. Barratt for £8,000. In 1916 he resold it at Christie's for £5,250.^[5] The price in 1892 was the highest made by a Landseer before the 1960s, with the exception of a rumoured price of £10,000 in a private sale of The Otter Hunt in 1873, which would have then represented the highest price ever paid for a British picture.^[6]

The painting was purchased in 1916 by Pears soap company and featured in their advertising. It was sold on to John Dewar & Sons distillery and became their trademark before similarly being used by Glenfiddich. The painting was then acquired as part of the purchase of Dewar's by Diageo. In 1997 Diageo sold Dewar's to Bacardi but this did not include ancillary assets. Diageo then loaned the painting to the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

On 2 November 2016, Diageo announced their intention to sell the painting, as they stated it had "no direct link to our business or brands".^[7] The National Galleries of Scotland was offered the painting, valued at £8 million, at half this price, if they could raise the remaining £4 million. A campaign was then launched to raise the funds, which succeeded.^[8]

Modern derivatives and corporate logos

After, After, After Monarch of the Glen, by Peter Saville

The painting has been inspiration for certain company logos and founding principles. The logo of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc, a U.S. insurance services company, is taken directly from this painting, as is that of Exmoor Ales.

Nestlé Waters North America's Deer Park Spring Water uses a variant reverse image of the logo.

Company legend has it the first President of Challenge Cream and Butter Association, J.P. Murphy, now Challenge Dairy of California, chose the name from a variation of the mural, depicted on the company's current logo.^[9]

Challenge Butter carton logo

In 2012 Peter Saville collaborated with Dovecot Studios Edinburgh in celebration of their centenary to create a large scale tapestry of his work After, After, After Monarch of the Glen. This new tapestry commission is Dovecot Studios re appropriation of Peter Saville's appropriation of Sir Peter Blake's appropriation of Sir Edwin Landseer's 1851 painting Monarch of the Glen. Dovecot Studios has woven this new tapestry of Peter Saville's design, thereby joining the artists who have reinterpreted this British masterpiece.

Glenfiddich single malt Scotch whisky has used a variation of Landseer's stag image in their logo since 1968.^[10]

The painting has also been used on the label of tins of Baxter's Royal Game soup in the UK.^[11]

Popular culture

The Monarch of the Glen was prominently featured in an episode of The Goodies. "The Goodies" come into possession of the painting, along with a massive debt. American "art collectors" offer to buy the painting for enough to cover the debt, but Bill refuses to sell it as it's his favourite painting. Ironically, despite his great love of it, Bill mistakenly believes the painting to be of a cow with twigs stuck to its head.

The BBC television series Monarch of the Glen (2000-2005) takes its title from the painting, as well as the title of Compton Mackenzie's 1941 novel of the same name.

A novella by Neil Gaiman is named after The Monarch of the Glen. It is a sequel to American Gods and features Shadow Moon two years after the events of the original book. It appears in the collection Fragile Things.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Monarch of the Glen.

• A Distinguished Member of the Humane Society
• Laying Down the Law

Notes

References