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Lot 52: WILLIAM MCTAGGART R.S.A., R.S.W (SCOTTISH 1835-1910) THE SHORES OF THE ATLANTIC 71cm x 98cm (28in x 38.5in)

Est: £30,000 GBP - £50,000 GBPSold:
Lyon & TurnbullEdinburgh, United KingdomJune 02, 2011

Item Overview

Description

WILLIAM MCTAGGART R.S.A., R.S.W (SCOTTISH 1835-1910)

THE SHORES OF THE ATLANTIC
Signed and dated 1880-1901, oil on canvas
71cm x 98cm (28in x 38.5in)

Artist or Maker

Condition Report

Unlined. Some retouching to sky centre and right, fairly widespread cosmetic retouching to sea and foreground, and some cracking along top stretcher (visible in photo).


Condition Disclaimer
Under the Conditions of Sale applicable to the sale of the lot, buyers must satisfy themselves as to each and every aspect of the quality of the lot, including (without limitation) its authorship, attribution, condition, provenance, authenticity, age, suitability and origin. Lots are sold on an 'as is' basis but the actual condition of the lot may not be as good as indicated by its outward appearance. In particular parts may have been replaced or renewed and lots may not be authentic or of satisfactory quality.

Any statement in relation to the lot is merely an expression of opinion of the seller or Lyon & Turnbull and should not be relied upon as an inducement to bid on the lot. Lots are available for inspection prior to the sale and you are strongly advised to examine any lot in which you are interested prior to the sale. Our condition report has not been prepared by a professional conservator, restorer or engineer.

Notes

Provenance:John Mathewson, Dundee
Fine Art Society Ltd, London 1973 no.5391
Literature:James Caw, William McTaggart 1917, p.245Exhibited:Royal Glasgow Institute 1889
New Zealand 1890
Dundee Exhibitions 1912 (as Their Native Element)


Born on Aros, Kintyre, to a family of very modest means, his father an agricultural labourer who frequently moved his family for work, William McTaggart showed early signs of interest in the arts and a talent for drawing and painting. The twelve year-old McTaggart was apprenticed with the apothecary Dr John Buchan in Campbeltown, who appears to have had an active role in encouraging and nurturing the talent of the boy, introducing him to the painter Daniel MacNee. McTaggart was fortunate enough to be able to enrol into the Trustees' Academy in Edinburgh in 1852 and attend courses for free, earning his lodgings and living by painting portraits. His arrival at the Academy coincided with the arrival of Robert Scott Lauder, who was an inspirational teacher and was responsible for creating a particularly strong crop of young Scottish artists in his time there.

McTaggart began to exhibit in 1856 and was made an associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1859, aged only twenty-four. His roots in portraiture are evident in the work from the late 1850s and 1860s. Indeed,
lot 51, painted in 1864 and exhibited at the Royal Glasgow Institute in 1866, is inscribed 'Emma Shiels' on the reverse, hinting at a particular model/sitter for the young girl in the composition. McTaggart's work at the
beginning of his professional career is strongly aligned to that of the Pre-Raphaelites. Indeed, he visited Manchester in 1857, where he saw work by William Collins, Holman Hunt and Millais. Those artists' profound interest in colour and focus on pastoral or poetic subject matter, figures in the landscape, and children, as in the case of Millais, seem to have produced a strong response in McTaggart, with lots 51 and 53 being particularly strong examples of this development. He remained rooted in his Scottish heritage, however, and his landscapes, increasingly
important in his compositions, continued to be recognisably Scottish, both in topography and in his treatment of them, looking back to the great Scottish landscape painting tradition of Alexander Nasmyth and almost-contemporary Alexander Fraser. An interesting comparison might
be drawn between lot 51 and the much larger composition, Spring, painted for his important patron G B Simpson, and now in the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland . The treatment of the figures, in the level of detail and their setting within a welcoming landscape that mirrors the youth and charming attributes of the girls, is very similar indeed.

McTaggart's reputation grew considerably in the 1860s and he was elected a full member of the R.S.A. in 1870. Several of McTaggart's contemporaries at the Trustees' Academy had departed to London and frequently exhibited at the Royal Academy . McTaggart refused to exhibit 'outside his country' in the 60s but did send pictures to the Royal Academy in the early 1870s. Lot 53 was one such work, shown in London in 1872 and at the R.S.A. in 1875. It features a composition related to the earlier important work Spring, two young children resting in a landscape, one lying down, the other more upright, but the palette and treatment of his subject matter has began to change irrevocably. The range of colours used is now far narrower, whereas the application of paint is much looser, almost cursory in the typically Highland landscape that serves as our setting. As his style developed his critics reproached McTaggart for his broader handling of paint, advising him to burn his large brushes and revert back to finer ones. He remained steadfast on his course however, declaring 'They will change; I cannot' (p.7, Exhibition Catalogue for Paintings by William McTaggart, June-July 1937, City of Manchester Art Gallery). A review of his portrait of Mrs Orchar, his friend's wife, intoned 'some fine qualities but it is slovenly in execution, wanting in texture and definition.' (The Arts Journal, 1887, p.125)

Lot 52 fully demonstrates the radical change in direction the artist's work took in the 80s and 90s. The palette is even narrower and the composition supremely simplified, creating a harmonious and extremely simple landscape with the two figures an intrinsic and natural part of it. Lindsay Errington has shown how McTaggart was greatly influenced by the work of
Whistler and as a result how he ceased to use his paint in a descriptive manner but rather applied oils in an evocative way, producing a harmonious and almost abstract work in the process.

The artist began to frequently visit both the East and West coasts of Scotland , in particular Crail and Carnoustie, and Campbeltown and Machrihanish in the West. The present lot is most likely to have been painted at Machrihanish, which is described in a book from 1876 which McTaggart owned as:

'The long crescent of Machrihanish, girdled by sands, wind-tossed into fantastic hillocks, receives the full weight of the Atlantic…Even in calm there is a weird suggestiveness in the ceaseless moaning of that surf, like the breathing of a wild beast.'

By the 1980s McTaggart frequently worked outdoors, painting the landscape in situ, preferring to add any human figures in the studio afterwards. The figures in these later landscapes are an intrinsic part of nature, and become even more entrenched into the sea and sand in the later, and even more loosely painted series of the Emigrants and The Coming of St Columba.

McTaggart's painterly technique, great interest in light and evocative rather than descriptive depiction of his subject matter in his mature works have rightly earned him the title of a Scottish Impressionist. We might argue that he was to 19th-century Scottish art and to the Glasgow Boys, what Edouard Manet was to the Impressionists: a forefather and important precedent for the development of Modernity in painting in his country.



Payment & Shipping

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Smaller items:
Mailboxes Etc
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EH10 4BF
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Larger items and furniture
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Constantine House
North Caldeen Road
Coatbridge
ML5 4EF
UK
Tel: 01236 430 681
Email: cathiem@constantinemoving.co.uk

Auction Details

Fine Paintings

by
Lyon & Turnbull
June 02, 2011, 06:00 PM GMT

33 Broughton Place, Edinburgh, EBH, EH1 3RR, UK

Terms

Live bidding may start higher or lower

Buyer's Premium

£1 - 25,000:28.0%
£25,001+:23.0%

Bidding Increments

From:To:Increment:
£0£199£10
£200£499£20
£500£999£50
£1,000£1,999£100
£2,000£4,999£200
£5,000£9,999£500
£10,000£19,999£1,000
£20,000£49,999£2,000
£50,000£99,999£5,000
£100,000+£10,000

CONDITIONS OF SALE

Shipping

Please note that we do not pack or ship items. The following suggested carriers will be able to arrange packing and shipping but please contact them directly to receive a quote for costs. You may wish to contact an alternative courier.

Smaller items

Mailboxes Etc
44/46 Morningside Road
Edinburgh
EH10 4BF
Telephone - 0131 556 6226
Fax - 0131 446 9888
Email - edinburgh@mbescotland.com

Larger items and furniture

Constantine Moving Services
Constantine House
North Caldeen Road
Coatbridge
ML5 4EF
UK
Tel: 01236 430 681
Email: cathiem@constantinemoving.co.uk

Payment

WE DO NOT ACCEPT FOREIGN CHEQUES OR AMERICAN EXPRESS.

We accept Visa or Mastercard - please note there is a 2% surcharge on payment by these credit cards. Alternatively, you may wish to transfer the funds directly to our bank account (details on request). Please note funds must be transferred into our account in Pounds Sterling. If you are a successful bidder, you will be notified by email with a copy invoice attached. We require payment to be with us no later than 7 days after you have received notification.

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Value Added Tax on the hammer price is imposed by law on all items affixed with an asterisk or double asterisk. Value Added Tax is charged at the appropriate rate prevailing by law at the date of sale and is payable by buyers of relevant Lots. (Please refer to "Information for Buyers" for a brief explanation of the VAT position).

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(3) No purchase can be claimed or removed until it has been paid for.

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(1) If any Lot is not paid for in full and taken away in accordance with these
Conditions or if there is any other breach of these Conditions, we, as agent for the seller and on our own behalf, shall at our absolute discretion and without prejudice to any other rights we may have, be entitled to exercise one or more of the following rights and remedies:
(a) to proceed against you for damages for breach of contract;
(b) to rescind the sale of that Lot and/or any other Lots sold by us to you;
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(e) to charge interest at a rate not exceeding 1.5% per month on the total amount due to the extent it remains unpaid for more than 3 working days after the sale;
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Whilst prospective buyers are strongly advised to attend the auction and are always responsible for any decision to bid for a particular Lot and shall be assumed to have carefully inspected and satisfied themselves as to its condition we will if so instructed clearly and in writing execute bids on their behalf. Neither the auctioneer nor our employees or agents shall be responsible for any failure to do so save where such failure is unreasonable. Where two or more commission bids at the same level are recorded we reserve the right in our absolute discretion to prefer the first bid so made.

11. WARRANTY OF TITLE AND AVAILABILITY
The seller warrants to the auctioneer and you that the seller is the true owner of the property consigned or is properly authorised by the true owner to consign it for sale and is able to transfer good and marketable title to the property free from any third party claims.

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The auctioneer normally acts as agent only and disclaims any responsibility for default by sellers or buyers.

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The seller acknowledges that Lots are sold subject to the stipulations of these Conditions in their entirety and on the Terms of Consignment as notified to the consignor at the time of the entry of the Lot.

14. DESCRIPTIONS AND CONDITION
(1) Whilst we seek to describe lots accurately, it may be impractical for us to carry out exhaustive due diligence on each lot. Prospective buyers are given ample opportunities to view and inspect before any sale and they (and any independent experts on their behalf) must satisfy themselves as to the accuracy of any description applied to a lot. Prospective buyers also bid on the understanding that, inevitably, representations or statements by us as to authorship, genuineness, origin, date, age, provenance, condition or estimated selling price involve matters of opinion. We undertake that any such opinion shall be honestly and reasonably held and accept liability for opinions given negligently or fraudulently. Subject to the foregoing neither we the auctioneer nor our employees or agents nor the seller accept liability for the correctness of such opinions and all conditions and warranties, whether relating to description, condition or quality of lots, express, implied or statutory, are hereby excluded. This Condition is subject to the next following Condition concerning deliberate forgeries and applies save as provided for in paragraph 6 "information to buyers".

(2) Private treaty sales made under these Conditions are deemed to be sales by auction for purposes of consumer legislation.

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Notwithstanding the preceding Condition, any Lot which proves to be a deliberate forgery (as defined) may be returned to us by you within 21 days of the auction provided it is in the same condition as when bought, and is accompanied by particulars identifying it from the relevant catalogue description and a written statement of defects. If we are satisfied from the evidence presented that the Lot is a deliberate forgery we shall refund the money paid by you for the Lot including any buyer's premium provided that (1) if the catalogue description reflected the accepted view of scholars and experts as at the date of sale or (2) you personally are not able to transfer a good and marketable title to us, you shall have no rights under this condition.
The right of return provided by this Condition is additional to any right or remedy provided by law or by these Conditions of Sale.

15A. Collation
If on collation any NAMED item in our catalogues proves defective, in text or illustration the Buyer may reject the lot provided he returns it within 21 days of the sale stating the defect in writing. This, however, shall not apply in the case of unnamed items, periodicals, autographed letters, music M.M.S., maps or drawings NOR in respect of damage to bindings, stains, foxing, marginal worm holes or other defects not affecting the completeness of the text NOR in respects of defects mentioned in the catalogue, or at time of sale, NOR in respect of lots sold for less than £200.

GENERAL

16. We shall have the right at our discretion, to refuse admission to our premises or attendance at our auctions by any person.

17 (1) any right to compensation for losses liabilities and expenses incurred in respect of and as a result of any breach of these Conditions and any exclusions provided by them shall be available to the seller and/or the auctioneer as appropriate.

(2). Such rights and exclusions shall extend to and be deemed to be for the benefit of employees and agents of the seller and/or the auctioneer who may themselves enforce them.

18. Any notice to any buyer, seller, bidder or viewer may be given by first class mail or Swiftmail in which case it shall be deemed to have been received by the addressee 48 hours after posting.

19. Special terms may be used in catalogue descriptions of particular classes of items in which case the descriptions must be interpreted in accordance with any glossary appearing at the commencement of the catalogue.

20. Any indulgence extended to bidders buyers or sellers by us notwithstanding the strict terms of these Conditions or of the Terms of Consignment shall affect the position at the relevant time only and in respect of that particular concession only; in all other respects these Conditions shall be construed as having full force and effect.

21. Scottish law applies to the interpretation of these Conditions.

Due to the nature of Live Internet auctions, Lyon & Turnbull are not responsible for any technical or human errors made while executing internet bids. All effort is made to execute bids in a fair manner and the auctioneer will have final discretion to determine the actual winning bidder.

Contract

Your bid constitutes your acceptance of Lyon & Turnbull's Terms and Conditions of business. Your bid is a binding and legally enforceable contract.

Payment

WE DO NOT ACCEPT FOREIGN CHEQUES OR AMERICAN EXPRESS.

We accept Visa or Mastercard - please note there is a 2% surcharge on payment by these credit cards. Alternatively, you may wish to transfer the funds directly to our bank account (details on request). Please note funds must be transferred into our account in Pounds Sterling. If you are a successful bidder, you will be notified by email with a copy invoice attached. We require payment to be with us no later than 7 days after you have received notification.

Shipping

Please note that we do not pack or ship items. The following suggested carriers will be able to arrange packing and shipping but please contact them directly to receive a quote for costs. You may wish to contact an alternative courier.

Smaller items:
Mailboxes Etc
44/46 Morningside Road
Edinburgh
EH10 4BF
Telephone - 0131 556 6226
Fax - 0131 446 9888
Email - edinburgh@mbescotland.com

Larger items and furniture
Constantine Moving Services
Constantine House
North Caldeen Road
Coatbridge
ML5 4EF
UK
Tel: 01236 430 681
Email: cathiem@constantinemoving.co.uk

BUYER'S PREMIUM

The buyer shall pay the hammer price together with a premium thereon of 25% up to 25,000 and 20% thereafter on lots. VAT at the current rate will be added to the premium. 15% VAT is payable on the premium for all framed prints and maps, photographs and manuscripts, but not on books.

Tax

Value Added Tax on the hammer price is imposed by law on all items affixed with an asterisk or double asterisk. Value Added Tax is charged at the appropriate rate prevailing by law at the date of sale and is payable by buyers of relevant Lots. (Please refer to "Information for Buyers" for a brief explanation of the VAT position).

DESCRIPTIONS AND CONDITION

(1) Whilst we seek to describe lots accurately, it may be impractical for us to carry out exhaustive due diligence on each lot. Prospective buyers are given ample opportunities to view and inspect before any sale and they (and any independent experts on their behalf) must satisfy themselves as to the accuracy of any description applied to a lot. Prospective buyers also bid on the understanding that, inevitably, representations or statements by us as to authorship, genuineness, origin, date, age, provenance, condition or estimated selling price involve matters of opinion. We undertake that any such opinion shall be honestly and reasonably held and accept liability for opinions given negligently or fraudulently. Subject to the foregoing neither we the auctioneer nor our employees or agents nor the seller accept liability for the correctness of such opinions and all conditions and warranties, whether relating to description, condition or quality of lots, express, implied or statutory, are hereby excluded. This Condition is subject to the next following Condition concerning deliberate forgeries and applies save as provided for in paragraph 6 "information to buyers".

(2) Private treaty sales made under these Conditions are deemed to be sales by auction for purposes of consumer legislation.