James Faed Jnr (1857-1920)

Artist Name James Faed Jnr (1857-1920)
Title Hunter with Dogs in a River Landscape 1881
Description This stunning Victorian 19th century oil painting is by Scottish artist James Faed Junior. Despite the title, the focus of this autumnal landscape is the beautiful scattered remains of a tree trunk in the foreground. Faed has captured the texture and colouring of the aging remains in great detail. The path winds through the tree debris to the hunter and his dog, gazing down at the river on the right hand side of the painting. A really charming painting that makes one want to get one's coat on and get out in the countryside. Faed painted a lot around Cadzow Forest near Hamilton in the 1870's and 80's and this was painted in 1881.
Signed and dated 1881 lower left.
Provenance Sotheby's, London, 28th August 1984, lot 835.
 
Medium Oil on Canvas
Size 30 x 22 inches
Frame Housed in a complementary Victorian gilt frame, 40 inches by 32 inches and in good condition.
Condition Good condition.
Biography James Faed ‘Junior’ (1857-1920) the eldest son of James Faed and Mary Cotton, was born at Overshiel House in Mid Calder. Called ‘Jamie’ in his youth, his early life must have mostly been spent in Edinburgh, possibly travelling to London, where his father was at the time gaining a reputation as a mezzotint engraver. His uncles had excelled in pictures of humble Scottish life and people, but James Faed Junior was essentially a landscape painter, inspired directly by his father. He really captured the depth and colour of the Scottish countryside and, in particular, his treatment of heather and running water is highly thought of. His later canvases in oil are reminiscent of Horatio MacCulloch’s grand highland scenes, while his lowland watercolours follow the style of Sam Bough. Faed’s landscapes would also have been influenced by artists like Peter Graham, a friend of Thomas Faed, and John MacWhirter who he later knew in London. Like earlier artists, he spent time in the 1870s and 1880s painting and sketching in Cadzow Forest near Hamilton. He exhibited 50 paintings at the RSA from 1876 and won a Bronze Diploma Medal at the International Exhibition in 1886 for his “Springtime in Cadzow Forest”. Many works also appeared at the RGI and he also exhibited at the Royal Academy. Kirkcudbrightshire was his favourite painting location. Several are of the area around Corsemalzie, including Monreith Loch, and around Newton Stewart. Other favourite spots were Cairn Edward and Knocknarling Farms, Cairnraws and Lowring Burn – all above New Galloway. Many watercolours were done in 1907 in the area of hills and lochs north of Gatehouse and reproduced in Sloan’s Galloway (AC Black 1908). Loch Dungeon, Loch Ken and Kenmure Castle were also favourite subjects for James Junior and his father. His link with New Galloway comes from the 1890s and his large picture of The Town Park hung in the RA in 1893, was afterwards presented to the Burgh. He seems to have had a studio there in 1894-95. He spent time at Appin, Loch Fyne and in the Trossachs. In addition to works on the Avon and in Cadzow Forest, he sketched in the Edinburgh area, in Inverness-shire and on the west coast of Sutherland. James Faed Junior married late in life – in 1897 – to Eleanor Annie Herdman from a flour milling family of East Lothian and Edinburgh. The Faeds moved to London quite soon afterwards and their first son – James Ronald Herdman (Ronnie) – was born there in May 1899. Their home was in the artists’ colony of St John’s Wood, at 38 Abbey Road till just before the First World War. James Junior seems to have been close to his uncle Thomas Faed, who also lived in St John’s Wood till his death in August 1900. Based in London, the Faeds spent at least one part of the next nine years in Scotland. In 1902, they took a house in Cannes in the south of France and were there again in 1904-05. The Kirkcudbright artist Jessie M King, among others, visited the Faeds during the second trip. Their second child, John Alastair Faed, was born in November 1905. As well as the author JM Barrie and Sculptor John Adams Acton, Sir Harry Lauder visited the Faeds in Abbey Road. He later composed the well-known song Keep Right on to the End of the Road, which he said had been inspired by a painting in Faed’s studio. They had a house in New Galloway from 1912 and by 1913 were resident permanently in Scotland. James Faed Junior did little painting after 1915 and what he did was done with his mouth as his hands had become paralysed. He died on 17th February 1920 in his 64th year and was buried in Kells Churchyard above New Galloway.
Price SOLD
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