Dundee Art Galleries & Museum: 272-1987-271
Artist: Rajon, Paul Adolphe
Date: c.1867-78
State: 1/1
Size: 29.2 x 44.5 cm
Medium: Etching
| Alternative Title(s) | The Legend (after George Paul Chalmers) |
| Details | Etching. Black ink on thin, possible wove, paper. Graphite signature bottom right ‘P. Rajon’. |
| Description | This etching was based on an unfinished painting by the Scottish artist George Paul Chalmers (1833-1878). Orchar had a number of paintings by Chalmers in his collection and the collector and artist seemed to be good friends. The Orchar collection also contains a sketch of the original painting.
The painting itself, begun about 1864 – 1867, is now in the National Galleries of Scotland Collection. The scene depicted is a moment from Sir Walter Scott’s 1822 novel The Pirate where the seer Ulla Troil speaks to a group of children. Orchar collected a substantial number of paintings by the pupils of Robert Scott Lauder, namely A.H. Burr, John Burr, Hugh Cameron, Robert Herdman, William McTaggart, William Quillar Orchardson, John Pettie and George Paul Chalmers. He also developed strong friendships with the artists, notable McTaggart, Pettie and Chalmers. Orchar, Pettie and Chalmers holidayed together in 1877 in the Trossachs and all three were inspired by the novels of Walter Scott, as Pettie’s nephew Martin Hardie noted; It is more than probable that at this time Pettie was steeping himself afresh in the novels of Sir Walter Scott. In the summer of 1877 he stayed, first with his friend Orchar at Dundee, and then spent a long holiday at Callander in the very heart of the Scott country, within easy drive of the Trossachs and Loch Katrine, the Pass of Leny, and the Braes of Balquhidder. George Paul Chalmers was there also, worrying over his “Glee Maiden”” so, too, were the MacWhirters, Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Gow, and George Lawson, the sculptor. Martin Hardie, John Pettie R.A., H.R.S.A. London, A. & C. Black, 1908. According to F.G. Stephens Rajon produced a number of etchings after Chalmers including Melancholy (not published), Winter, Prayer and The Legend. F.G. Stephens, Twelve Etchings Contributed to the Portfolio by Paul Adolphe Rajon. London, Seeley and Co., 1889, p.11. Stephens notes that an impression of The Prayer was No. 597 in the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1876. An impression was published in The Portfolio in December 1877. |
| Exhibited Dundee | Exhibited at the Dundee Fine Art Exhibition, Albert Institute, 1881 (Fourth Gallery, No. 827) and marked as ‘Property of J.G. Orchar, Esq.’. Dundee Fine Art Exhibition Catalogue 1881, The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum.The Bath, after L. Alma Tadema, R.A. (No. 804 no price) and Charles Darwin, F.R.S. (after W.W. Ouless, A.R.A.) (No. 821 marked as ‘Property of J.G. Orchar, Esq.) were also exhibited at the same exhibition in 1881.Rajon also exhibited two prints, The Blue Boy; after Gainsborough (No. 893 £3.0) and Watchmen, what of the Night?: after G.F. Watts, R.A. (No. 901 £5.5) in the 1882 exhibition. |
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