James Campbell Noble RSA was a prominent Scottish painter of landscapes and coastal views.
Born in Leith, Edinburgh, the son of a spring maker, Noble’s early education was undertaken at the local board of manufacturing before he entered the employment of J. O. Brown, a lithographic draughtsman. Here, while still fifteen years old, he completed several commissions including numerous anatomical illustrations for academic publications.
Evidently a precocious adolescent, he was subsequently enrolled at the Royal Scottish Academy schools, where he studied under William McTaggart, George Paul Chalmers and J. P. Chalmers RSA. Perhaps somewhat unsurprisingly, he was soon awarded a medal for anatomical drawing, also becoming the ‘first colour prizeman’ of his year.
In 1870, now married, he debuted at the Royal Scottish Academy as a figure painter with a particular focus on genre scenes. His works from this early period, such as ‘Bringing the Boats Ashore’ (c.1875) and ‘The Toy Boat’ (1876) often feature fishing communities and are a little reminiscent of the ‘Newlyn School’. In addition, he also painted interiors in muted tones, somewhat akin to those by Hugh Cameron RSA (1835-1918).
During the early 1880s, he moved to the picturesque coastal idyll of Coldingham in Berwickshire, with easy access to a bounty of turbulent skies, jagged cliffs and tumbling waves. It was inspirational and the rugged character of Coldingham remained with him throughout his career.
His passion for the sea took him to The Netherlands where he studied the Dutch waterways and harbours with keen interest and developed into an artist of considerable merit. It was here that his combination of muted tones and expressive textures came to the fore and resulted in a style resembling the eminent ‘Hague School’ pioneers such as Jacob Maris (1837-1899). Indeed, in an obituary, a critic at the Edinburgh Evening News elevated the Scotsman to the same level when stating that “much of his landscape work in Holland will rank with the finest of the Dutch modern masters”.
When into his 50s, Noble split his time between the port towns of Holland and the magical vistas of the Highlands, portraying both with equal vigour. He died while on a sketching tour of Ledaig in Argyllshire.
Today, he’s represented in numerous public collections including the National Gallery of Scotland, National Trust for Scotland, Glasgow Museum, and the Victoria Art Gallery. He was a member of the Royal Scottish Academy.
“No one today can give the brilliant distance of a sky more discrêtement enveloppé, as the French would say, than he; while his ground is painted with a suppleness which reveals a healthy art in possession of all its senses.” The Mail.
Exhibited
Royal Scottish Academy, Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Art, Liverpool Museum, Aberdeen Artists Society; Royal Academy in London.
Public Collections
National Gallery of Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy, National Trust for Scotland, Walker Art Gallery, Lawrence House Museum, Victoria Art Gallery, Sheffield Museum, Glasgow Museums, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Fife Council, Smith Art Gallery and Museum, Perth and Kinross Council, Kirkcaldy Galleries, Shipley Art Gallery, The Stirling Smith Art Gallery & Museum.
Timeline
1845
Born in Leith, Edinburgh to James Williamson Noble, a journeyman smith/spring maker, and Rachel Noble (nee Campbell).
1851
Lived in Edinburgh Canongate with his parents and sister.
Studied at the board of manufacturing in Edinburgh.
1861
Lived in Edinburgh Canongate with his parents and sister. Occupation recorded as ‘Draughtsman’.
Studied at the Royal Scottish Academy schools under William McTaggart, George Paul Chalmers and J. P. Chalmers, RSA.
Married Anne Noble.
1879
Elected an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy.
1881
Lived in Shere, Surrey, with his wife, Anne, and daughter, Janet. Occupation recorded as ‘Artist Marine & Figure’. Listed as residing at the home of landscape artist, John White (1851-1933).
1891
Lived in Coldingham, Berwickshire, with his wife, daughter, sons Eric and Douglas, mother-in-law and a servant. Occupation recorded as ‘Artist Landscape & Marine Painter’.
1892
Elected a member of the Royal Scottish Academy.
1901
Lived in Edinburgh St Mary with his wife, daughter, and two sons. Occupation recorded as ‘Artist’.
1911
Lived in St Mary, Edinburgh, with his wife, daughter and son. Occupation recorded as ‘Artist. RSA’.
Undertook a sketching tour of Italy with his wife and daughter.
1913
Died in Ledaig, Argyll.
Obituaries
The Edinburgh Evening News
“An Outstanding Personality.
The sudden death yesterday of Mr James Campbell Noble, R.A., deprives art in Scotland of one of its most outstanding men. Mr Noble received a severe shock in the death of his son last year, and though he had recovered from that to some extent his general health had suffered. He went to Italy with his wife and daughter and spent a few months there, in which he did some sketching and last month he had a motor tour in the Highlands, going subsequently to Ledaig, in Argyllshire, where he intended to spend some time in the practice of his art. He took ill three days ago and died of a heart affection.
Born in Edinburgh 67 years ago, Mr Campbell Noble commenced life as a lithographic draughtsman, and entering the life school of the R.S.A. became Keith prizeman. He commenced the practice of his profession as a landscape painter in a studio at Hamilton Place, but in 1890 he went to Coldingham, in Berwickshire, and remained there for about 17 years. At Coldingham his artistic career may be said to have fashioned. The rugged character of the cliffs on that part of the coast and the intense blue of the sea were features that found expression in his work, and that remained with him to the end. Even in the pictures of a later stage of his career - the rich series of views of the Dutch waterways by which he is best known to the present generation - he did not in his quest after tone lose his feeling for rich colour. Much of his landscape work in Holland will rank with the finest of the Dutch modern masters, and it is symptomatic of Mr Noble's large outlook and wide and keen sympathy that he achieved this excellence in such a different type of work to that which for so many years he had practised. Since he returned to Edinburgh Mr Noble had alternated Dutch studies with Highland and West Coast subjects, and with conspicuous success.
In 1879 Mr Campbell Noble was elected an associate of the Royal Scottish Academy and in 1892 a member. While giving loyal support to the Academy, Mr Noble was always ready to lend a helping hand to the younger artists, with whose struggle for recognition he had the fullest sympathy; and he lent the weight of his support to the Scottish Artists' Society. A capable musician, his home at Coldingham became a musical as well as an art centre, and he did much to enrich the life of the village when it bulked much less in the public eye than it does now. He was for three years president of the Scottish Arts Club, and his genial temperament made him a universal favourite. His friendly and encouraging counsel were much sought after, and many an artist of today owes much to Noble's well-informed criticism and ready suggestion. Mr Noble is survived by a widow and daughter.”
The Aberdeen Daily Journal
“The death of Mr James Campbell Noble R.S.A., which occurred on Thursday, removes from Scottish art circles one of its most prominent and popular figures. Mr Campbell Noble was staying at Ledaig, Argyllshire, when the end came. He had not been enjoying good health for some time past, and after three days' illness, he succumbed to heart failure.
Born in Edinburgh sixty-seven years ago, Μr Campbell Noble was partly of lowland and partly of Highland descent. He entered the employment of J. O. Brown, lithographic draughtsman, George Street, Edinburgh, at the age of fifteen, and undertook several commissions for the trade, illustrating books in anatomy for several of the University professors. He secured a Kensington silver medal for anatomical drawing, and when he entered the life school of the Royal Scottish Academy, his ability was soon recognised. He was Keith prizeman and first colour prizeman of his year.
Though his works were almost entirely landscapes and sea pieces, he was first known when, in 1870, he exhibited in the Royal Scottish Academy's Galleries as a figure painter. He was elected an Associate in 1879; but the first work that brought him prominently into notice some years before was entitled, ‘A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.’ In 1892 he was raised to the rank of full membership of the Royal Scottish Academy. He was president of the Scottish Arts Club for the full three years' term of office.”
The Yorkshire Post
“For many years he had been recognised as one of the most skilled and poetic exponents of the quaint waterways of Holland and elsewhere.“
The Mail
“Mr J Campbell Noble.
The death occurred suddenly on Thursday of Mr. J. Campbell Noble, R.S.A., at Ledaig, Argyll. Mr. Noble, who was the only son of Mr. James Campbell Noble, was born in Edinburgh in 1846, and was therefore 67 years of age. He gained a studentship in the school of the Board of Manufacturers, Edinburgh, in 1862, was silver medallist of anatomy in 1862, and took a Queen's prize in 1876. In the Life School of the Royal Scottish Academy he studied under J. P. Chalmers, R.S.A., McTaggart, R.S.A., and Hugh Cameron, R.B.A., and took the Keith and colour prize there. In 1879 he was made an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy, and became an Academician in 1892.
On Thursday last week, at the quiet hamlet of Ledaig, on the shores of Loch Nell, where he had gone with brush and easel, the death took place very suddenly of Mr James Campbell Noble, R.S.A., one of Scotland's most distinguished sons. Mr Campbell Noble was a man of more than national fame, and the distinction which he wore so lightly was a source of pride to the Highlands, with which he was closely connected, not only by blood but by personal and professional associations. Having paid a flying visit to Benderloch some years ago Mr Noble had a keen desire to return and express on canvas the beauties of the district, and it was not till this autumn that he was able to gratify the desire. He was barely a week at Ledaig when he was struck down by the illness which terminated fatally last Thursday.
Mr Campbell Noble had recently been in somewhat indifferent health. The death of his elder son last year was a heavy blow. Mr Eric Campbell Noble is well remembered in Oban, where he was in practice as a dental surgeon from 1906 till 1910, and where his talent as a vocalist brought him much popularity. On leaving Oban he settled in Nairn, and he was just at the beginning of a promising career, when he was cut down in early manhood. A wide circle was deeply touched by young Mr Noble's death, and the very heavy bereavement fell severely upon the father, who was bound up in his
Mr Campbell Noble was 67 years of age, and the end peacefully, if unexpectedly, came at Ledaig from heart failure, after an illness of three days. He is survived by Mrs Campbell Noble, a son, and a daughter, to whom much sympathy is tendered in their loss.
Mr Campbell Noble was a native of Edinburgh, and, as his name denoted, he was partly of Highland and partly of Lowland descent. The Highland element was perhaps predominant. His sympathies and tastes were entirely Celtic, and never was he more happy than when sojourning and working amid the glories of Highland landscape and seascape. He began his career as a lithographic draughtsman, his years of apprenticeship being mostly occupied with architectural drawings. An intention of settling in London having been debarred on account of his youth, he subsequently accepted work on commission in Edinburgh, his engagements including the illustration of text-books on anatomy for the University Professors. At this early period he was awarded a Kensington silver medal for anatomical drawing.
Entering the life school of the Royal Scottish Academy, he there won the Keith prize, and was also the first colour prizeman of his year, thus disclosing those gifts which in later years were to carry him so far. He first opened a studio in Edinburgh, but he found himself attracted by the surroundings and artistic possibilities of the village of Coldingham, in Berwickshire. Here he settled in 1880, and here, it may be said, his artistic impulses first took definite shape, the rugged coast scenery and the hardy fisher folks exercising his brush with fine result. Mr Campbell Noble spent seventeen years in Coldingham, and gathered about him a delightful circle of artistic and musical friends.
Returning to Edinburgh, a visit to Holland brought him under a spell, and he devoted himself to a study of Dutch waterway and other subjects. His Dutch work won him an extended reputation: he took rank as one of the most skilful delineators of the picturesque old-world life of Holland.
After some years he was drawn to the Highlands. The beauties of the Nairn region and of the Trossachs were his themes, and the technique of his pictures gave them at once a marked place in the art world. At the annual exhibitions of the Academy, the works of Mr Campbell Noble, drawn from these scenes, commanded attention and admiration.
While visiting his son, Mr Noble painted several pictures in Oban, one of which, 'Sunset, Kerrera,' was very much admired this spring in the Grafton Galleries, London. In 1910 he was at Iona, and there painted some of his most outstanding work, of which 'The Marble Quarry' was the most noticeable. In the notice of this year's Academy, 'The Oban Times' critic wrote:
Mr Campbell Noble, R.S.A., is placed in the front rank of landscapists, and he has never painted with more apparent facility than is shown in his three canvasses of 'Sunset near Glencaple,' 'Strathspey,' and the 'Old Pier, Iona.' They are all painted with verve and a harmonious freedom only to be achieved by long and acute observation. No one today can give the brilliant distance of a sky more discrêtement enveloppé, as the French would say, than he; while his ground is painted with a suppleness which reveals a healthy art in possession of all its senses.
This is a true summing-up of the place which Mr Campbell Noble had come to hold as a painter. He was elected an Associate of the Academy in 1879, and in 1892 he became a member. He was president of the Scottish Art Club for three years.
Mr Campbell Noble was one of the most charming of men. One who knew him well writes that 'he was a great artist and the kindest of men.' His kindness was a dominant characteristic. In a touching sonnet, Gabriel Setoun brings out this rare element of a fine disposition: Farewell, O brother, you have passed, and we In silent sorrow, stricken, bow the head. What can in Saxon words be simply said.
I say with others, ' He was kind to me.' He was 'a man beloved,' and by his death the Scottish art world loses one of its most distinguished ornaments, and his fellow painters a comrade and friend whose memory they will cherish.”