This early 20th-century oil painting by Scottish artist James Campbell Noble RSA (1846-1913) depicts a harbour with a sailboat and figures. Noble was a prominent painter of landscapes and coastal views.
Under an animated sky, bulging with a disparate array of passing clouds, three figures wait upon a wooden quay, while a sailboat passes by. Opposite, various industrial buildings cling to the harbourside, with smoke billowing from a chimney. The water shimmers with silvery highlights. It’s possibly a view of Dordrecht in The Netherlands where the artist painted often.
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.
Signed in the lower right and held within a later frame.
Learn more about James Campbell Noble RSA in our directory.
Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 28” x 24” / 71cm x 61cm
Year of creation: c. 1905
Provenance: Private collection, UK.
Condition: Cleaned. One patched repair. Frame in good condition with minor age-related wear.
Frame with various marks and showing its age.
Artist’s auction maximum: £5,450 for ‘Shipping on the Merwede, Dordrecht’, Oil on canvas, Christie’s, Nineteenth Century Art, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 18 April 2000 (lot 79).
Our reference: BRV2047
