This enchanting late 19th-century oil painting by Scottish artist John Pettie RA HRSA (1839-1893) depicts a young lady styled in Spanish attire and carrying a domino mask, descending stairs. It’s provocatively titled ‘The Hour’. Pettie was a well-admired painter of portraits and ‘costume’ genre.
Shown at both the Royal Academy and the Scottish National Exhibition in Edinburgh, this scintillating portrayal is one of the artist’s finest examples. It’s discussed at length in his 1908 biography, where it’s reproduced as the first plate.
“…he glories in red, handling a scheme of colour whose richness and fulness is gained by impetuous and unlaboured brushwork”. Martin Hardie.
Travelling stealthily, yet with speed, she glances into the distance. Her eyes are alive, transfixed and eager. Her outfit suggests she’s exiting a masquerade ball, but why the sudden departure? Is she meeting another? An illicit love affair? Or escaping the clutches of a devilish rogue? The painting was discussed by several Victorian art critics and we’ve published a selection of reviews in our directory. It was formerly in the collection of the distinguished art collector Thomas McArly, the Consul of Nicaragua at Glasgow, and a sketch exists at the Auckland Art Gallery.
Pettie was born and spent the first thirteen years of his life in Edinburgh, before his family moved to East Linton in Haddingtonshire. Here, his father Alexander Pettie purchased the village shop, from which he supplied an array of disparate goods to the local village folk. Evidently with aspirations that his son would follow suit, his father tasked the young lad with various errands, such as fetching stock from the cellar or storeroom. However, much to his dismay, he often discovered him covering lids of boxes with surreptitious sketches, oblivious to the task at hand.
From an early age, he was imbued with a free spirit and captivated by dramatic fiction, such as the books of Sir Walter Scott. These were particularly appealing for their romance, intrigue and masterful portrayal of character, and would form the basis of several of his works.
Keen to impress his parents, he produced numerous portraits of family members in crayon, along with copies (interpreted in his own way) of contemporary paintings, until his mother finally capitulated and took him to Edinburgh to meet James Drummond RSA. Drummond was well-versed in such introductions and initially discouraged the downbeat young aspirant from his artistic pursuits, stating to his mother, "much better make him stick to business". However, upon perusing an eagerly assembled parcel of drawings, paused, and exclaimed, “Well, madam, you can put that boy to what you like, but he'll die an artist!"
In 1855, Pettie enrolled at the Trustees’ Academy in Edinburgh where he studied under Robert Scott Lauder, who would become a key influence. It was a particularly strong assemblage of students, which included Sir William Quiller Orchardson RA (1832-1910), William McTaggart (1835-1910) and George Paul Chalmers RSA (1833-1878). By all accounts, Lauder was an excellent teacher, offering a framework of ideas without stifling individual creativity. One of his key tenets, impressed upon his students, was to consider a group of figures rather than each one in isolation. Generally, students are put through their paces in life drawing classes and taught to observe and evaluate light as it falls upon a single form. But Lauder taught them to view a collective as a single entity, thus teaching them ‘to see’. Many of the artists who studied with him would later be regarded as the ‘Edinburgh School’ and known for their alternative approach to genre painting. Nearly all of them were from working-class backgrounds.
Aside from his tuition, Pettie also found various delights at the Scottish National Gallery, which offered a seemingly endless assortment of old masters, including works by Van Dyck, Gainsborough and Raeburn. One can imagine him furiously sketching alongside a fellow student, eager to discuss the nuances of a particular hand. He was awarded several prizes during his time in Edinburgh.
From here, now furnished with the skills to complement his enthusiasm, his path was established and he debuted at both the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) and Royal Academy within two years. At the RSA, he exhibited ‘A Scene from the Fortunes of Nigel’, one of the many subjects inspired by Sir Walter Scott.
From the very outset of his career, he astonished both teachers and students with his vigorous approach and tireless attitude. His energy was peerless, and he’d work in a ‘white heat’, of ‘strenuous effort’, with little in the way of preparation or preliminary sketches. This reduced the chance of his finished works ever becoming laboured. Via a fair amount of improvisation, he retained the spirit of a piece.
In his biography, he’s quoted as stating, "I felt about colour then like a boy looking at all the bright bottles in a sweetshop window, that it was something to be bought when I had saved up a penny worth of drawing”. This speaks volumes about his qualities as a proficient draughtsman but also underpins his triumph as a colourist. We’ve included further information about his methodologies in our directory.
Following his success at the Royal Academy, he moved to London, where he joined his friend, William Quiller Orchardson. Together with Tom Graham and George Paul Chalmers, the Edinburgh alumni remained closely associated for the remainder of their careers.
As referred to above, the Scotsmen tended to approach genre painting somewhat differently from their English contemporaries, as they provided space for their figures to ‘breathe’. Oftentimes, Victorian scenes were a little overcrowded with emphasis placed upon the artist’s virtuosity in capturing every detail of an extensive interior. But with the Scots, they avoided (or sometimes even removed) any element that didn’t contribute to the overall narrative. With clever use of light and shade, they alluded to an ‘atmosphere’.
Aside from his scenes, Pettie was also an accomplished portraitist and produced various depictions of his contemporaries. His portrait of the artist James Campbell Noble is currently at the National Galleries of Scotland.
While working at the peak of his abilities, he was tragically struck down by illness and died at the age of 53.
“One remembers the big, powerful hand, ‘too clumsy for water-colour,’ but ever ready to give the grip of hearty friendship; his bluff and vigorous presence; his rough eloquence; the vigour with which he spoke of art, and denounced what to him seemed false or foolish; his ready sympathy with all who needed help; his kindly smile; his infectious humour; the merry twinkle of his eye.”
Martin Hardie.
He’s represented in numerous public collections, including at the British Museum, Royal Collection Trust, Tate Britain, National Portrait Gallery, Royal Academy of Arts, Royal Scottish Academy of Art & Architecture, Ashmolean Museum, and the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Signed in the lower left and held in a later frame.
Learn more about John Pettie in our directory.
Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 38” x 51½” / 97cm x 131cm
Year of creation: 1878
Labels & Inscriptions: Faded newspaper cutting on the reverse.
Provenance: Presumably with the artist / With F.W. Hooper / Christie’s, London, 21 February 1880 (Reached 500 guineas but brought in) / Christie’s, London, 1881 (Sold for 400 guineas) / Thomas McArly Esq (1908) / Private collection, UK.
Exhibited: London, Royal Academy, 1878, no. 46 / Scottish National Exhibition, Edinburgh, 1908.
Condition: Cleaned. Canvas relined. Craquelure in areas. The paint layer is stable. Frame in good condition with minor age-related wear.
Artist’s auction maximum: £175,000 for ‘The Chieftain's Candlesticks’, Oil on canvas, Christie’s, The Forbes Collection, London, 20 February (lot 64).
Our reference: BRV2141
